Stelvio Pass

The Stelvio Pass, Passo dello Stelvio in Italian and Stilfser Joch in German, carries the SS38 over the Ortler Alps between Bormio in Lombardy and Prato allo Stelvio in South Tyrol. At 2,757 m it is the highest paved pass in the Eastern Alps and the second highest in the Alps.

The north side, up from Prato allo Stelvio through Trafoi, is the famous one: 48 hairpins, each numbered on a stone. In the first episode of its 10th series, Top Gear named the Stelvio the greatest driving road in the world.

The Austrian Empire built the road between 1820 and 1825 to the design of the engineer Carlo Donegani. The Giro d'Italia first crossed the pass in 1953, and as the highest point of the race it takes the Cima Coppi title whenever the route goes over it.

• The north side climbs from Prato allo Stelvio through Trafoi, with the 48 numbered hairpins, mostly tight, packed into the eastern ramp below the summit.
• The Bormio side climbs through fewer and more sweeping hairpins over 22 km.
• The summit sits at 2,757 m, next to a large summer ski area beside the pass road.
• The Umbrail Pass leaves the Bormio side near the top and drops into Switzerland's Val Müstair, so the Stelvio and the Umbrail can be linked in one loop.
• Road cyclists ride the pass, and about 8,000 of them ride to the top on Stelvio Bike Day.
• Best way to experience it: drive it yourself in your own car or a hire car, ride it on a motorbike, or join one of the guided tours that run over the pass.

• The pass opens in summer only, usually from late May to November. Snow clearing sets the opening date each year, and Bormio tourism's alpine passes page lists the status.
• Vehicles longer than 10 m or taller than 3.30 m are banned on the Bormio side. Vehicles longer than 10.50 m are banned on the South Tyrol side. The Umbrail Pass bans vehicles over 18 t, wider than 2.5 m or longer than 10 m.
• On Stelvio Bike Day, one Saturday each year in late August or early September, the roads from Bormio and from Prato allo Stelvio to the summit and the Umbrail road close to all traffic except bicycles.
• Bormio is the town at the south end, Prato allo Stelvio and Trafoi at the north end. Hire cars and guided tours are available in the region.

• Last verified: 3 November 2026