Driving to Italy and back

spottycat

We will be driving to/back from Italy from next week until early April.
Wanting to take a more scenic route on the way back we were hoping to drive up to Saint Bernard pass, I see online the tunnel is closed and that we can detour around it.
Has anyone done this drive in winter time? Will this road (unsure what road it is) take us to bourg st Pierre?

mgdavid

Where did you see that the tunnel is closed?
Live site says Traffic normal and the webcanms seem to confirm this.

For the Pass:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=st+bernard+pass&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=d_rpVq-BEYSTaY-riYAL

(with map and road numbers)

and
http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/switzerland/121-great-st-bernard-pass-switzerland.html

and a couple of quotes
"[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Sans-serif,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]whereby the pass road across the summit is usually reopend from the beginning of June at the Pentecost weekend"
"[/SIZE][/FONT]
the road to the pass is only open in the Summer, approximately from mid-June until mid-September, although this can change depending on snow fall and weather each year (some years it might open earlier and remain open until early October)."
wonderful thing, google - you should give it a try!

Whichever way you go, are you aware of the regulations re: snow tyres & chains?

spottycat

A post on trip advisor and Italian expats led to believe it was closed...
I have asked Google in French and Italian if the pass is open and get to the same dead end...no definite answer.
I have exhausted myself looking through Google that's why I was hoping someone who has made this same journey as me I am could reply

mgdavid

spottycat wrote: »

.....
I have exhausted myself looking through Google .......

I sympathise, you must tire very easily.
Like I said, look at the webcams on the official website, light traffic is flowing.
http://www.letunnel.com/datapage.asp?id=9&l=3

lovesgshp

Must admit, in my many travels down to Italy, before moving here full time, I nave nearly always used the Brenner pass.
Scenic drive through Austria and stay in a hotel on that side then into Italy the next morning.

k3lvc

mgdavid wrote: »

Whichever way you go, are you aware of the regulations re: snow tyres & chains?

This is spot on - I've been down in this neck of the woods this week and without all the kit you're not likely to be going anywhere

lovesgshp

In our area of Italy, we have to have those up to the 31st March, the next province 20 miles away, is to 15th April.
Spot checks can be fairly frequent.

labp04

An alternative to the Brenner is the Tauern route via Salzburg and Villach. It probably takes a couple of hours or so longer but, I think, makes up for this with far fewer trucks and traffic generally

spottycat

mgdavid wrote: »

I sympathise, you must tire very easily.
Like I said, look at the webcams on the official website, light traffic is flowing.
http://www.letunnel.com/datapage.asp?id=9&l=3

No worries I didn't die of exhaustion looking through Google although I was close, thinking I might collapse I found a ski forum using any last traces of energy I registered and made a post....I found out it is the grand St. Bernard pass that is closed...not the tunnel, which is the webcam you can see and the traffic report etc

spottycat

labp04 wrote: »

An alternative to the Brenner is the Tauern route via Salzburg and Villach. It probably takes a couple of hours or so longer but, I think, makes up for this with far fewer trucks and traffic generally

I have been this way before, we had to stop in villach due to a massive thunder storm, it was so unsafe to drive and our satnav stopped working...it took hours but I have never done this route in winter conditions

spottycat

I now thinking st gotthard tunnel route, less scenic...takes me to Milan around 2 hours away from where I want to be. Driving in winter conditions is a pain in the butt.
I will be staying in a small village close to Asti if anyone has any other suggestions of a scenic route that will bring me out this way...I will be driving from Zurich