RoutesRoad cycling routesItalyAosta ValleyEtroubles
Great St. Bernard Pass – Col du Grand Saint-Bernard loop from Saint-Oyen
RoutesRoad cycling routesItalyAosta ValleyEtroubles
Great St. Bernard Pass – Col du Grand Saint-Bernard loop from Saint-Oyen
Hard
4.8
(10)
223
riders
Great St. Bernard Pass – Col du Grand Saint-Bernard loop from Saint-Oyen
02:28
36.6km
1,220m
Road cycling
Hard road ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.
Last updated: August 22, 2026
Tips
Temporary access restrictions
Includes segments with temporary access restrictions.
After 6.46 km for 11.9 km
Closed: • October-May (otherwise open)
After 18.6 km for 12.1 km
Closed: • October-May (otherwise open)
Waypoints
A
Start point
Parking
Get Directions
1
4.87 km
Start of the Serious Climb
Highlight • Climb
A great workout and a pleasure to look at.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
2
13.5 km
Final climb to the Col du Grand Saint Bernard
Highlight • Viewpoint
Breathtaking landscapes, sweeping views. You can see the road winding up the mountain. Most cars drive through the tunnel, so it's not too busy on this segment of the ride.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
3
18.0 km
Lac de Grand Saint Bernard
Highlight • Lake
The mountain lake of Gran San Bernardo is located at 2,447 meters above sea level, right in the heart of the Alps, which here draw the natural and political border between Italy and Switzerland.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
4
18.4 km
Great St. Bernard Pass
Highlight • Mountain Pass
Great St. Bernhard (Pass) "Until the Middle Ages"
Until the Middle Ages
Despite its great height, the pass has been walked since the early Iron Age, as is shown by finds along the access road in the north. At the time of the Roman Empire it was one of the most important alpine crossings from Italy to Gaul and the Rhine provinces. The name of the mountain appears for the first time in Gaius Julius Caesar's report on the war in Gaul. Later other Roman and Greek authors such as Titus Livius and Strabo wrote about the pass road. Until it was expanded as a road under Emperor Claudius, there was only one mule track across the mountains. One advantage of the route was that there were no difficult-to-pass gorges at the entrances, such as the Gotthard Pass, for example.
At the top of the pass there was a temple in Roman times, in which the native (Celtic) god Poeninus was worshiped, who was equated by the Romans with Iuppiter Optimus Maximus in the sense of the Interpretatio Romana. In the Middle Ages, the pass was still called Mont-Joux (from Latin mons Iovis).
The mountain crossing served secular and spiritual dignitaries, traders and crusaders, warbands and refugees as a route from the north to northern Italy and vice versa. It was a central section of a network of pilgrimage routes from the Franconian Empire and its successor states to Rome, which was bundled there and then branched out again. These routes were known as Via francigena, German: Way out of the Franconian Empire. A good source for the route is the 994 travelogue of Archbishop Sigeric the Serious of Canterbury.
In the middle of the 11th century a hostel was built on the top of the pass. According to tradition, Bernhard von Aosta and Irmingard († 1057), the wife of the last Burgundian king Rudolf III, founded this institution on the border between the diocese of Sion and the diocese of Aosta. From this the Bernhardshospiz developed, from which the pass got its current name. It has been documented as a house of Augustinian canons since 1125. On the mountain, members of the hospice bred the St. Bernard dog breed, which proved itself as rescue dogs in the search for avalanche victims. She became known worldwide through Barry, who is said to have saved the lives of over 40 people.
Since the 11th century, the Alpine pass was under the control of the Counts of Savoy. As a connection between the Savoy region in the Lake Geneva region and south of the Alps, the route over the Great Saint Bernard with the hostel was important for the counts, dukes of Savoy since the 15th century. When the Valais conquered the Chablais and the Martigny area during the Burgundian Wars, the Savoy lost control of the northern foot of the pass road. Access from the north was via the Rhone bridge at Saint-Maurice, which led across the river at an easily controllable narrow point in the Rhone Valley, which was fortified with the Saint-Maurice Castle after the Burgundian Wars.
Modern times
On May 14th, 1800 Napoléon Bonaparte crossed the Alps here on his way to Italy. He also entrusted the canons of the Bernhard Pass with the hospice on the Simplon Pass.
In the 1850s, Switzerland and the Kingdom of Sardinia planned a winter-proof variant for the connection between the Val d'Entremont and the Aosta Valley. The Menouve Tunnel a few kilometers east of the summit of the Great St. Bernard Pass would have shortened the route significantly. Shortly after the construction work began, the project was abandoned again.
In 1905 a drivable road over the pass was completed.
From 1940 to the 1990s, the pass formed the south-western boundary point of the Swiss Redoubt; the entrances in Entremont were secured against potential attackers by terrain obstacles and barriers; Artillery supported the blocked positions.
In the past, the path over the high mountain pass was only passable in summer. Since 1964, the road connection between the Valais and the Aosta Valley has led through the 5.85 km long, toll-based Grosser St. Bernhard tunnel and the historic pass road forms a detour to the hospice and through the beautiful mountain landscape. The Oléoduc du Rhône oil pipeline, which was closed in 2015, runs through the road tunnel from the port of Genoa to the Collombey refinery in Valais.
Text / Source: Wikipedia
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grosser_St._Bernhard
Until the Middle Ages
Despite its great height, the pass has been walked since the early Iron Age, as is shown by finds along the access road in the north. At the time of the Roman Empire it was one of the most important alpine crossings from Italy to Gaul and the Rhine provinces. The name of the mountain appears for the first time in Gaius Julius Caesar's report on the war in Gaul. Later other Roman and Greek authors such as Titus Livius and Strabo wrote about the pass road. Until it was expanded as a road under Emperor Claudius, there was only one mule track across the mountains. One advantage of the route was that there were no difficult-to-pass gorges at the entrances, such as the Gotthard Pass, for example.
