St Gotthard Pass (Andermatt - Bellinzona driving tour)

4km/2mi beyond Prato Leventina is the village of Dalpe (1,140-1,200 m/3,740-3,937ft), above the Piumogna gorge, from which it is a 2.75-hour climb to the Campo Tencia (3,072 m/10,079ft), the highest peak in Ticino.

Just beyond Rodi-Fiesso, at the old customs post of Dazio Grande (949 m/3,114ft), the road enters the wild Piottino gorge, with a number of tunnels through the rock, between which (on right) the waterfalls on the river Ticino can be seen.

Arbedo (283 m/929ft; bypass), which has a fine 15th C. parish church (the "Chiesa Rossa" or Red church), lies at the mouth of the Valle d'Arbedo (on left): there was a landslide here in 1929 from the Motto d'Arbino, which had been in gradual motion since 1888. In a battle at Arbedo in 1422, during the war with the Duchy of Milan, a force of 3,000 Confederates was defeated by an army six times their number, 2,000 of them being killed in the battle.

At Bellinzona (230 m/755ft;) the road divides: straight ahead for Lugano, to the right for Locarno.

In Chiggiona (668 m/2,192ft), beyond the railroad line, stands the parish church of the Madonna di Ascente (13th C., rebuilt in the 16th C.). The road continues through wooded country, with waterfalls on both sides. Just before Lavorgo, on the right, are the Cribiasca falls, pouring down in a cloud of spray.

At Claro (253 m/830ft), on the slopes of the Pizzo di Molinera (2,293 m/7,525ft), to the left, stands the Benedictine monastery (founded in 1490), of Santa Maria (650 m/2,133ft).

4km/2mi beyond Claro, the road from Chur over the San Bernardino pass comes in on the left.

Faido (725 m/379ft; pop. 1,500), in a beautiful location, is the primary town in the Valle Leventina, and attracts many summer visitors. The stone-built houses of Ticinese type which now appear alongside the 16th C. timber houses with carved decoration, together with the first chestnuts and mulberry-trees, are the first imitations of a more southern landscape. On the western side of the valley the Piumogna plunges down in three beautiful waterfalls to join the Ticino.

Hospental (1,484 m/4,869ft), an old village (Lat. hospitium, "hospice") situated at the point where the Furka-Reuss and Gotthard-Reuss join to form the Reuss, is now a health and winter sports resort (ski-lift to 2,000 m/6,562ft on the Winterhorn) with heavy through traffic. Church (1705-11); tower of 13th century castle.

500 m/1,641ft beyond the St Gotthard pass, on the old road, is the St Gotthard Hospice (2,095 m/6,874ft; founded in the 14th C. but frequently rebuilt and now a protected national monument) with a hotel of the same name, a weather station and the National Gotthard Museum (Museo Nazionale del San Gottardo). The collection records the development of the pass (relief models, minerals, weapons, uniforms, documents, etc.).

From here it is a 45-minute walk to the Sellasee (2,231 m/7,320ft) and a 3.5-hour climb (with guide) to the summit of the Pizzo Centrale (3,003 m/ 9,853ft).

Lavorgo (622 m/2,041ft) lies in a magnificent setting, with the long crest of the Monte di Sobrio on the left and a series of ridges running down from Campo Tencia and the Cima Bianca (2,630 m/8,629ft) on the right. Below Lavorgo a narrow road goes off on the right, crosses the Ticino and runs up (4km/2mi) to Chironico (800 m/2,625ft), a beautiful mountain village with a fine Romanesque church (12th C.) and the 14th C. Torre dei Pedrini. Beyond this, in the Biaschina gorge, the Ticino bursts through into the lowest part of the Valle Leventina (beautiful waterfall).

At Osogna (280 m/919ft; bypass), above the village, is the chapel of Santa Maria del Castello (altar of 1494, 17th C. frescoes).

There is a narrow mountain road from Rodi to the little village of Prato Leventina (1,030 m/3,379ft; 2km/1mi southeast), on a natural terrace high above the Ticino valley, with a beautiful, Romanesque campanile.

From Biasca the road to Bellinzona runs down through the wide and almost straight valley of the Ticino, which from here to Bellinzona is known as the Riviera, with purely southern vegetation (vines, chesnuts, walnuts, mulberries, figs).

Rodi-Fiesso (945 m/3,101ft) is a double village beautifully situated between steep hillsides clad with larches and firs (summer holiday accommodation). From here there is a pleasant walk up to the Lago Tremorgio (1,828 m/8,998ft; two hours), to the southwest, nestling picturesquely in a deep rocky hollow.