Furka is one of the Alps' great stage roads: 2,429 metres of switchbacks linking Uri and Valais, with the Rhône Glacier at the western foot. From Andermatt the road climbs through the high Urseren valley, past Realp, up a series of hairpins to a pass where the air is thin and cold, and the views unfold across rock, snow and sky. The mountains here are bare and grand, and the sense of altitude is real.
The glacier is the star. The Rhône starts here as a meltwater stream under the ice, and until recent decades the glacier tongue reached down almost to the road at Gletsch. It has retreated sharply and now sits high on the slope, with an ice grotto cut into it each summer. The old Hotel Belvédère, a grand building from the days of the stagecoach, stands at a bend and became famous when it appeared in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, in which Bond's Aston Martin raced the Furka's bends.
Riding it is a pleasure and a test. Bends are tight and well engineered, the tarmac is generally good, and the traffic can be heavy on summer weekends, with buses, cars and motorbikes sharing hairpins. Go early or late for the best light and emptier road. Weather matters: cold mornings, sudden fog or snow even in summer, and rain on the Valais side. The pass is closed in winter and typically reopens in late spring, though dates vary with snowfall, so check before planning.
Andermatt, about fifteen kilometres east, and Airolo, a similar distance to the south through the Gotthard side, are the closest fuel stops, so fill up beforehand. Mountain restaurants at the summit serve coffee, soup and apple pie, and the cold means you will want them. Wear a warm layer under your jacket and keep a visor-cleaning cloth handy.