Am planning on taking a road trip to Como Italy this weekend, leaving from Montreux. Was hoping to find some good roads on the way there. I have heard about the Stelvio Pass, and the St Moritz to Como but it would require a large detour to get there. Don’t mind taking a small detour. Anyone have and good itineraries?

A lot of the best mountain passes have still not re-opened yet after the winter. Here is a map showing which are open and closed in Switzerland. I don't know of a similar site for Italy, but I'm sure that the Stelvio will still be closed.

By any chance, do you know when the Stelvio is supposed to open? (I'm also interested in the Gaviapass).
According to the tcs.ch website, the Umbrailpass is already open, so I was hoping the Stelvio would open not long afterwards.

If anybody knows of an Italian website similar to tcs.ch, I would be glad to know about it. Google has not been my friend on this one

Stevio is a very challenging pass. Hope you are an experienced mountain motorist.

Status information on passes in Sud-Tirol
http://www.provinz.bz.it/vmz/report/index_d.asp?Type=2

As of 28th May 2009, Passo Stelvio (in German called Stilfser Joch) is partially closed.

Funny how one word can change the meaning of a whole sentence
But thanks for the advice: I'll ride my bicycle with extreme caution

Brilliant! Thanks a lot! (though I'll have to wait a bit longer for my Stelvio/Gavia ride).

Here are a few pictures of Stelvio that a friend of mine took on a biking holiday last June

What?
In a rear wheel drive supercar you have no previous experience of, maybe.

In a normal car with common sense it's just a beautiful bunch of steep bends in a breathtaking setting.
Best time to enjoy it is very first thing in the morning before everyone else gets on it.

6am:

The Stilfserjoch is not in Switzerland. It is neither built nor maintained to Swiss standards. Stelvio has very tight hairpins, edges soft and unsecured, rock slides, dark tunnels, etc. Also it is one of the highest passes and traffic can be heavy.

Many European car manufacturers use the Stilfserjoch to stress test new car models.

Happy pedaling. I admire your ability.

Errr yes, I'm aware of that, thanks

Bicycle are you crazy
You must have impressive thighs.....
Now in my car maybe...

The Stelvio Pass is one of the most classic bike climbs in Europe. I still haven't done it (it's kind of far from Lausanne) but hope to do it this year. On one day in early September they actually close the road to cars and only allow cyclists on it

Here is the profile of the climb from Prato from the site climbbybike.com:

Thanks for the info. Apparently it's on the last Saturday of August (29th) and attracts 10,000 cyclists each year:
http://naturatrafoi.com/stelviobike/english/index.php
Sounds great to me!

(with ref. to Stelvio) would you advise a young driver (who is not too trigger happy) and is quite cautious to drive a rear-wheel drive there (not a supercar)?

Also, during the summer months - how busy are the roads?

Stelvio is a bit of a nightmare, don't bother going on a weekend, its packed, there are thousands of mental cyclists and motorbikers, and loads of idiots in campervans and caravans who won't get out of the way and seem to think that everyone should only go 10kph up and down the pass.

Your best bet is during the week or REALLY early in the morning at weekends.

done Stelvio a few times now, and everytime seen quite a few accidents, normally cars hitting bikers.

The Stelvio, is one blind hairpin after another with quite a few people grunting up with bicycles. So its not that fast. RWD is fine when dry. The end can go out if its wet and your enthusiasitc.

Oh and you'd be better off asking here
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/f...=179&mid=63131
about swiss roads and mountain passes worth driving