Swiss mountain passes still open in early October?
A traveler from India is planning a road trip in Switzerland from Zurich to various destinations, including St. Moritz and Zermatt, from October 1 to October 14. They are concerned about whether mountain passes will be open during that time and are seeking advice on potential closures. To have a smooth trip, they need tips on the best times to drive through these passes.
- Mountain passes may start closing in October, but specific closure dates vary based on weather conditions.
- Consider completing your trip by late September if you want to avoid potential pass closures.
- If driving becomes complicated, look into scenic train routes as a relaxing alternative to explore the beautiful scenery.
AI-generated summary-
Hi,
I am from India & planning a road trip by car from 1st october 2019 to 14th october 2019.
Started from zurich- st. gallen- st. moritz- lugano- zermatt- lausanne- geneva- neuchatel- bern- lucerne- zurich. this trip has 5 pass road, can i go through this pass road that time? Or which time from October month this pass road started to closed? kindly suggest me & help me to plan my trip successful.
-
Hi SUMANTA07 and welcome to MySwissAlps!
Higher mountain passes will close in October, but there is no set date typically. It depends on winter conditions.
You can read more about driving in Switzerland and traffic conditions and mountain pass information on the following links on our site:
If you can move your trip to finish by late September you shouldn’t have any issues.
Yes, the first half of October will probably be fine but it can’t be guaranteed 100%. So be prepared for detours, or instead enjoy the excellent scenic train routes: http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/scenictrips/t rain. In general, that’s more relaxed than traveling by car, especially for the driver who has to concentrate on the road instead of the scenery.
Dear Sir, kindly inform me the average date of October Month of Every Year the Pass Started to be closed. Whereas the Mountain Pass Information link of this site show Pass Open till October.
We don’t have average closure dates from past years unfortunately. I know this year, the Susten, Grimsel, Fluela, Furka, St Gotthard and San Bernardino passes were all closed on Oct.24 (pretty late).
Of course you never know what will happen next year.
Hello,
It certainly does depend on the weather, and September and October of 2019 are a long way off. The road over le Col du Chasseral (the highest point in the Bernese Jura) closed a week ago. This is a narrow road where you have to be very attentive, even during the Summer months. Today I read that is open again, so you never know from day to day. There have been a number of traffic accidents over the past few days in the Neuchâtel Jura, including on the road that twists its way up to the Col de la Tourne, which forced its closure for a while. A good place to find out current conditions is at this Michelin website: fr.viamichelin.ch/web/ Cartes-plans Click on “Info trafic” near the top right of the opening page. As you zoom in on a region, you will see more details. The black lines you will see indicate roads that are closed. Another useful site is http://www.rts.ch/info/trafic /. At the top left of the opening page, you will see the word “Catégories“. Click on this and you will see seven boxes you can check, depending on what you want to know. The second one down is “État des chaussées” (in English, “Road conditions”) and two below that is “Cols” (in English, “Passes”). As you zoom in on any particular area, you will see symbols that are clickable, which give you the particular details.
I notice that you are from India, where you drive on the left side of the road. This may or mat not be an issue, depending on your experience driving on the right side. Arno’s advice about concentrating on the road, rather than the scenery, becomes even more important on some of the passes in Switzerland. I drove up to le Chasseral a little over a month ago and my eyes were glued to the road. Sightseeing and photographs must wait until you are safely parked at the top or a marked parking area.
Bonjour Peterli-
Thanks for the reminder about the excellent via Michelin website.
I’ve gotten lazy and tend to use Google Maps mostly in the USA and, by extension, Europe, but for many years I relied on the high quality of the information on via Michelin. It was a lifesaver when I was driving around the hill towns in Tuscany, paticularly when we were driving into and near Perugia. ( I guess that’s not Tuscany…Umbria?)
Slowpoke
Buon giorno, Slowpoke
Perugia is the capital of Umbria but it is very close to Tuscany. Tuscany and Umbria fit together like pieces of a jigsaw. Since you mention Perugia, I’m wondering if you have ever visited the medieval town of Pérouges, situated about 40 kilometres to the NE of Lyon. I was there again (I love it that much) in the middle of September. Some believe that Pérouges was founded by soldiers returning from Perugia. I know that we are away from the Swiss Alps, but Pérouges is only 124 kilometres from Geneva (if you take the A40) and well worth a side trip. The following link does not have an English version but is very interesting: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Cit%C3%A9_m%C3%A9di%C3 %A9vale_de_P%C3%A9roug es#XXe_si%C3%A8cle_ou_ l'histoire_d'une_sauve garde
Ah, I have just found this, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ P%C3%A9rouges in English, but the article is much shorter than the version en français.
I will attach a photo of one of the many lovely flowers I saw in Pérouges. Some of my friends didn’t believe it was real.
Attachments:
- The thread ‘Swiss mountain passes still open in early October?’ is closed to new replies.
