Andermatt sits at 1,444 metres in the Urseren valley, a high, wide, treeless hollow in the heart of the Swiss Alps, and it has been a crossroads for centuries. Three great passes meet here: the Gotthard, which runs south to Italy and Ticino at 2,106 metres, the Furka, which climbs west over 2,429 metres toward the Valais, and the Oberalp, which leads east at 2,044 metres into Graubünden. For a motorcyclist it is a kind of Mecca, since the three roads are among the most famous in the Alps, and the town fills with bikes on any fine summer weekend.
The history is dramatic. North of the town, the Schöllenen gorge is a narrow, steep cut in the granite, and the Devil's Bridge, which crosses the roaring Reuss river, has been a symbol of the Gotthard route since the thirteenth century, when a first bridge opened the pass to trade. In 1799 a Russian army under General Suvorov fought its way through the gorge against the French, an episode remembered with a huge monument carved into the rock. The Swiss army also used the area as a fortress, with tunnels and artillery positions hidden in the mountains. Today, a base tunnel of 57 kilometres runs beneath the Gotthard for trains, the longest railway tunnel in the world, and most traffic passes below the mountain.
The old Gotthard road, the Tremola, is the part many riders remember: a cobbled road of tight hairpins zigzagging up the south side from Airolo, closed to heavy traffic and thrilling in dry weather. The passes are closed by snow in winter, usually from late autumn until around June, so check before you go. In summer, traffic and weather can change quickly, with fog on the passes and thunderstorms in the afternoon. A Swiss motorway vignette is needed for the motorways.
Andermatt itself is a modest village with a few hotels, cafes and shops, recently expanded by a large resort development and linked to a ski area. It has a fuel station, though prices are higher than in the lowlands. Try the Älplermagronen, a dish of macaroni, potatoes, cheese and onions with apple sauce, or a hearty rösti after a long day of hairpins. Early mornings are best, before the crowds, when the light on the peaks is golden and the air smells of cut grass.