Drive from Orta Italy to Lauterbrunnen
 

Hi! Does anyone have any advice on the best way to drive from lake Orta in Italy to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland? I love maps and have been studying ViaMichelen, but I know that does not tell the whole story. For instance, I recently read that the Gotthard pass can have huge backups at any time.

We are going on a Tuesday mid morning in mid August.

I know we'll see some amazing scenery once in Lauterbrunnen area, but it would be great to know about the most dramatic route, along with any caveats/hints/chance of worst traffic, etc.

If we go via Brig, then it looks like we'll be near but not going over the furka pass. I read the Furka pass an amazing sight. Would it be worth detouring a little up to the furka pass, or will it be sort of like what we are seeing on the way anyway?

We're going on kind of a crazy road trip so I'm trying to plan/know as much as I can before we go, with the idea that things may not always go as planned :-) My husband really wanted to drive through the alps so here we are! Thank you

So nwo I can answer my own question- we did this: We went via a Brig, and it was absolutely fantastic. We did not take the tunnel- we went over. At the border, stop and buy the sticker for e50 that you need to travel on the swiss highways. The roads gave my husband his Alp drive he wanted, that's for sure. We loved the "farmstand", a trailer ont he side of high pass, - nothing else around - local cheese bread and sausages to die for!

It should take about 4 hours, but at the height of the European vacation season, all bets are off and it could take a lot longer. Nobody and no website and no travel agency can foretell the future, so you are right in thinking that it could be an eternity, or a breeze.

Have you considered driving to Iselle and putting the car on the train through the Simplon tunnel, then doing the same thing through the Lötschberg tunnel, coming out and off the train at Kandersteg? It's less than an hour from there to Lauterbrunnen.

Look here:

http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-service...d-simplon.html

and here:

www.bls.ch/e/autoverlad/autoverlad.php

I doubt that the St. Gotthard pass itself will have huge backups because most travelers use the tunnel. In fact, it is not easy to find the road that goes to the pass on the Italian side. If you do not specify "no vignette", viamichelin will probably take you on the motorway and you will need to purchase a vignette.

OK - I just read your second entry - you've been there and done that... Oh well, maybe someone else sees the train option...