Angelika

Hi,

Does anyone know if it is possible to drive to Lake Maggiore (from England) avoiding the long road tunnels through the Alps? I will be travelling from England to Maggiore, via a stopover in Frankfurt. This would normally mean driving through Switzerland, but I could deviate to go through France (or Austria) if it allows me to avoid the long tunnels without adding too much time to my journey!

I have tried route maps with RAC, AA, Michelin etc but they only allow avoidance of motorways/tolls so all routes involve tunnels. I don't mind (short < 1km) tunnels but not those quite so long as through the Alp!

Many thanks
Angela

Alec

Well, unless you travel in the winter months (roughly Nov-Apr/May), most Alpine tunnels have alternative mountain passes, which will be a lot slower but can be scenic in good weather. St Gotthard Pass is an alternative to the tunnel of the same name (and is the most direct route for Lake Maggiore), as is Grand St Bernard Pass instead of the tunnel (which isn't particularly long, but in several sections). Though it takes you away from your destination, there's a route through Brenner motorway (no long tunnels) south of Innsbruck. Lastly there is Simplon tunnel in Valais which isn't a road tunnel but cars are carried on rail shuttle (like Eurotunnel).

Clea

Angelika,

I've made that trip through the tunnels a time or two. The only way I know around it is through Austria, and you can SEE the Alps instead of smelling exhaust fumes. I've never seen anything more beautiful than the drive through Austria! My boyfriend drove while I stood up through the sunroof with the camcorder.

Clea

Angelika

Thank you Alec and Clea! I will look into the Austria option, although Grand St Bernard and Brenner don't sound too bad.

Angela

Intrepid

It looks like the previous post confirms what I suspect about driving...unless you have someone ELSE doing it you won't get to "see" as much scenery.

Angelika

No Intrepid, I am not the best driver anyway, so admiring the Alpine view as I negociate the sharp bends is probably not the best idea, but fresher air than a tunnel!

Andre

Angelika,

It makes no sense for you to go East all the way to Austria!

Coming from Frankfurt, your best bet is definitely the Gotthard Pass.

The Simplon Pass will get you right to Stresa, but will entail a longer ride through Switzerland (you could load your car on the train through the Loetschberg tunnel to shorten it, but you said you didn't want to do that).

BTW, the pass road is the only way to cross the Simplon in a car: the car-train shuttles through the Simplon Tunnel which Alec refers to were discontinued several years ago.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Angelika

Thanks Andre, that does help.

I checked the Austria route and it would add about 4-5 hours to my journey. I also looked up info on the Gotthard pass which looks like the best idea, scenic and not adding too much time to journey.

My own fault though for being a little claustrophobic!

Many thanks to all
Angela.

Nidwaldner_Chris

The Gotthard Pass is very scenic-exit from the far right lane to Andermatt and follow the blue road signs to Gotthard (or if traffic is backed up before the tunnel exit earlier and follow the blue signs). If you go over Gotthard, you will probably also want to avoid the 9km long Seelisberg tunnel about 15km south of Luzern on the A2.

To do this take the A4 on the other side of Lake Luzern (Vierwaldstattersee) starting north of Luzern. There will be some minor tunnels but nothing you don't drive out of in a few seconds. Going this way you'll also avoid all the construction around Luzern (and more tunnels). There are also some longer tunnels driving from Basel, I think the longest is called Belchen. It's hard to completely avoid tunnels in Switzerland. www.inforoute.ch is very handy for traffic, pass, and tunnel info.

Angelika

Thanks Chris, that is really helpful!

gfh4textiles

Hi Angela,

I hope you could help me, I am going to be embarking on the same journey as you: England to Lake Maggiore(not including Frankfurt). It's a long shot, as you posted some time ago but I was hoping you could offer some tips as to a route i could take across Switzerland to avoid the scarily long tunnels. I have been looking at various routes on google earth and am beggining to get a little anxious as it seems you can't avoid the long tunnels. Please, please can you tell me the route you eventually took?

I really, reallly hope you can help.

Many thanks,

George

kerouac

I've driven over just about all of the passes and love them (although last time I went over the Grand St Bernard, I didn't know they were completely rebuilding the road on the Italian side and it was an awful mess) -- but it's important to know that you are often adding 2 or 3 hours to your itinerary instead of 15 minutes in a tunnel. And when you hit unexpected fog or snow flurries at the top of the pass even in mid summer, it is much scarier than any tunnel will ever be.

janisj

<B>gfh4textiles:</B> Welcome to Fodors. It almost always (not <i>every</i> time but usually) is better to start a new thread w/ your own questions instead of topping one from 8 years ago.

Angelika hasn't posted in many years (unless she has changed screen names). Most folks will post in response to the original topic and your questions may get lost in the shuffle.

Just click on "Start a New Topic" and post your questions.

europos

In 1990 I drove from Germany into Austria. Since then I needed a VISA for every country I decided to ram the border by not stopping. I hid my car number plates behind another car who stopped and then I sped up and the border guards started screaming something and I showed them FAREWELL... It worked. And immediately I ran into a 13 or 18 km long tunnel, now you know what border crossing I rammed? So I was laughing at the whole border "crossing" thing (not even thinking that Polizei will be looking for me) I did not realise that the tunnel was so long and I drove with my windows open, playing music and I think I got too much CO2 and by the end of the tunnel felt quite sick of it. Yet this is nothing. Because before that I was in Italy (year 1990, no visa either, heheh)
by discussing things with border guards and giving them candy, so it was fun but when I entered some 18 km tunnel in Italy or was it Switzerland and half of it was closed, so the two-way traffic was let into a 18 km long tunnel on one side!
That's where I got really intoxicated with the car exhausts as I did not realise to close car windows etc. So it was quite difficult to make conscious out of that tunnel. Many other people were seemed disoriented by CO2 intoxication.

So upon exiting Austria at the other end they recognised my car number plates and "arrested" me by telling me to pay ASH100 (US$10) fine. Haha, only $10, that was funny fine for such a nice border ramming experience.

And guess what what happened on the German-French border? I got into France without visa by just talking to the border guards! I told them I must go fast to meet a relative, no French visa guys, sorry! They told me to get out of my car, searched my car entirely including engine etc. then they closed their eyes with their hands ("we did not see you") and told me you can go! That was really funny, until I hit the French expressway, which I realised was very expensive! Very soon I was back in Germany by my own decision! LOL

Jean

Well, that was interesting. Sort of.

spaarne

German Autobahnen prohibited trucks on Sunday until 10 PM when I lived there in the early 1990s. Does anybody know if the Swiss, Austrian, and Italians have that rule for their expressways?

Truck exhaust fumes are especially noxious in Europe because the tailpipes are at the same level as your windows, as opposed to the USA where the fumes come out at about 15 feet up. That 4" pipe putting out diesel exhaust is suffocating.