When do the Alp passes open?
 

We're currently on the road and rapidly approaching Europe, and keen to spend time riding across mountains in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France - I was hoping that folk here might have an idea as to when in the year these open?

We're more concerned about snow than cold...

It does depend on snowfall but the ones I know well in the French Alps are rarely open before the middle / end of May and often well into June. That's the scenic ones; the ones that are necessary for transport are kept open all through the winter.

You can find out about their current status via some links from this page - AlpineRoads: Pass Conditions

I was in Switzerland in mid June last year and some of the passes (eg Grimselpass) were still closed due to snow. The snow on the high passes can remain metres deep for months until the authorities decide it is time to clear them. As already mentioned, the main transit routes are generally kept open all year but these tend to be the main roads and these are usually busy with lorries, coaches and everything else. The more 'scenic' rural ones are not considered to be too important and are just left.

thanks both

do you consider the main roads that are open all the time to be good rides? or are we better off to start thinking about a late summer trip?

I don't think that there are really any 'bad' roads in the Alps as even the main through roads pass through very spectacular scenery. You will be sharing the road with a lot of heavy trucks etc but it wouldn't put me off. Many of the passes on the major routes are bypassed with long tunnels, for example at the St Gotthard you could go up and over the original pass or take the 17km tunnel underneath. Because of the availability of the tunnel though, the original pass is not very likely to be cleared of snow during winter as a priority.

I would say go for it as seeing the Alps under snow is well worth the effort.

we're looking at coming in to the area form france, and want to visit a friend in turin, italy, and are then considering heading towards croatia. with this in mind, can anyone recommend passes that are likely to be open march-april that would give us a good ride? we're very happy to go a fair way out of our way for a good road

Alpenpässe, Schotterpisten und andere Ziele (nicht nur) für Motorradfahrer - Alpen-Motorrad-Guide got a good collection of passes, all available in GPS-formats. Some information regarding if the passes are open or closed.

Use Google Translate to translate from German.

There's a couple of routes to Turin that are kept open all winter - Grenoble to Briancon over the Lauteret is an easy enough ride in the summer but can be a bit bleak in the winter. Great on a sunny day though. The other route, the A43 through the Maurienne valley is the main one but depending on what part of France you're coming from can be a bit of a detour.

detours tend to be a bit of a specialty* - we'll usually look to go with whichever road looks to give us the best ride, and have been thinking about getting to Turin via Switzerland. Neither of us really have any idea which road will give us the best ride mid March though.


*point in case - our current plan for Europe is to ride England to Norway, via Albania, so that we can get a swim in

Here is a good link about the daily Pass Conditions

ALPENPORTAL | Straßenbericht Alpenpässe

Offen --> open
Gesperrt --> closed
Wintersperre --> closed

Just buy a map of Dolomites. This area is full of super magnificent roads.
Highest roads are not open so early, but this area is well worth of waiting a bit and go there again when roads are open.

All passes in the Dolomites are open year-round , could be closed for a day (or several , like this winter) for avalanches danger , but usually at max a couple of days the road will be feasible.
Exception is Grossglockner (thats not in Dolomites, but not far away)

This winter we had exceptional quantities of snow, so expect Stelvio and the other high passes to open later than usual

have now been through the alps and arrived in northern italy. we ended up riding round to germany, entering austria, then riding across to switzerland. wow - amazing, amazing riding - anyone else who is considering heading for a ride in the alps MUST DO SO IMMEDIATELY

we ended up buying a european road atlas, which had the passes marked and named. the combo of this and the websites given left us with o surprises