At the top of the pass there was a temple in Roman times, in which the native (Celtic) god Poeninus was worshiped, who was equated by the Romans with Iuppiter Optimus Maximus in the sense of the Interpretatio Romana. In the Middle Ages, the pass was still called Mont-Joux (from Latin mons Iovis).
The mountain crossing served secular and spiritual dignitaries, traders and crusaders, warbands and refugees as a route from the north to northern Italy and vice versa. It was a central section of a network of pilgrimage routes from the Franconian Empire and its successor states to Rome, which was bundled there and then branched out again. These routes were known as Via francigena, German: Way out of the Franconian Empire. A good source for the route is the 994 travelogue of Archbishop Sigeric the Serious of Canterbury.
In the middle of the 11th century a hostel was built on the top of the pass. According to tradition, Bernhard von Aosta and Irmingard († 1057), the wife of the last Burgundian king Rudolf III, founded this institution on the border between the diocese of Sion and the diocese of Aosta. From this the Bernhardshospiz developed, from which the pass got its current name. It has been documented as a house of Augustinian canons since 1125. On the mountain, members of the hospice bred the St. Bernard dog breed, which proved itself as rescue dogs in the search for avalanche victims. She became known worldwide through Barry, who is said to have saved the lives of over 40 people.
Since the 11th century, the Alpine pass was under the control of the Counts of Savoy. As a connection between the Savoy region in the Lake Geneva region and south of the Alps, the route over the Great Saint Bernard with the hostel was important for the counts, dukes of Savoy since the 15th century. When the Valais conquered the Chablais and the Martigny area during the Burgundian Wars, the Savoy lost control of the northern foot of the pass road. Access from the north was via the Rhone bridge at Saint-Maurice, which led across the river at an easily controllable narrow point in the Rhone Valley, which was fortified with the Saint-Maurice Castle after the Burgundian Wars.
Modern times
On May 14th, 1800 Napoléon Bonaparte crossed the Alps here on his way to Italy. He also entrusted the canons of the Bernhard Pass with the hospice on the Simplon Pass.
In the 1850s, Switzerland and the Kingdom of Sardinia planned a winter-proof variant for the connection between the Val d'Entremont and the Aosta Valley. The Menouve Tunnel a few kilometers east of the summit of the Great St. Bernard Pass would have shortened the route significantly. Shortly after the construction work began, the project was abandoned again.
In 1905 a drivable road over the pass was completed.
From 1940 to the 1990s, the pass formed the south-western boundary point of the Swiss Redoubt; the entrances in Entremont were secured against potential attackers by terrain obstacles and barriers; Artillery supported the blocked positions.
In the past, the path over the high mountain pass was only passable in summer. Since 1964, the road connection between the Valais and the Aosta Valley has led through the 5.85 km long, toll-based Grosser St. Bernhard tunnel and the historic pass road forms a detour to the hospice and through the beautiful mountain landscape. The Oléoduc du Rhône oil pipeline, which was closed in 2015, runs through the road tunnel from the port of Genoa to the Collombey refinery in Valais.
Text / Source: Wikipedia
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grosser_St._Bernhard
Translated by Google •
Tip by
5
18.6 km
Col du Grand Saint-Bernard
Highlight • Mountain Pass
This climb is something incredible: it doesn't have difficult gradients but it's long, very long, endless. You reach a point where you almost hate it: you've been cycling for well over an hour and still can't see the summit, you're running out of energy and the wind keeps whipping your face, you'd like to throw your bike away and say "Enough! I'm stopping here"... but it's only for a moment, because you're the one who chose to face it and you knew perfectly well what you were getting into; you set off again with more grit than before and tackle those last few km of road with all your remaining strength.
And then you enter the tunnel, there you start to realize you've made it, you come out, follow the road that turns slightly to the left and, as if in a dream, the lake appears.
You reach the top and think about how many people throughout the centuries have traveled this road: Salassi, Romans, monks, migrants, Napoleonic soldiers... you realize you are in a place where History is dense and nature is stunning, and there you can only love this hill
And then you enter the tunnel, there you start to realize you've made it, you come out, follow the road that turns slightly to the left and, as if in a dream, the lake appears.
You reach the top and think about how many people throughout the centuries have traveled this road: Salassi, Romans, monks, migrants, Napoleonic soldiers... you realize you are in a place where History is dense and nature is stunning, and there you can only love this hill
Showing Translation
Tip by
6
18.7 km
Great St Bernard Hospice
Highlight • Mountain Pass
Beautiful pass road with great views. Passing height 2473 m. Difference in altitude between Martigny and Gr. St. Bernhard ca. 2,000 Hm.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
7
19.4 km
View of Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard
Highlight • Viewpoint
breathtaking view of the now Italian Alps from the great St. Bernhard, whoever has overcome the pass can now look forward to an almost endless descent to Aosta. The reward for the many drops of sweat from the ascent now follows.
Translated by Google •
Tip by
8
34.9 km
Saint-Oyen
Highlight • Settlement
A picturesque little village in the Grand Saint-Bernard valley, offering several trails.
Showing Translation
Tip by
B
36.6 km
End point
Parking
Way Types & Surfaces
Way Types
28.0 km
7.37 km
1.02 km
220 m
Surfaces
36.3 km
301 m
< 100 m
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Elevation
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Highest point (2,470 m)
Lowest point (1,260 m)
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Weather
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Monday 24 August
28°C
16°C
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