Glarus is a town that was burned down and rebuilt on a grid, and the grid is why the centre feels so unlike other Swiss towns. On 10 May 1861, a fire driven by the Föhn wind destroyed about a third of the town in a single night, and the rebuilding followed a plan of straight streets and regular blocks, an unusual layout for a mountain town. Today Glarus has just under six thousand people and serves as the capital of its small canton, in the narrow valley of the Linth, where steep limestone walls rise on both sides.
The canton has some curious traditions. Every year, on the first Sunday in May, citizens meet in the open air in the Zaunplatz and vote on laws by a show of hands, in an assembly called the Landsgemeinde. The ritual goes back centuries and survives in only a couple of places today. The valley also makes Schabziger, a hard, green, sharply flavoured cheese, shaped like a cone and flavoured with blue fenugreek, produced here for centuries and exported around Europe, which you grate over potatoes or spread on bread.
For a rider, Glarus is the way into some of the least visited roads in the central Alps. The Linth valley leads north towards the Walensee and the Zurich lakes, and south the road climbs towards Linthal and the Klausen Pass, a famous route over to Uri with hairpins and sheer drops. A third option is the Pragel Pass, at 1,550 metres, reached from Glarus over a narrow, steep road with wooden chalets and grazing cattle, which leads into the Muotathal. Traffic is light, and the sense of space and quiet is a contrast with the better-known passes.
Fuel is straightforward in Glarus, with several stations, and the town has bakeries and cafes. Its position at the foot of the Glärnisch massif, a huge wall of rock and ice, makes for dramatic views from the road, and a long glacier tongue gleams above on clear days. Check the weather before the passes, since the Klausen closes in winter, normally from about November until late spring, and the Pragel is usually closed from late autumn. Foehn winds can be strong here, and the valley is quick to catch fog in the autumn.