← All Passes
Bernina
2'330 m
Graubünden
For centuries the Bernina has been one of the great crossings of the eastern Alps, linking the Engadin near St.
2'330 m
Graubünden
For centuries the Bernina has been one of the great crossings of the eastern Alps, linking the Engadin near St.
ROUTE
ELEVATION PROFILE
ROUTE MAP
DESCRIPTION
For centuries the Bernina has been one of the great crossings of the eastern Alps, linking the Engadin near St. Moritz with the Italian-speaking Val Poschiavo and onward to Tirano, at 2,328 metres. Travelled since the Stone Age and a trade route through the Middle Ages, it remains a gateway between the German- and Romansh-speaking north and the Italian world to the south; the present road over its eastern flank was built between 1842 and 1865, descending toward the vineyards of the Valtellina.
Today the pass is as famous for rail as for road. Beside the road runs the Bernina line, whose Bernina Express crosses year-round at 2,253 metres — the highest adhesion railway of the Alps — a line so improbable that, on its way down to Italy, it runs straight down a village street at Le Prese and loops through a full circle on the open Brusio viaduct to shed height. At the summit lies the glacial Lago Bianco, a watershed between the basins of northern and southern Europe, while above towers Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres the highest peak of the Eastern Alps. From this stark, glacier-ringed plateau the road falls toward the warmth of Italy, a crossing of rare scale and beauty, and a magnificent climb for any cyclist.
SELECTED ROUTE