There is a hotel on the Furka Pass that has seen more cameras than most film stars. The Hotel Belvédère clings to the hairpins on the Valais side, a few kilometres below the summit, and for generations it sat at the foot of the Rhône Glacier, whose tongue of ice reached almost to the terrace. The glacier has retreated dramatically since then, leaving bare rock and a grey lake, and in summer it is partly covered with white blankets to slow the melt. The scene is a visible record of a changing climate.
The road itself is famous. The Furka was used in the 1964 film Goldfinger, when Bond's Aston Martin raced along its bends, and ever since riders have come to try the same hairpins. The pass climbs to 2,429 metres, linking Gletsch in the Valais with Realp in Uri, and it is one of the classic high Alpine crossings. The surface is generally good, but the bends are tight and the drops are steep, with minimal barriers in places. A low gear and a steady hand are more useful than speed. On a busy summer weekend, traffic is heavy, so a weekday morning is a better bet.
The nearby ice grotto, cut into the glacier each year, is a popular attraction, and the old steam railway, the Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway, runs on the line that once crossed the pass, and now operates in summer from Realp across a spectacular mountain section. The line was abandoned when the Furka base tunnel opened, and then rescued by volunteers.
The nearest pumps are in Andermatt on the Uri side, or lower down in the Goms valley on the Valais side, so top up before you commit. The hotel serves meals and coffee and is a good place to warm up, with a terrace that looks out toward the glacier and the valley below. The pass is closed in winter, usually from October until June, and reopens as soon as the snow is cleared.
The air is thin and cold even in July, so dress in layers. The light is best in the morning, when the glacier is bright and the shadows are sharp.