Two Thousand Years of Travelers, One Mountain Pass

No Alpine road carries more history than the Great St. Bernard. Celts and Romans crossed here (a temple to Jupiter stood at the top), medieval pilgrims walked it on the Via Francigena to Rome, and in May 1800 Napoleon led an army of 40,000 over the snow to surprise the Austrians in Italy, a crossing immortalized in David's famous painting of the general on a rearing horse. Above all, the pass belongs to the hospice: founded around 1050 by Bernard of Menthon to shelter travelers from storms and brigands, staffed ever since by Augustinian canons, and home to the rescue dogs that took the pass's name, including Barry, credited with saving some 40 lives. The drive itself climbs from the Rhône valley at Martigny through the villages of the Val d'Entremont, leaves the modern tunnel traffic behind for the old summit road, and crests at 2,469 meters beside a cold blue lake that straddles the border, with the hospice on one shore and Italy beginning at the far end. The descent lands you in Aosta among the best Roman ruins in the Alps. As pure scenery it ranks a notch below the glacier passes; as a journey through Alpine history it has no equal.

Key Stops

Martigny. The Swiss starting point, Roman Octodurus, with an amphitheater to prove it. Barryland is the essential stop: the St. Bernard dog museum and working kennels of the Fondation Barry, where the breed's rescue history is told with living examples year-round. Art lovers should add the Fondation Gianadda's first-class exhibitions.

Champex-Lac (detour). A short climb from Orsières reaches a small mountain lake ringed by forest, the prettiest side trip on the Swiss ramp and a favored acclimatization stop for Tour du Mont Blanc hikers.

Orsières and the Val d'Entremont. The main road settles into a valley of stone-roofed villages, terraced pastures, and glimpses of the Grand Combin massif ahead. Liddes and its hamlets repay an unhurried pace.

Bourg-Saint-Pierre. The last Swiss village, where Napoleon's army passed through and, as the village has cheerfully maintained for two centuries, never fully paid its requisition bill. A Roman milestone near the church marks how long this street has been a through-road.

The Combe: leaving the tunnel road. Above Bourg-Saint-Pierre the modern highway dives into avalanche galleries toward the year-round tunnel. The scenic drive branches off onto the old road through the Combe, a stark upper valley where the road curls past snowdrifts that linger into July. Watch carefully for the signed turn to the col; missing it means an unplanned tunnel transit.

The summit: hospice, lake, and dogs. At 2,469 meters, the pass gathers everything into a few hundred meters: the thousand-year-old hospice with its guest rooms, chapel, and museum (Roman votive offerings from the Jupiter temple, Napoleon memorabilia, the story of the canons and their dogs), the lake on the border, the statue of St. Bernard watching over it all, and from June to September the Fondation Barry's St. Bernards in residence at their ancestral kennel. Stay for lunch at the pass restaurants, or better, overnight with the canons.

Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses. The first Italian village, tucked under the pass, famous for Jambon de Bosses, a prized DOP mountain ham cured in the pass's dry winds. A plate of it with local bread is the correct celebration of the crossing.

Étroubles. A beautifully kept medieval village turned open-air gallery, with art installations threaded through its stone lanes. The easiest and most charming leg-stretch on the Italian descent.

Aosta. The finale earns its nickname of the Rome of the Alps: the Arch of Augustus, the Porta Praetoria gate, a soaring Roman theater wall, and a compact old town of cafes beneath 4,000-meter peaks. The pass road delivers you, as it has delivered travelers for two millennia, straight onto the Roman street grid.

Driving Tips

Respect the season. The summit road opens around June and closes completely with the first serious autumn snow, typically in October. Outside that window the tunnel (tolled, open year-round) is the only crossing; check pass status in the shoulder weeks.

Book the hospice if you want the real experience. The canons still take guests, with simple rooms, a communal dinner, and the extraordinary quiet of the pass after the day traffic leaves. It is popular with pilgrims and hikers; reserve well ahead in summer.

Time the dogs. The St. Bernards live at the summit kennel only from June to September; visits run daily in season. Outside those months, Barryland in Martigny is their year-round home.

Fuel before the mountain. Fill up in Martigny or Orsières on the Swiss side; on the descent, options resume around Étroubles and Aosta.

For more information visit: Switzerland Tourism: Great St. Bernard Pass and its Dogs