Simplon Pass

Valais

This mountain pass (2005m) links Brig with Domodossola in Italy. In the middle of the 17th century, Kaspar von Stockalper used it for bringing salt by mule from the Mediterranean and became hugely wealthy. A pass road was built around 1800, then a 19km railway tunnel, the longest in the world at that time, opened in 1906. Nowadays the pass road is open virtually year-round, but it's also possible to travel by car-train through the tunnel to Italy.

The pass is 22km south of Brig by road and a lovely drive.

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