A traffic jam of up to 14 km extended on Saturday at the northern entrance to the Gotthard tunnel, between Erstfeld and Göschenen (UR).

At midday, motorists had to wait for over two hours to enter the tunnel, a major route leading to Ticino and onward to Italy. 

Avoiding bottlenecks in this tunnel during holidays and on weekends is a challenge, but not totally impossible.

The trick is to choose the day and time of your travel carefully.

“Between July 10th and August 4th, waiting times of up to several hours in front of the north portal of the tunnel can be expected almost every day, especially from the afternoon until the end of the day, according to Touring Club Schweiz  (TCS) motoring organisation

The worst days to travel through the tunnel are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, while traffic is likely to flow better on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (the only exception will be July 31st, when many people will head south for the August 1st national holidays.

On Mondays and Thursdays — that is, just after and just before the weekend rush — traffic through the tunnel will be ‘intense’ with an average wait time at Gothard’s of up to an hour.

Are there alternative routes allowing to bypass the Gotthard?

Much depends on where in Switzerland you are coming from.

Motorists from the Bern and Zurich area can take the Lötschberg to get to Valais. From there, it is possible to reach Italy via the Simplon pass, or else arrive in Ticino via the Nufenen pass.

Those travellng from French-speaking regions can either take the Grand-Saint-Bernard route or go through the Mont-Blanc tunnel via the A40 motorway from Geneva.

However, “here too, an exceptionally high traffic volume is expected throughout the summer,” according to TCS.

You can keep up with the traffic situation in the Gotthard  on TCS’s constantly updated X account (formerly Twitter)

#A2 – Luzern -> Gotthard – zwischen Erstfeld und Göschenen 13 km Stau, Überlastung, Zeitverlust von bis zu 2 Stunden und 10 Minuten

— TCS Verkehr Gotthard (@TCSGotthard) July 6, 2024