Silvretta · Montafon Overnight Gateway

Two passes and 303 km, high point 2032 m

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Why this ride

Toll road drama and Austrian high-country rhythm. A 303 km loop that starts and ends near Sargans, about 5 h 49 of riding. On the way it passes Bludenz and Montafon overnight. The climbs: Arlberg option and Silvretta High Alpine Road. It tops out at 2,032 m. Arlberg Pass and Bielerhohe are subject to seasonal closure - check it is open before you set off. It crosses from Switzerland into Austria - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. The passes are the reason to go.

Roadbook

1. Sargans fuel gate fuel · 480 m

   Sargans is a small town doing something unexpectedly big. It sits on a low saddle in the Rhine valley where the river, instead of flowing on west toward Lake Constance as it now does, once could just as easily have turned toward the Walensee and Zurich. The ridge between the two directions is barely a rise in the ground, which is why geographers like to point at Sargans and say the whole river's fate depended on a patch of gravel. Today the Rhine runs north, and the town's modest castle on its rocky knoll watches over the valley and the Liechtenstein hills across the water.

   For a rider it is a junction more than a destination. The motorway from Zurich arrives along the Walensee, the main railway crosses here, and roads lead north to Liechtenstein and Feldkirch, south to Chur, and east across the border into Austria toward Bludenz and the Montafon valley. That is exactly what makes it a useful meeting point and fuel stop at the start of a trip to the Silvretta. At around five thousand people, it has what you need: a station, fuel, bakeries, supermarkets and cheap, practical meals, with Bad Ragaz and its thermal baths just a few kilometres south.

   The surroundings are dramatic, as the Alps rise steeply on both sides of a wide, flat valley. To the west the jagged Churfirsten wall above the Walensee, and to the south the Falknis range above Balzers. In spring the Föhn, a warm, dry wind from the south, can blow strongly down the valley, so gusts may push you around on the open stretches of road, and it is common to see clear sky and stable weather on the Föhn side while rain waits to the north.

   Be aware that the vignette is needed in Switzerland, and the nearby crossings into Liechtenstein and Austria are quick but have their own road charges for motorways. Prices at the pumps in Liechtenstein tend to be lower than in Switzerland, which is an open secret among locals. Heidiland, as the area is marketed, is a pastoral name for a valley that is very good for riding, with quiet side roads climbing into the Alpine meadows above the Rhine.

2. Bludenz food stop food · 588 m

   Bludenz sits at the meeting of several valleys, and that is its whole story. The Walgau runs northwest toward the Rhine, the Klostertal heads east to the Arlberg, the Brandnertal climbs south to the Lünersee, and the Montafon carries the Ill river up to the Silvretta. At 588 metres, the town is a low point in a landscape of high peaks, with the Rätikon walls rising behind the old centre and a compact medieval core of arcades and painted houses. It is an ideal place to begin a ride into the mountains.

   Bludenz also has an unexpected sweet side. The Milka chocolate factory operated here for decades, and the town is also the home of Fohrenburg, a respected brewery. The mix of chocolate and beer gives it a pleasant, practical personality. With over thirteen thousand people, it has every sort of fuel station, supermarket, cafe and restaurant that you could need, which makes it a good place for breakfast, a last cash machine and a check of the bike before heading up the valley.

   The Silvretta High Alpine Road starts at the head of the Montafon, beyond Partenen, and climbs to the Bielerhöhe at 2,032 metres, near the Silvretta reservoir. It is a toll road, normally open from roughly early summer to autumn depending on snow, so check conditions before you set out. The road from Bludenz to the start is about forty kilometres of gentle valley riding, passing villages with wooden barns, chapels and gardens full of geraniums.

   Notice the Alpine light as you go. In the morning the valley is cool and shadowed, and the first sunlight catches the high peaks while the roads below remain in shade. By midday the heat rises and the afternoon storms are common in summer. Eat well in Bludenz, because this is a ride in which you will want to be properly fed. A coffee under the arcades, a pastry, and you are ready.

3. Arlberg return option pass · 1793 m

   Anton, where the road begins its climb. It is one of the oldest crossing points in the Eastern Alps, used since the Middle Ages by traders and pilgrims, and the name itself is thought to come from the dwarf pines, the Arlen, that grow on the slopes. A hospice was built on the pass in the fourteenth century to help travellers survive the winter, and the cult of St. Christopher that grew up there is still remembered in the name of the village below.

