The Bernina Pass (2,328m, sign reads 2,330m) or Passo del Bernina in Italian, is the 6th highest mountain pass in Switzerland.
It connects the famous resort town of St. Moritz with the Poschiavo valley, which ends in the Italian town of Tirano in the Valtellina valley.
Once down in Tirano, the Mortirolo is only a short-ish distance away…
Just a few kilometers down from the Bernina Pass summit on the Poschiavo end, you’ll be able to cross into Italy as well, cycling the Forcola di Livigno, which – as the name suggest – leads into Livigno on the Italian end.
While you’ll need to find alternative transportation for you and your bike through the tunnel Munt la Schera, you can circle/cycle back to Sankt Moritz up the “Ova Spin part” of the Ofen Pass and then down to Zernez.
And when cycling either end of the Bernina Pass, chances are you will run into a Bernina Express train. The Bernina line is the highest adhesion railway route in Europe.
Both the Bernina line and the Albula line are World Heritage Sites.
Samedan
The ascent of the Bernina Pass from Samedan is the easier of the two.
While a length of 16.5 kilometers may look intimidating, the 578 meters of D+ amount to “only” a 3.5% average.
There are some steeper stretches, but as most of the climb is (wide) open, facing a head wind might pose a bigger problem, more so if it is bitterly cold.
From Samedan, the col marker is a short stretch past the parkings and the two ospizio’s, the second – on the right – having a splendid view on the Lago Bianco.
I cycled this end twice: in my Giro d’Italia 2015, when I cycled both ends consecutively and in the Prologue of 2025’s Giro.
Tirano
At 33.2 kilometers in length, the Tirano climb up the Bernina Pass is not only more demanding distance-wise, but with 1,900 meters of D+ or 5.7% average you also have a lot more climbing to do.
And that average is seriously brought down by the flat part along Lago di Poschiavo.
Taking roughly 9 kilometers out of the equation, ups the average to 7.9% – the final 15.2 kilometers, most of the entire distance of the Samedan end, has an average of 8.1%…
I have done this end in full twice, in my Giro d’Italia 2015 and Giro d’Italia 2020 – neither was the best of experiences, but the downhill of this end is ultra fast 😂
