Missing the Gotthard tunnel !!

[Wendy3]

Hi guys

Were travelling to Italy again this year and passing through Switzerland but would preferably like to miss the Gotthard tunnel as we were stuck in traffic for over an hour last year. Has anyone taken an alternative route and if so which and what are the roads like?

I know there is alternative routes to Italy but we would like to include Luxenbourg as the fuel is extremely cheap there but any advice on any route would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

 

[BigTim]

Hi Wendy

A very easy alternative it take the St Gotthard Pass. In 2006, travelling to Lake Como area, a puncture delayed us so that we reached the northern end of the St G Tunnel at teatime on the last Friday in July!! The queues were awful so I decided to try the St Gotthard Pass road which is a turning off the road to the Tunnel.

We were driving a Vauxhall Monterery (re-badged Isuzu Trooper) 4x4 and towing an Avondale Landranger. The road was of excellent quality and climbed by a series of reasonable hairpin bends. There was then a flattish, plateau section before we descended, again by a series of hairpin bends. The road was quiet from a traffic viewpoint.

It was my first experience of using a pass road but I found it to be fine. On the way down I used engine braking to save overheating the brakes and the engine temperature guage registered so low that I was concerned that there was a problem with it - there wasn't!!

The pass road re-joined the "Tunnel" Road near to the southern exit and the Aerolo Services. We did try to overnight at the services but it was too noisy and so we pressed on.

It saved us a lot of time and I would be happy to do the route again. It saved us a lot of time. I would recommend it to you.

Regards

Tim

 

[Wendy3]

Hi Wendy

A very easy alternative it take the St Gotthard Pass. In 2006, travelling to Lake Como area, a puncture delayed us so that we reached the northern end of the St G Tunnel at teatime on the last Friday in July!! The queues were awful so I decided to try the St Gotthard Pass road which is a turning off the road to the Tunnel.

We were driving a Vauxhall Monterery (re-badged Isuzu Trooper) 4x4 and towing an Avondale Landranger. The road was of excellent quality and climbed by a series of reasonable hairpin bends. There was then a flattish, plateau section before we descended, again by a series of hairpin bends. The road was quiet from a traffic viewpoint.

It was my first experience of using a pass road but I found it to be fine. On the way down I used engine braking to save overheating the brakes and the engine temperature guage registered so low that I was concerned that there was a problem with it - there wasn't!!

The pass road re-joined the "Tunnel" Road near to the southern exit and the Aerolo Services. We did try to overnight at the services but it was too noisy and so we pressed on.

It saved us a lot of time and I would be happy to do the route again. It saved us a lot of time. I would recommend it to you.

Regards

Tim

Thanks Tim

It sounds like a good option that we may yet take, but one I may refrain from telling my 66 year old mum ( who is travelling with us along with my dad) as she dosen't like heights. They both travelled with us last year to Italy and as I recall she spent a lot of the time with her eyes closed making strange wailing noises most of the time through Switzerland!!

 

[Alison_374400153]

Sorry - this reply is very late - just been doing some catch-up surfing. The first time we used the St G tunnel it was a weekday with huge hold-ups and lots of lorries. Last year we made the decision to drive from Alsace on Staurday afternoon, through Switzerland, spending the night at Altdorf and travelling through the tunnel on Sunday morning - very quiet and not a lorry in sight!

Alison

 

[vectisrambler]

Wendy,

I travelled over the Gotthard Pass before the tunnel was opened and in those days we allowed a full day to travel from Luzern to Locarno! The year the tunnel opened, we were stuck in the biggest traffic jam in Europe - they even had news crews in helicopters landing to interview the frustrated motorists. I took one of my better decisions and opted to go over the top via the pass, rather than wait for hours. Taken carefully it presents no difficulty. We were slightly worried to find the modern galleried descent closed and had to use the old hairpins but no problems.

In those days we often stayed around the shores of Lake Maggiore and found the Simplon Pass a quiet and easy return north.

The A13 via the San Bernadino is very good. I cannot comment on the traffic because you did not mention when you are planning to travel. In fact, all of the major trans-alpine routes into Italy are good, it is a matter of personal choice, based on final destination, cost and the need for a change of scenery.