Simplon Pass tomorrow
 

Hi Fodorites,

I am planning to drive tomorrow from Verbania to Lausanne in Switzerland. I was planning to drive the Simplon pass or possibly get the car train if the weather is not so good. The car I have on a lease does not have snow chains and is only fitted with all weather tyres. So before I set out I wanted to check on the advice from the people who are in the know about whether the Simplon will be ok to drive tomorrow & if lack of chains will be an issue? My other option is to eat to Switzerland via the chamomix tunnel but that is a lot more expensive. I've driven mountains before but never here in europe.

Many thanks in advance!
Ce.

Based upon current temperatures you should have no problem.

Check out this site for up to date info - http://meteonews.ch/en/Weather/G2658580/Simplonpass

Excellent- thanks so much. I should be through by early afternoon so hopefully will miss the storms.

Ps. I can see the clouds over the mountains from here!

Hi, We went thru that pass once in early Summer, and there was a sign at the entrance, that we could not read unfortunately. We did drive thru and there was a good bit of snow, and we did not have snow tires. We also took the car train. I think you got a weather report above so hopefuily that will help. would not go thru at night if open then. You end up somewhere near Aosta which is an interesting town with a huge Roman aquaduct in the city. Good luck. Sue

The Swiss auto club TCS gives the official real-time status of the pass roads on its website. www.tcs.ch
As most other Swiss pass roads, Simplon is currently marked as "open for all vehicles".
You can find the status when you click on "Verkehrslage" or "Situation du trafic" or "situazione traffico" on the very top of the page.
Switch to "Liste" or "lista" if necessary.
Then type Simplon (or Sempione if you use Italian) in the search box of the main page (not the search box in the upper right hand corner).

Typically (and not so different from driving in the Rockies, I think), you find the status of mountain pass roads already posted in the valley - when you still have options to take an alternative route. Status signs are typically color coded (green/red for open/closed) and in 4 languages, including English.
The obligation to have snow chains on the road ahead is signposted with a blue round sign - with a tire that features chains. It does not mean that you must put them on where that sign stands (unless there IS already that much snow).
As a "rule of thumb", and different than in the Rockies - as pass roads in Switzerland have mostly a complimentary function to existing tunnels or car trains, it is more likely to find pass roads fully closed if severe weather hits the area than open + snow chains requirement.

Thanks again- we had great weather for our drive and the road was a very easy drive. There was snow on the mountains but none near the road. It was a sunny and warm day. The weather report was exactly what I was looking for. The only thing that slowed us down along the way were the roadworks along the way.

I imagine there are definitely more stunning roads to drive, but for my first time in Switzerland I was still in awe at how majestic the scenery was.

Thanks again!