Where are Switzerland's busiest roads to avoid this summer?
If you are travelling by car during the holidays, expect to encounter heavy traffic on many Swiss roads.
Possibly the least favourite part of holidays (unless you spend them at home) is getting to and from your destination.
If you travel by air, you will have to contend with crowded, and often chaotic airports.
As a motorist, chances that you will be stuck in traffic jams are high, especially on some roads.
In such cases, getting there is certainly not half the fun (a saying that was surely coined by someone who never sat in slow-moving traffic).
While many motorways become congested on certain days and hours, heavy traffic is virtually certain on roads leading to and from popular holiday destinations, both in Switzerland and abroad.
These are some ‘notorious’ ones.
The Gotthard Tunnel
As it is the main, and most direct, north-south route into both Ticino and Italy, you should expect slow traffic and long lines waiting to cross the 16-km tunnel.
Ten-kilometre-long queues and wait times of two hours or more are not uncommon during summer vacations and public holidays.
You can see what the situation is at the tunnel in real time on a live 24 / 7 webcam.
You can also follow frequent traffic updates from TCS motoring organisation.
#A2 - Luzern -> Gotthard - zwischen Amsteg und Göschenen 5 km Stau, Überlastung, Zeitverlust von bis zu 1 Stunde
— TCS Verkehr Gotthard (@TCSGotthard) July 26, 2023
The A3/A13 Zurich-Chur-San Bernardino-Bellinzona-Chiasso axis
This route also goes toward Italy, via Graubünden and Ticino.
It has been known to be particularly congested near the entrances to the 6.6-kilomere-long San Bernardino tunnel.
The A9 Lausanne-Montreux-Martigny-Brigue
This stretch of the motorway from Vaud to Valais is known for frequent holiday traffic congestion, mainly near Lausanne and Montreux.
These locations often get congested as well:
- The A3/A1 Basel-Zurich axis
- Bern and surroundings (A1/A12/A6 interchange)
- The Martigny - Grand-St.-Bernard tunnel axis
In addition, expect heavy traffic at various border crossing points to and from Italy, France, Germany, and Austria.
Is there a way to bypass these roads altogether?
Yes. Stay home.
Other than that, the best way to avoid the worst bottlenecks on these motorways is not to drive during peak days and hours — that is, weekends in the daytime.
If you hit the road from Tuesday to Thursday instead, and drive at night or very early mornings, then you should not encounter too many bottlenecks (unless, of course, everyone else has the same idea).
One thing you should not do in the hope of avoiding traffic jams is leave motorways to travel on secondary roads instead.
"When heavy traffic causes jams and delays on main axes, we often observe a transfer of traffic to the secondary network,” the Federal Roads Office says.
"This undesirable phenomenon weighs on the inhabitants of the localities bordering the national roads and ultimately has the effect of paralysing transport in the regions concerned. It is therefore important that travellers stay on the motorway even in traffic jams, if only out of respect for the local population.”
READ ALSO: The dos and don'ts of driving in Switzerland
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Possibly the least favourite part of holidays (unless you spend them at home) is getting to and from your destination.
If you travel by air, you will have to contend with crowded, and often chaotic airports.
As a motorist, chances that you will be stuck in traffic jams are high, especially on some roads.
In such cases, getting there is certainly not half the fun (a saying that was surely coined by someone who never sat in slow-moving traffic).
While many motorways become congested on certain days and hours, heavy traffic is virtually certain on roads leading to and from popular holiday destinations, both in Switzerland and abroad.
These are some ‘notorious’ ones.
The Gotthard Tunnel
As it is the main, and most direct, north-south route into both Ticino and Italy, you should expect slow traffic and long lines waiting to cross the 16-km tunnel.
Ten-kilometre-long queues and wait times of two hours or more are not uncommon during summer vacations and public holidays.
You can see what the situation is at the tunnel in real time on a live 24 / 7 webcam.
You can also follow frequent traffic updates from TCS motoring organisation.
#A2 - Luzern -> Gotthard - zwischen Amsteg und Göschenen 5 km Stau, Überlastung, Zeitverlust von bis zu 1 Stunde
— TCS Verkehr Gotthard (@TCSGotthard) July 26, 2023
The A3/A13 Zurich-Chur-San Bernardino-Bellinzona-Chiasso axis
This route also goes toward Italy, via Graubünden and Ticino.
It has been known to be particularly congested near the entrances to the 6.6-kilomere-long San Bernardino tunnel.
The A9 Lausanne-Montreux-Martigny-Brigue
This stretch of the motorway from Vaud to Valais is known for frequent holiday traffic congestion, mainly near Lausanne and Montreux.
These locations often get congested as well:
- The A3/A1 Basel-Zurich axis
- Bern and surroundings (A1/A12/A6 interchange)
- The Martigny - Grand-St.-Bernard tunnel axis
In addition, expect heavy traffic at various border crossing points to and from Italy, France, Germany, and Austria.
Is there a way to bypass these roads altogether?
Yes. Stay home.
Other than that, the best way to avoid the worst bottlenecks on these motorways is not to drive during peak days and hours — that is, weekends in the daytime.
If you hit the road from Tuesday to Thursday instead, and drive at night or very early mornings, then you should not encounter too many bottlenecks (unless, of course, everyone else has the same idea).
One thing you should not do in the hope of avoiding traffic jams is leave motorways to travel on secondary roads instead.
"When heavy traffic causes jams and delays on main axes, we often observe a transfer of traffic to the secondary network,” the Federal Roads Office says.
"This undesirable phenomenon weighs on the inhabitants of the localities bordering the national roads and ultimately has the effect of paralysing transport in the regions concerned. It is therefore important that travellers stay on the motorway even in traffic jams, if only out of respect for the local population.”
READ ALSO: The dos and don'ts of driving in Switzerland
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