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Whether you make a dash for the last of the snow, or wait for the summer sun, Europe’s mountain passes are always a drivers’s delight. The challenge of serial switchbacks and stunning views are what put these routes on bucket lists.
Our guides to six of the best European mountain roads are now available for free on the MIVIA app, with accurate, turn-by-turn navigation for every one. You can also use the app to book accommodation and sign up for discounts and deals to improve your driving life.
Just download MIVIA and use the links below to tackle these six very special Detours in Switzerland, France and Italy.
Maloja Pass, Switzerland
It’s a dizzying, arm-twirling ascent to Maloja. Hairpin after hairpin sees you climb over 800 metres in the space of a couple of miles. A mountain goat couldn’t have designed a steeper route.
Flüela Pass, Switzerland
This road’s heady mix of fast and slow bends, long straights, dips and climbs makes it a challenge in any car.
Julier Pass, Switzerland
In winter months the route is a monochrome meander through the mountains, in the summer a sea of lush green pastures and slopes topped with ever-present ice caps.
ColLE DEL NiVOLET
The final cliff-hanging bus crash scene in The Italian Job was filmed on this amazing mountain pass, which packs one of the steepest tunnels in the Alps and no less than 33 hairpin bends into its 32 miles.
Col D’iZoard
One of the toughest grinds in cycling is also a driver’s delight with road being remarkably smoothly surfaced for a mountain pass – a bonus of being a part-time race track.
Col De turini
If you’re brave enough to undertake some car-based ghost hunting this All Hallows Eve then there’s no shortage of haunted roads to discover across England.