Lukmanier · Oberalp · Vorderrhein High Roads · part 2

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Andermatt base reset

   Andermatt sits in a high, flat valley called the Urseren, at 1,444 metres, where four of the great Swiss passes meet. The Gotthard heads south to Ticino, the Oberalp runs east toward Graubünden, the Furka climbs west to the Valais, and the road north follows the Reuss down through a gorge to Lake Lucerne. People have crossed here for at least eight hundred years, ever since the Devil's Bridge was thrown across the gorge to make the Gotthard route practical, and the village has served travellers and soldiers ever since.

   Read the complete Andermatt base reset write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Andermatt is where the day begins. Reckon on about 6 °C colder than the valley, and more in the wind. Next is Oberalppass high road, climbing 600 m.

2. 2. Oberalppass high road

   The Oberalp is the pass that links Andermatt in the Urseren valley with Disentis in the Surselva, and at 2,044 metres it is the road's high point and a historic watershed. Just above the summit, the little Lake Toma is regarded as the source of the Rhine, the river that eventually runs through Germany and the Netherlands and into the North Sea. A short walk up from the car park gets you to the lakeshore, where a plaque marks the spot.

   Read the complete Oberalppass high road write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   You top out at 2044 m here. The road climbs 600 m on the way up to it, steadily. Reckon on about 9 °C colder than the valley, and more in the wind. Nothing on this route is higher. At this height the road is a summer one: snow gates can stay shut into June and shut again in October. Next is Disentis food stop, mostly downhill.

3. 3. Disentis food stop

   Disentis is the monastery town of the upper Rhine valley, and the Benedictine abbey that dominates it is one of the oldest in Switzerland, founded, according to tradition, around the year 700 by a wandering monk called Sigisbert with help from a local landowner. The current buildings are mostly baroque, with a huge church and an extensive cloister, and the monks still teach at the school attached to it. The village sits at 1,130 metres where the Medelser Rhine meets the Vorderrhein, and it has the compact feel of a place that was important long before the tourist trade arrived.

   Read the complete Disentis food stop write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   A break here. You lose 914 m on the way down to it, steadily. Reckon on about 3 °C colder than the valley, and more in the wind. Next is Vorderrhein valley flow, mostly downhill.

4. 4. Vorderrhein valley flow

   Ilanz calls itself the first town on the Rhine, and in a river that runs a thousand kilometres to the North Sea that is a neat claim to hold. It sits in the Surselva at 650 metres, a small, practical place of about two thousand people, where the Vorderrhein valley widens and the Lugnez valley comes in from the south. Fuel, bakeries and a supermarket are all here. Laax, the ski resort village, is a few kilometres up the slope, and Flims lies beyond it.

   Read the complete Vorderrhein valley flow write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Vorderrhein valley flow, late in the day at 650 m. You lose 480 m on the way down to it, steadily. Next is Back to Chur.

5. 5. Back to Chur

   At 593 metres, in a wide bend of the Rhine valley, Chur makes a strong claim to be the oldest town in Switzerland, with traces of settlement going back thousands of years and a Roman presence from the first century BC. It has been the seat of a bishop since late antiquity, and the bishop's court, with its cathedral, sits on a terrace above the old town. Down below, the narrow streets and squares of the Altstadt, with painted houses, fountains and arcades, are a pleasant place to wander after a morning in the saddle.

   Read the complete Chur write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Back to Chur. That is the ride.