By Car in Valais

Valais is something of a dead end by nature: a fine expressway (A9) carries you in from Lac Léman, but to exit—or enter—from the east end, you must park your car on a train and ride through the Furka Pass tunnel to go north or take the train through the tunnel under the Simplon Pass to go southeast. (The serpentine roads over these passes are open in summer; weather permitting; the Simplon road stays open all year.) You also may cut through from or to Kandersteg in the Berner Oberland by taking a car train to Goppenstein or Brig. A summer-only road twists over the Grimsel Pass as well, heading toward Meiringen and the Berner Oberland or, over the Brünig Pass, to Luzern.