April 10, 2026, 9:49 am | Read time: 6 minutes
The old salt road along the Ligurian border ridge between Italy and France gets your heart racing. It’s narrow and usually lacks guardrails—but offers even more beautiful views. Why it’s not suitable for every driver and what else to consider: TRAVELBOOK provides an overview.
On the left, an overhanging rock face; on the right, a drop of several hundred meters; in between, a gravel track barely wider than the car—such scenes are usually only seen in blurry YouTube videos about the world’s most dangerous roads, somewhere in the Andes or the Himalayas. But this is not an expedition in South America or Asia; it’s a trip to the Alps and, moreover, a regular road—or at least what they consider one in the northwestern tip of Italy at the border with France.
Since the military began building border forts and barracks on the peaks here nearly 150 years ago, a dense network of tracks and paths has stretched through the Maritime Alps. Today, the roads serve peaceful recreational purposes, offering drivers plenty of adventure.
Toll and Car Limit on the Core Route
By far the most famous of these alpine tracks is the Alta Via del Sale, the High Salt Road: Because it consistently runs at over 1,800 meters and sometimes reaches up to 2,100 meters. Alternating between Italy and France, it stretches over about 60 equally gravelly and rugged kilometers from Limone Piemonte to Monesi di Triora.
It’s so spectacular and thus attractive to tourists that the neighboring communities have introduced a toll regulation on the approximately 30-kilometer core section of this road. With a ticket for 20 euros and a limit of a few hundred vehicles per day, they ensure it doesn’t get too crowded. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the route is reserved for hikers and mountain bikers.
Don’t Lose Your Nerve When It Gets Tight
Although the number of cars on the core section of the High Salt Road is limited, delays often occur because it can be driven in both directions. You frequently have to find passing places and sometimes reverse several hundred meters.
There are usually no guardrails, so you need to be a good driver and know your car and its dimensions well. It’s not for nothing that the Denzel Alpine Road Guide warns of high physical and mental demands and rates the route with a difficulty level of 4 to 5 on a scale of 1 to 5. Thus, the Alta Via del Sale is described as “a difficult route even for those accustomed to mountains (and) requires driving skills far above average,” according to the guide.
When the Mountain Farmer Comes in a Van
Even though it’s mostly heavy off-road vehicles seen on the route, you can also tackle this Ligurian border experience with modern SUVs or even conventional small cars. That’s why you only feel like a secret expedition leader on an off-road adventure until you spot a Fiat Panda around the next bend or a local mountain farmer coming toward you in a small van.
Sleep in the Valley–or with the Cows at the Hut
If you’re in a hurry, one day is enough on the Alta Via del Sale. But if you want to look at more than just the road, enjoy the panorama, take breaks, snap photos, and even take a few steps, you should plan at least one overnight stay. You can spend it down in the valley, for example, in the charmingly sleepy Tende, which clings to the hillside at the foot of the pass like a swallow’s nest, where there are charging stations for electric cars and where the famous Tenda Railway tempts you to a train ride to Turin on one side or Nice on the other.
But if you’re in the mountains, then please, a mountain hut. And none in this area is as rustic and at the same time attractive as the Rifugio La Terza. If you call the host in advance and have the right car, you might be allowed to drive the last few hundred meters from the parking lot right up to the door. They cook deliciously at the Rifugio, and of course, the Vino Rosso is tempting, but be careful—curfew is at ten, and shortly after, the lights go out in the simple rooms. And you can take that literally because the diesel generator is turned off. So it’s best to charge your camera and smartphone batteries beforehand.
Traveling through Europe by car and the rules you need to know
666 Miles Long! This Is Arguably the Most Dangerous Road in the U.S.
The Way to the Sea Is Short
When they start the generator’s engine again at seven in the morning, you can continue. The Alta Via del Sale website lists half a dozen routes that are all worth exploring. You can spend days up here–or you can end the trip in style and wind down endless switchbacks toward paved roads until the view opens up and the azure of the Mediterranean fills the panorama alongside the blue of the sky.
And at the latest, when the car rolls onto the beach in Ventimiglia, Menton, or even Monaco and the seawater laps around your ankles shortly after, even the heaviest lead foot becomes light, and the strains on the Alta Via del Sale are quickly forgotten—until the question of the route arises on the way back.
Alta Via del Sale – Further Information
The Alta Via del Sale is located in the far northwest of Italy and the far southeast of France and begins just beyond Limone Piemonte in Italy, which is reachable from Turin in just under two hours by car. The core section of the continuously unpaved route measures 30 kilometers and can be driven by car for a fee of 20 euros on five days a week. Access by bicycle costs 1 euro. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the border ridge road is closed to motorized vehicles.
The drive is possible with all cars, depending on the weather and road conditions. All-wheel drive is helpful but not required. The official website of the Alta Via del Sale provides information on the routes, possible closures, and tickets for the core route. Accommodation is available in the valley, such as in Limone Piemonte and Tende, or on the mountain, such as at Refugio La Terza.
With material from dpa