Santa Maria is the main village of the Val Mustair, a quiet Swiss valley that runs east from the Ofen Pass toward the Italian border, and the place where the road to the Umbrail Pass begins. It lies at roughly 1,400 metres, among meadows and pine forest, with a few traditional Romansh houses with deep window reveals and painted sgraffito decoration on their walls. The people here speak Romansh, a Latin-derived language that survives in only a few valleys of Switzerland.
The label suggests fuel, and that is the right way to think about this stop. It is the last settlement before the Umbrail Pass, a narrow, spectacular road that climbs steeply toward the Stelvio, and a sensible place to check the fuel level before the climb, since prices on the Swiss side are in francs and typically higher than in Italy. Fuel may also be available in Mustair, a few kilometres further east, and in the Italian villages down the valley, such as Tubre.
Just down the road in Mustair, the Benedictine convent of St John is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Carolingian frescoes that date back to around the year 800, among the best surviving examples of early medieval wall painting in Europe. It is well worth an hour, if you can spare it.
The Umbrail road itself rises in a series of hairpins to about 2,500 metres, where it meets the Stelvio road near the Italian border. The road is paved but narrow, and it is closed during winter, usually opening in late spring after the snow has been cleared. The weather up there is often cold, windy and changeable, even in summer, so bring warm layers and gloves.
The valley is rich in wildlife, with chamois and ibex on the high slopes, and eagles circling overhead. The air is clean and cool, and the nights are cold. A coffee in the village before the climb is a good way of gathering yourself for what lies ahead.