After microstates like Andorra and Liechtenstein, Switzerland is the most mountainous country in Western Europe, and this is evident in its roads.<\/p>\n
The Alps cover 60% of Switzerland's land area.<\/strong> The country boasts 48 peaks exceeding 4,000 meters, and the average elevation of Swiss territory is 1,350 meters. Building roads in such a landscape can be extremely challenging, as demonstrated by the Kiental-Griesalp route<\/strong> in the canton of Bern. This road was built in 1898 at the initiative of local hotelier Christian Bettschen to connect Kiental<\/strong>\u2014a village with a current population of 210, situated at an altitude of 960 to 997 meters above sea level\u2014with the Griesalp<\/strong> pasture, a tourist resort located at 1,400 meters.<\/p>\n This road features gradients of up to 28%.<\/strong> It is a two-way road, though there are small pull-offs in certain spots where a vehicle can wait while another travels up or down. The Kiental-Griesalp route is also the steepest road in Europe accessible to buses<\/strong>; between May and October, it is served by Line 220 of the Swiss postal minibuses<\/a>, which transport passengers and luggage to Griesalp. Other vehicles are prohibited from using the road while the buses are making their ascent<\/strong> to prevent traffic jams. A few days ago, Driving Tour Travels<\/a> released an interesting video of a drive along this road (English commentary on the route is available via subtitles, which you can enable in the video player):<\/p>\n
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