The heart-stopping curves, pulse-racing gradients and breathtaking elevation: the rewards that make Europe’s finest Alpine passes so compelling are, by their very nature, what also make the world’s best roads so inaccessible.

In Italy’s slice of mountainous heaven, for instance, Stelvio, Gavia, Del Rombo, Great Saint Bernard and other famed passes aren’t terribly remote as the crow flies, but as paths of most resistance they demand a certain commitment in time and distance if you’re keen to explore from The Big Smoke.