   The ride is easy and enjoyable rather than frightening. The road is wide, the surface is excellent and the bends are steady, with a couple of tighter hairpins on the Vorarlberg side as the road drops to Langen and Bludenz. From St. Anton the road climbs gently through meadows and larch woods, and in early summer the slopes are bright with alpine flowers. The pass stays open all year, though winter brings heavy snow and chains are sometimes required. The Arlberg road tunnel, opened in 1978, bypasses the pass for fourteen kilometres but charges a toll, so most motorcyclists on a sunny day prefer the old road.

   St. Anton is the cradle of modern alpine skiing. Hannes Schneider founded the first ski school here in the early twentieth century and developed the Arlberg technique, which spread around the world. The village is still a major winter destination, and it is quiet in summer, which makes it a good place for a long lunch on a terrace. You can find fuel in St. Anton or in the smaller villages of the Stanzer Valley, while Landeck, about twenty-seven kilometres east, is the bigger town if you need a wider choice.

   From the pass, the Flexen road leads off towards Zürs and Lech, a spectacular stretch with galleries cut into the rock, though it is closed when avalanches threaten. The Arlberg is also the watershed between the Rhine and the Danube, so rain falling here may end up in the North Sea or the Black Sea. Weather can turn fast, with cold rain at the top while the valley basks, so pack a layer.

4. Silvretta High Alpine Road pass · 2032 m

   Bielerhöhe is the high point of the Silvretta High Alpine Road, a toll road built in the 1950s to link the Montafon valley in Vorarlberg with the Paznaun valley in Tyrol, and the top at about 2,032 metres sits at the edge of the Silvretta reservoir. The lake, a long, deep blue sheet held back by a dam, is surrounded by bare peaks and small glaciers, and the highest of them, Piz Buin at 3,312 metres, rises to the south beyond the water.

   The road from the Montafon side is the one to ride, climbing through a long ladder of hairpins from Partenen, with big drops, forest at first and then bare alpine meadows near the top. The surface is excellent, wide enough for coaches, and the corners are tidy and well banked. Tolls apply, which you pay at the booth at the bottom, and the road is open from about June to October, depending on snow. On the Tyrolean side, the road descends more gently to Galtür, which sits in the Paznaun valley, and Ischgl, the ski resort beyond.

   The Silvretta group straddles the border of Austria and Switzerland, and the region has a long history of smugglers, herders and mountaineers. Galtür, a small village, suffered a catastrophic avalanche in 1999, and a memorial and a wall of protection stand above the settlement as a reminder. The reservoir is part of a hydroelectric scheme, and a small information centre has displays about the dam and the surrounding nature.

   The weather here is changeable, and snow may fall in any month, so carry a warm layer and rain gear. A cafe and restaurant by the lake serve coffee and cake with views, and the walk around the shore is a good way to stretch after the climb. Early mornings are quiet, and the light on the water is superb.

5. Montafon overnight base sleep · 650 m

   Schruns sits at about 650 metres in the Montafon, a long valley in Vorarlberg, Austria's westernmost state, where the river Ill runs south between the Rätikon and the Silvretta ranges. It is a small town of under four thousand people, with a pointed church tower, wooden chalets and a feel of quiet prosperity, and its sister village Tschagguns lies just across the river. In winter the area is busy with skiers, and in summer with hikers and cyclists, but outside the high seasons it is peaceful, and a good place to sleep after a long day in the saddle.

   Ernest Hemingway spent a winter here in 1925 and 1926, skiing and writing, and some of The Sun Also Rises was revised in the valley. The valley also has its own traditions, including a local sour cheese called Montafoner Sura Kees, which smells strong and tastes sharp and creamy, and a dialect that sounds quite different from standard German. The old mining history of the area is remembered in a small museum, and the narrow-gauge railway that runs along the valley floor is still in use.

   The great attraction for riders is the Silvretta High Alpine Road, which starts at Partenen at the head of the valley and climbs in a series of about thirty hairpins to the Bielerhöhe, at 2,032 metres. At the top lies the Silvretta reservoir, with a dam and a view of glaciated peaks, and the road continues down to Galtür and Ischgl in the Paznaun valley. It is a toll road, closed in winter, and normally open from late spring to autumn depending on snow. The surface is good, and the hairpins are wide enough to be enjoyable but demanding in traffic.

   The valley road itself, from Bludenz up through Vandans and Schruns, is gentle and pleasant, passing meadows and old farmhouses. Traffic is light apart from peak holiday periods, and the locals are used to motorcycles.

   Fuel is easy in Schruns and Tschagguns, and there is a good choice of hotels and guesthouses, many offering secure parking for bikes. Evening meals are generous, with Käsknöpfle, a dish of cheese noodles with fried onions, a common choice. Mornings are cool and clear, so start early for the pass.

6. Back to Sargans finish · 480 m

   The route ends here after 303 km.

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