Mont Blanc Tunnel or Gotthard Tunnel at the beginning of May

[Mrs Acer]

Hi everyone,
We are heading to Sicily at the beginning of May. I'm looking at google maps and it is suggesting the same amount of time whether you take the Mont Blanc tunnel or go via Nancy, Basel, Lucerne and the Gotthard Tunnel. So, which route would anyone recommend in particular? I can see the Gotthard is free but we'll need the Swiss vignette of approx. 43 euros and the Mont Blanc will be much more at 72.60 euros each way. So besides cost, does anyone have a preference?
Thank you
Mrs Acer

 

[AndrewCook680]

Mt blanc tunnel can have big queues. 30 min wait last time I drove it in our Hilux in 2022, in September

 

[pluc99]

The Gotthard is ok during the week but towards the weekend it gets busy, potentially 2 hours queue busy. I almost always take the Simplon Pass? It's free and scenic.

You didn't say where you were coming from; there may be other routes available.

 

[mr pg]

If the passes are are open why take a tunnel?

 

[Skylark2.0]

If the passes are are open why take a tunnel?

Often the passes can be closed until June?

 

[mr pg]

Yes, they can be, I've known it even into early July on one year we went. As mentioned earlier, the Gotthard tunnel often has large queues, so if the pass is open that's what I'd be using.

 

[pluc99]

Often the passes can be closed until June?

Most passes, certainly the Gotthard and Gd St Bernard, are closed from October until the end of May in a typical year.
The Simplon stays open all year round.
https://alpen-paesse.ch/en/

The San Bernardino tunnel route is an alternative to the Gotthard tunnel one.

 

[Nand0]

Most passes, certainly the Gotthard and Gd St Bernard, are closed from October until the end of May in a typical year.
The Simplon stays open all year round.
https://alpen-paesse.ch/en/

The San Bernardino tunnel route is an alternative to the Gotthard tunnel one.

I always take the San Bernardino pass when heading south. The queues at the Gotthard are infamous. 2hr+ waits and 12km long queues are not uncommon. In May, during the week you may be OK though, but if you have to cross at the weekend plan to cross at stupid o'clock (like 4am).

I suspect that, assuming the poster is going south from the UK, both the Simplon and the San Bernardino would be quite a bit of a detour

 

[The Tall Luthier]

The route to the Mont Blanc Tunnel is almost always trouble free motoring.

The traffic through the tunnel varies day to day, morning to night. We went out on a Sunday evening, no queue, straight through. Back on a Tuesday afternoon, they had planned maintenance overnight, consequently all of the lorries got there early, 90 minute wait.

 

[Mrs Acer]

Thank you everyone! Yes we are coming from the UK.
I’m worried about the driving conditions on the Simplon Pass at the beginning of May. If it’s open year round, I assume it’s a clear road? We only have ‘normal’ tyres.
Since we can’t say whether we’ll get to the Gotthard on a week day, the possibility of sitting in a queue doesn’t sound appealing.
We’ve used the Mont Blanc tunnel before, so I’m thinking that at the beginning of May, that will at least be the quickest.
I’m going to have a look at the San Bernardino tunnel and compare travel times. It would be nice to go through Switzerland as we haven’t been before!

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Whenever we take the Gotthard in heavy seasons (May is not so bad) we always go in the middle of the night. 3-4AM and you’ll not have much traffic at all. And the kids are fast asleep in the back.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scottk]

We got caught in traffic in the Gotthard tunnel route last year. Expected the drive to take 3 hours but was 5 hours. The pass opened the following day! This was early June.

 

[Mrs Acer]

Thank you. I'm now put off by the Gotthard tunnel route. So, I'm now thinking use Mont Blanc tunnel one way and then San Bernadino tunnel the other way.

Will the Switzerland and San Bernadino roads be clear throughout May? I'm worried about snowy/icy/slippy roads in general in Switzerland. We could of course take this route back at the end of May instead. I'm basing my worries on the UK road conditions in winter! But I'm hoping for reassurance that Switzerland is not like the UK (unprepared and inadequate-hee). It would be nicer to go through Switzerland both ways.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

You won't have issues with snow or ice on these roads in Switzerland. The Swiss are very prepared with the major roads. However one thing many people fail to consider with either route and the timing is the traffic in and around Milan once in Italy. This is another reason we always leave in the middle of the night. You can pass Milan before the morning traffic rush hour and have smooth sailing the rest of the way. Milan can be MUCH worse than either of the tunnels with traffic if not timed properly.

