Furka Pass (; ) is a high

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the southern

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

connecting

Gletsch Gletsch (; ) is a hamlet in the German-speaking half of the canton of Valais, located in the upper Rhone valley, called Obergoms ('Upper Goms'), , southeast below the Rhone Glacier's mouth and itself the headwaters of the Rhône. It is called G ...

Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

with

Realp Realp (archaic : ''Frialp'') is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Uri, Uri in Switzerland. History Realp is first mentioned in 1363 as ''Riealb''. Geography Realp has an area, , of . ...

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), off Malakula Island in V ...

via the seasonal Furkapassroute. The

Furka Oberalp Bahn The Furka Oberalp Railway () is a narrow gauge mountain railway in Switzerland with a gauge of . It runs in the Graubünden, Uri and Canton of Valais. Since January 1, 2003, it is part of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn when it merged with the ...

bypasses the pass through the high

Furka Base Tunnel The Furka Base Tunnel is a Swiss railway base tunnel on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn's Furka–Oberalp line, an east–west railway connecting the cantons of Valais and Uri. Its west portal lies east of Oberwald (VS), at above sea level and it ...

, which opened in 1982 to replace the seasonal Furka Summit Tunnel at . The Furka Pass was used as a location in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' Goldfinger'', a curve of which is marked as "James Bond Strasse", complete with lookout point and small parking area. Near the western summit of the pass is the Hotel Belvédère; a short walk from it leads to the

Rhône Glacier The Rhône Glacier (, Walliser German: ''Rottengletscher'', , ) is a glacier in the Swiss Alps and the source of the river Rhône and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the Swiss canton of Valais. While the ...

Ice Grotto. The glacier moves 30–40 metres a year, and the 100 metre long tunnel and ice chamber are open from June when the road opens.

External links

*
Furka Cycling Profile, Maps, and Photos

Profile on climbbybike.com

Cycling up to the Furkapass: data, profile, map, photos and description

Furka Pass - the world's greatest driving roads - Colcorsa
Mountain passes of the Alps Mountain passes of Switzerland Mountain passes of Valais Mountain passes of the canton of Uri Tourist attractions in the canton of Uri Uri–Valais border Rail mountain passes of Switzerland {{Uri-geo-stub

See also

External links