The day we drove over Bernina Pass could’ve been named “Mountain Passes” day. I think we might’ve driven over 3 or 4. Maybe 5. I can’t remember exactly, but it was a lot.
After leaving Chiavenna, an Italian town near Lake Como & the Swiss/Italian border, we went over our first mountain pass of the day; it wasn’t Bernina but Maloja Pass (another pretty one). We then drove through St. Moritz and finally onto Bernina Pass. As you can see, there’s a lot of mountain driving going on here, but it was all intentional. To get the best views of the countryside you often have to forgo the nice, fast highways and instead opt for the slower, windier roads.
Here’s a shot near the western side of Bernina Pass. There’s still quite a bit of trees & shrubs at this point.
But when you reach higher elevations, the trees disappear and are replaced with a moss-like ground covering. Seems good for the cows and looks really nice (especially compared to the brown-ness that abounds in Colorado, which has a super dry climate).
A shock of bright color along the path from this pretty flower.
Here’s a photo taken at the summit where we parked and walked around a little bit. For those of us who (unfortunately) don’t use the metric system, Passo del Bernina is at about 7,600 feet.
There’s our cute little trusty car and Tristan filming the view. It was a little bit breezy & chilly as those clouds were keeping out the sun.
Here are some views heading down the eastern side of the pass.
Towards the bottom the rain started falling. I don’t know how often it does that around here, but it probably helps keep this looking so darn green.
So after we made our descent, we pretty much were ready to cross back into Italy. Another seamless border checkpoint like when we crossed into Switzerland to go over Maloja Pass.
To Go or No
I think if I had to pick the better of Bernina Pass & Maloja Pass, I’d choose Bernina. The scenery changed quite a bit from top to bottom and was perhaps a little more rewarding overall. But they’re both good as far as mountain passes go. :)
Map
Here’s a map of Bernina Pass and the surrounding towns we passed through to get from our starting point, Lake Como, to our destination, the Dolomites.
Wishing you safe & happy travels!