 

[Nand0]

@Mrs Acer Oh, they are very prepared for snow here. The moment snow falls you get an army of snow plows clearing and salting everything from major motorways to residential streets.

I normally switch to summer tires at around Easter, I've never had any issues in May.

 

[Mrs Acer]

That's very reassuring. Btw I'm not even doing the driving! My husband will be pleased that I will be a good passenger now though.

I think decision made, San Bernadino tunnel. But looks like I'll need to have a plan to get pass Milan as best as we can. I'll expect delays! Perhaps we'll stay close and have a very early start.

 

[Mrs Acer]

@Mrs Acer Oh, they are very prepared for snow here. The moment snow falls you get an army of snow plows clearing and salting everything from major motorways to residential streets.

I normally switch to summer tires at around Easter, I've never had any issues in May.

So the Simplon Pass will be clear? If so, maybe this would be nicer than the San Bernardino tunnel?

 

[vwcaliindobelgian]

Hi everyone,
We are heading to Sicily at the beginning of May. I'm looking at google maps and it is suggesting the same amount of time whether you take the Mont Blanc tunnel or go via Nancy, Basel, Lucerne and the Gotthard Tunnel. So, which route would anyone recommend in particular? I can see the Gotthard is free but we'll need the Swiss vignette of approx. 43 euros and the Mont Blanc will be much more at 72.60 euros each way. So besides cost, does anyone have a preference?
Thank you
Mrs Acer

I would take Swiss route but make sure you switch off roaming as they are outside Schangen region .
As far as rounte itself is concerned, swiss motor ways are narrow with few options of detours, as its in May I would take this bet. if it was summer then I would have chosen Mont Blanc

 

[chockswahay]

You won't have issues with snow or ice on these roads in Switzerland. The Swiss are very prepared with the major roads. However one thing many people fail to consider with either route and the timing is the traffic in and around Milan once in Italy. This is another reason we always leave in the middle of the night. You can pass Milan before the morning traffic rush hour and have smooth sailing the rest of the way. Milan can be MUCH worse than either of the tunnels with traffic if not timed properly.

Slightly off topic (sorry) but when I read advice like this I really wish I had LED lights and not the stupid candles that were on the van when I bought it (secondhand) I used to enjoy night driving ………

 

[Nand0]

So the Simplon Pass will be clear? If so, maybe this would be nicer than the San Bernardino tunnel?

Simplonpass / Alpenpässe

Proof of the colonisation and interaction between the Rhone Valley and the Valley dOssola goes back to pre-Christian times but little is known about the use of the pass until the middle ages.

alpen-paesse.ch

The Simplon pass is open all year round. Which means that unless you are trying to cross in the middle of a snow storm, you should be good. Be aware though, that if you are running summer tires and temperatures drop below roughly 7C, you will be playing a dangerous game

 

[Mrs Acer]

I would take Swiss route but make sure you switch off roaming as they are outside Schangen region .
As far as rounte itself is concerned, swiss motor ways are narrow with few options of detours, as its in May I would take this bet. if it was summer then I would have chosen Mont Blanc

Thank you for reminding me to check about roaming. Fortunately my network provider O2 includes Switzerland in their Europe Zone, so all charges are the same as home except a maximum of 25GB of data.

 

[Mrs Acer]

Simplonpass / Alpenpässe

Proof of the colonisation and interaction between the Rhone Valley and the Valley dOssola goes back to pre-Christian times but little is known about the use of the pass until the middle ages.

alpen-paesse.ch

The Simplon pass is open all year round. Which means that unless you are trying to cross in the middle of a snow storm, you should be good. Be aware though, that if you are running summer tires and temperatures drop below roughly 7C, you will be playing a dangerous game

Thank you! We'll keep an eye on the weather and take the Simplon Pass on the way home at the end of May/beginning of June when hopefully temperatures will be better.