Sustenpass - Switzerland
A serious contender for the title of most stunning road in all of europe!
When I visited the alps last summer, this was always a must see and drive. You hear a lot of great things about this piece of tarmac and it doesn't dissapoint the expectation. Not many of the other roads come close to the greatness found here high up the swiss alps.
To be fair though, everything has flaws. Every feature of the Sustenpass gets beaten when seen on it's own. The Landscape is impressive, but not really unique. The road is challenging and fun, but not a new Nürburgring. The features along the way, type of tunnels, waterfalls, avalanche protection, bridges etc, can all be found at other places too. But when you put it all together in the way the Susten does it, it becomes way more than the sum of it's parts.
The amazingly well fitting combination of everything gives this place an overall uniqueness hardly found anywhere else. This time actually both directions are recomendable, as they offer very different views at several places and both climbs are a challenginf and fun drive.
Crossing from west to east you pass through several different 'biomes'. First the road winds it's way through a dense pine-forest with many well engineered turns and many tunnels. You pass a local hotel/restaurant/rest-place in a hairpin, when the next biome begins. The trees suddenly disappear and the road straightens up a bit to reveal amazing views on the surrounding very high mountains and it's glaciers far above you. Shortly after you reach the summit-area of the pass, where you'll find a calm mountain-lake and a barren, but contrast-rich landscape similar to the Grimselpass.
Then the road undercuts the pass-height through a long straight tunnel, to reveal the next area right at it's exit. You face a long stretched very deep valley and therefor you can almost see the end, although you are just at the half-way-point. The road snugs close to the mountain and you have a deadly drop right next to you for the next few kilometers, which gives you great view. As long as the challenging road alows you to look that way though.
You find yourself further down the valley, when the first few houses belonging to local farms start to appear. the road gives you a little break of concentration until you reach the next avalanche-tunnel near the valley-exit. This tunnel is quite long and offers an amazing acoustic for your engine.
Out the other side the last challenging bit awaits you, as you climb down the descent towards Wassen and the Reuss Valley. You can see the Gotthard-Highway which just a few kilometers south passes the famous Mountain-Range of the same name.
This is a truly amazing place for a drive! And due to close proximity you could actually chain several passes together (like the Grimselpass) for a whole weekend of amazing drives. Of all the roads I visited so far, this deserves a special place in my memories and it is one pass, you could certainly consider as contender for europe's best driving road. For me personally, this is at least the best driving road in the greater Alpine region.
Cheers, 7 Skyrex
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