Realp is the last village on the Urseren valley road before the Furka, a hamlet at about fifteen hundred metres that most people ride through without stopping. That would be a mistake, because the railway station here is the starting point of the Furka cogwheel steam railway, a heritage line run by volunteers, which was rebuilt from abandoned track after the original was closed in 1981. Steam locomotives climb to Oberwald by way of the old mountain route in summer, and even if you do not ride the train, the sight and smell of the engines in the station yard make a decent coffee stop.
The valley itself is wide, flat and treeless, with the Reuss river wandering through meadows between Andermatt and Realp, and long winters that bring serious snow. Andermatt, a couple of villages down the valley with about thirteen hundred inhabitants and the nearest place with fuel, has long been a garrison and holiday town, and has seen big new hotel developments. Airolo, on the south side of the Gotthard, is the next town with services in the other direction. If your tank is low, fill it before you commit to the high roads, because the passes have no stations.
Ahead, the Furka Pass road climbs in a series of hairpins to 2,429 metres, with the Rhone glacier waiting on the far side, and the whole run to Gletsch and onwards to Grimsel or the Nufenen is among the great motorcycle roads of the Alps. This pairing with the Nufenen, one of Switzerland's highest road passes at about 2,478 metres, has made the area a favourite. Surfaces are generally good, but the road can be rough at the edges and has tight corners with drops on the outside.
Snow closes the passes from about late October until May or June, depending on the year, and the opening dates are announced locally, so check them before you go. In summer, mornings are cold at this height and can be frosty even in August, and afternoon storms build quickly. Early starts give you empty roads, which is what makes a dawn run here so memorable.