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Furka, Grimsel and Susten
RouteSwitzerland8 days · 860 km

Furka, Grimsel and Susten

Eight days in the Central Alps, built around the Three Classic Passes from Meiringen. You sleep in Lucerne and Interlaken first, then take Grimsel, Furka, and Susten in one unhurried loop — glacier viewpoint, hairpins, a café at the top. If the Gotthard Tremola cobbles are open, they are a gift, not a requirement.

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Season: Furka, Grimsel, and Susten typically open late May or June through October. The 131 km three-pass loop is one driving day; start with a full battery.

Eight days in the Central Alps, built around the Three Classic Passes from Meiringen. You sleep in Lucerne and Interlaken first, then take Grimsel, Furka, and Susten in one unhurried loop — glacier viewpoint, hairpins, a café at the top. If the Gotthard Tremola cobbles are open, they are a gift, not a requirement.

Day by day

Day 1

Lucerne

Chapel Bridge in the late light, then a steamer if you have the hour. Charge overnight at the hotel; tomorrow the lakes pull you south.

Chapel Bridge over the Reuss, Lucerne in the blue hour
Chapel Bridge over the Reuss, Lucerne in the blue hourPhoto: Ikiwaner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Day 2

Interlaken

The Jungfrau sits at the end of Höheweg as if the street were aimed. Between Lakes Thun and Brienz the air smells of lake and cut grass; this is the pause before the passes.

Interlaken held between two lakes and the Jungfrau
Interlaken held between two lakes and the JungfrauPhoto: W. Bulach / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Day 3

Meiringen

Reichenbach Falls still throw Sherlock’s ghost into the spray. Sleep here: in the morning the official three-pass loop starts at your hotel door.

Why stop hereCharge nearby: Tesla Supercharger (Tesla Supercharger Meiringen) — typical arrival 32%, about 24 min to 90%. Pass day: check seasonal closure that morning; a tunnel is a backup, not a ruined holiday.

Susten’s clean line of hairpins back toward Meiringen
Susten’s clean line of hairpins back toward MeiringenPhoto: Norbert Aepli / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)
Day 4

Andermatt

Grimsel at 2165 m, then Furka at 2431 m with the Rhone Glacier viewpoint — a slow day, not a race. Andermatt sits in the bowl; Susten at 2264 m closes the loop in the morning.

Why stop hereCharge nearby: Tesla Supercharger (Tesla Supercharger Andermatt) — typical arrival 22%, about 27 min to 85%. Short driving day: charge in the overnight town and keep the climbs honest.

Andermatt in the high bowl, waiting for the next pass
Andermatt in the high bowl, waiting for the next passPhoto: Lutz Fischer-Lamprecht / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Day 6

Lugano

If the Tremola cobbles are open, take them; if not, the tunnel is honest. Either way Ticino meets you with palms and a different light. Lugano is the reward for the granite days.

Grimsel’s reservoirs like dark glass between the granite
Grimsel’s reservoirs like dark glass between the granitePhoto: Alchemist-hp / Wikimedia Commons (FAL)
Day 8

Lucerne

Home on the A2, a motorway charger near Basel if the climbs took more than you budgeted. Lucerne again, the lake familiar now.

Tremola cobbles climbing the old Gotthard
Tremola cobbles climbing the old GotthardPhoto: Patryk Hejduk / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quiet charging pauses

  • Tesla Supercharger in Meiringen — a calm stop on this leg, about 24 min.
  • Tesla Supercharger in Andermatt — a calm stop on this leg, about 27 min.
  • Ionity in Basel — a calm stop on this leg, about 28 min.

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