Chiavenna is a town of about seven thousand people at the head of the Valchiavenna, where two great Alpine roads, the Splügen and the Maloja, split in different directions. The name is believed to come from the Latin clavis, a key, which is just what it was, the key to the passes between Lombardy and the north. Romans, medieval merchants and Habsburg troops all came this way, and the old town still has narrow streets, stone doorways and a small museum in a historic palace. The Mera river runs through the valley, cold and green.
Chiavenna is also known for its crotti, natural cellars dug into the rock where cold air flows out of the mountain through fissures, keeping the wine and cheese cool without electricity. Eating at one on a hot day is one of the best things you can do in northern Italy. The local food is hearty and warming: pizzoccheri, short buckwheat noodles served with cabbage, potato, cheese and butter, and sciatt, little fried cheese fritters, and a glass of red from the Valtellina goes with all of it. The tradition of working soapstone, carved into pots and stoves, is also a long local craft.
For riders, the Splügen road is one of the finest in the Alps, with a spectacular Italian side. From Chiavenna it climbs through the Cardinello gorge, where the old road is carved into the cliff, and the main route rises in a long sequence of hairpins to the pass at about 2,100 metres on the Swiss border. The surface is generally good, the bends are tight and regular, and the views down toward the plain are fine. On the northern side the road drops into Splügen and the Rheinwald, with a gentler pace.
The pass is closed in winter, typically from about November to May, and the weather can change suddenly, with cold, mist and snow in any month. Fuel is plentiful in Chiavenna, so fill up before you climb, and if you finish here, the old town has plenty of cafés and gelato. The air in the valley is warm, almost Mediterranean, and the chestnut trees on the hillsides remind you that this is Italy, even though the Alps tower overhead.