Furka Pass route

The Furka Pass connects the Urseren Valley (the upper valley of the Reuss river) in the canton of Uri with the district of Goms in the canton of Valais. The European watershed between the Mediterranean and the North Sea runs along the pass. The pass was used as far back as Roman times, and from the 13th century goods such as salt, wine, hides and grain were increasingly transported on a mule track over the pass. A horse coach service operated over the pass after a road was built, until the first Postbus served the route in 1921. 

A first attraction to see is the Furka steam railway. The route between Realp (canton of Uri) and Oberwald (canton of Valais), which is almost 18 kilometres long, runs through an area of the Swiss Alps that is largely untouched and difficult to reach. Remote gorges and steep mountain slopes make up the views as you travel up to over 2,000 metres above sea level.  

On the summit of the Furka Pass, a breathtaking view of the Saint-Gotthard Massif and the Urseren Valley awaits you. From there, the pass road takes you past the Rhone Glacier and on into Valais. Near the Belvedere Furka stop, you will find the entrance to the ice cave which leads deep into the Rhone Glacier. The cave is a 100-meter-long, blue ice tunnel, that is easy to walk in and features ice chambers. It has been cut into the glacier anew every year since 1870. 

Depending on the timetable, it may be necessary to change to a different Postbus in Gletsch (Postbus stop: Gletsch, Post).