Advice for towing through the Swiss alps

ScreenName9DDF417BBD
ScreenName9DDF417BBD Forum Participant Posts: 2
edited June 2023 in Overseas Campsites & Touring #1

Hi

I have booked a first trip with our caravan towing through to lake Garda, stopping in Troyes before moving onto Lucerne in Switzerland, finally heading into Italy.

Having never towed through Europe before, I was hoping to get any useful tips including where to display viginettes for both the car and caravan in Switzerland, what the motorways traveling through France and Switzerland are like in terms of gradient (planning on entering through Basel) etc. I certainly don't want to be stuck on some of the mountain passes snaking up extreme gradients on my first go 😬.

 

Any helpful hints and tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation

Ben

Comments

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,828 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited June 2023 #2

    No worries, no problems. If you are entering Switzerland at Basel an official will greet you at the border and sell you two vignettes and will show you the best place for them - he might even put them in place for you.   Pay him with a bank card

    From there to Italy is motorway without any snaking steep gradients - instead of going over the Alps the motorway goes under via the St Gotthard tunnel (no extra tolls)  and if you are returning the same way your vignettes will still be valid 

    It’s a very busy route and there may be traffic delays.  

    Good wishes.

  • Dave Nicholson
    Dave Nicholson Forum Participant Posts: 408
    edited June 2023 #3

    As ET says, there will be no eye watering gradients on the motorways. It’s a steady gradient up to the St Gottard tunnel entrance and there well may be delays in entering the tunnel. Traffic is controlled by a series of traffic lights to limit the number of vehicles in the tunnel. Try to avoid going through the tunnel on a Friday. Traffic around and south of Basel is often heavy and there are multiple tunnels. Traffic around Milan will also be busy and where the A4 is still a 2 lane motorway, caravans are not allowed to enter the outside lane in some areas, just keep an eye for the signs. The A4 is a busy motorway but few motorways in Europe are as busy as ours in the UK. On your return journey the Brenner Pass into Austria and then the Fern Pass into Germany is a decent alternative to returning via Switzerland.

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