Travelling throught the Gothard Tunnel

[TimR]

We are planning to travel in the second week in September to Garda, stopping for two nights in Lucerne. The second stage of our route takes us through the Gottard Tunnel. Has any one had any recent experience traveilling through this tunnel? We are led to believe that the queues can be horrendous. It is planned to travel through it on a Sunday morning.

Any advice would be welcome!

TimR

 

[vectisrambler]

I travelled over the Pass before the modern road was constructed, let alone the tunnel. The first year the tunnel opened we tried it on a July weekend and found the queue was extremely long and calculated a several hours delay. We left the main raod and went over the Pass instead - it was still there, albeit with snow beside the road! Over the years since, school holidays have become a time we can avoid and we have used the tunnel several times and found it free flowing. We use this route because we love the Ticino and the bordering area of Italy. You may expect an easy run in September. Unless, you specifically want to enjoy the delights of Lucerne, you may consider the Brenner Pass is a better route to the Lake Garda area.

 

[Aberdarian]

Went through there beginning of July on a saturaday morning took us about two hours ..stop start and most of it up hill and that was on the way to Garda. We came back via the brenner and thats was pretty quiet.

 

[Wendy3]

Hi Tim
We have just returned from a trip to Italy for the 2nd year running. Last year we didnt know about the Gotthard tunnel and got stuck in the queue at both ends for up to 2 hours at a time ( bearing in mind this was at the end of July both trips!). This year with hind sight we thought we would stay overnight near the tunnel then get up at 5am to get through before the traffic build up. This was a Saturday morning and we still hit traffic but were only stuck in it for 45mins. We decided when we returned home, which would be on a Sunday that we would hit it around midnight and hope for the best! We did exactly that and fortunately there was no traffic and we sailed straight through. We then pulled into the next services after the tunnel and stayed there overnight (along with everyone else!). I dont think you'll have a problem in September and a Sunday is definately a better day to hit the tunnel. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your holiday Italy is a fabulous place you may get smitten like us!!