mari5

Has anyone driven the St. Gotthard tunnel in the past few months or year?
A few years ago when we drove through, it was filled the whole way with very thick, gaseous, smoggy air. Is it always that way.? ? I don't mind short tunnels but the l0 miles seemed so long...however I know people use it day in and day out.
(and I guess locigally speaking,if one wants to drive from NW Italy to either Switzerland or France then they HAVE to confront either a tunnel or a pass.!) Which way do you find best?. This will be in April! Thanks

altamiro

>Which way do you find best?. This will be in April!

In April you donīt have a choice between the pass and the tunnel, at least not at Gotthard. The pass will not be open before May or even June.

kleeblatt

It wasn't too bad the last time I drove through it (which was last fall.) Still gets kind of warm inside.

Shut the vents that bring in fresh air before entering the tunnel and you should be fine.

nytraveler

Yes, the tunnels through the Alps are always like that (filled with smoggy, stinky air). (We've been through several of them - perhaps a total of 9/10 times.) They try to vent them to the surface, but they are too long and there is just too much traffic.

Your best option is to close your car windows and put the AC on recirculating air - rather than bringing in fresh - then open the windows as soon as you're out of the tunnel.

kleeblatt

We once tried to hold our breath but 17 minutes is just too long.

The Gotthard now uses a "Tropf" (drop) system that can cause long lines before the tunnel but allows less traffic inside it. This has helped the pollution somewhat inside the tunnel.