Driving tips for Swiss Alps mountain passes | Switzerland Road Trip
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- Опубліковано 6 лип 2019
- Driving in Switzerland is a the best way for you do discover our alpine country. You obviously want to enjoy your Switzerland road trip or The Grand Tour of Switzerland. Driving in Switzerland can be tricky. This is especially the case in the Swiss Alps with their twisty and narrow mountain roads. When you have done most of your driving in congested mega cities or on super wide and straight roads, driving on Switzerland's mountain roads can be quite overwhelming. There are two reasons for this. On the one hand, you will encounter roads you have never driven on before, and you may actually feel forces in your car, you have never felt before.
So, if you follow these 13 tips, you will enjoy a bit more safety. But remember, this list could be endless. The tips are also not ranked by importance, but by real time occurrence as you can see in the video. The most important tip is that you will always use your common sense and be cautious at all times.
Tips for driving on Swiss mountain passes:
- Be careful with corners, you don't know what's behind them or how narrow they are.
- Don't just park your car at the side of the road. You may block traffic or someone might run into it.
- Expect natural obstacles such as rocks, wood or wild animals on the road.
- Although you may push your car on a straight, remember, you are on a twisty road and you will have to slow down eventually. Breaking is more difficult when you go downhill.
- Expect farm animals on the road, as the roads sometimes lead through pastures. You can tell by a metal grid built into the road. These grids can be slippery.
- The roads are shared with cyclists and pedestrians.
- The mountains are a great place for army training. Don't be afraid, simply follow their instructions.
- Overtaking is the main cause of accidents. The roads are narrow, sometimes the visibility is bad and your VW Sharan with 5 people and a trunk full of luggage is not going to have the performance uphill you expect it to. Better be safe than sorry here.
- Sometimes the already narrow roads become narrower, so no two cars fit properly next to each other. You can tell by the white line in the middle being gone all of a sudden. In this case use the zones where you can pass each other. One of you might need to reverse.
- Although the scenery is wonderful, make sure the driver keeps the eyes on the road, as there is always a chance for a surprise around the next corner.
- Racing is illegal in Switzerland. Also try not to be intimidated by the loud and fast car or motorcycle behind you, but simply let them pass.
- Road conditions can change quickly, especially when at the beginning and end of season (summer) the roads can have snow or frozen water on them.
- Respect yourself and each other on Swiss mountain roads.
For more information about Switzerland visit www.switzerlandinsider.com
Name your favourite mountain pass here:
I have driven on san Berdindo pass last year really beautiful some scary motor bikers along the way
Julier pass
albula but please don't go there
Too many to mention 😀 The "iconic" ones are Grimsel, St. Gotthard, Nüfenen and Susten. Funny to drive!
Excellent work! Thank you for sharing, cheers from NYC.
Parabéns!! 1o vídeo mostrando a situação real !! Congrats! 1st video that shows the real situation on the alps roads!
Great tips !
I just found your videos the other day. My wife and I are coming to Switzerland in September. We are really enjoying your videos and love the great tips that you are giving. It would be great if you could make a video on where you are allowed to park in Switzerland if you are driving. I have driven in Europe before but always seem to have trouble figuring out where I am actually allowed to park my car. Even more driving tips like how to read the speed limit signs and other common things a driver might need to know to drive properly over there. That would be extremely helpful. Keep up the great work.
Brad thanks for the compliment! A more detailed video about driving and speed limits etc will be coming soon 😌
@@SwitzerlandInsider Of all the mountain tops you been to in Switzerland which one do you feel has the best view? What would be your top 3?
The view is always subjective 😄 in my experience if you visit mountain tops in the middle of the Alps, it doesn‘t really matter which one you visit as the view is somewhat similar, you will see surrounding mountains. Personally for me it gets interesting when you can go up a mountain and there are lakes nearby, where you have something you can look down to and see how small the world is. So for that I would visit Rigi or Stoos near Lake Lucerne, San Salvatore next to Lago di Lugano or Brienzer Rothorn next to Interlaken. If you want guaranteed snow when visiting then Titlis or Jungfraujoch are your picks. Also if you want to see the Matterhorn you can go and look at it by helicopter from Zermatt or you can hop on a GA plane and do a tour of the Alps. For this search „Alpenrundflug“ they depart from various airports. Enjoy!
Fantastic
Thanks guys see you in September 2020
I have one simple question. On Bosnian roads we have a sign which shows how the turn will look like. Is it common not to have them in CH or this road is an isolated case?
There are signs or speed reductions on turns that are difficult but we don‘t have rallye guidance 😄
@@SwitzerlandInsider Thanks. You're very fast!
Can't wait to graduate and move to CH. It's the most beautiful country, and Zug looks very attractive in every way possible. 😁😁
Even if the midline is missing, it is the rule to keep right on the road
Hi, is it feasible or safe to rent an electric car in Bern and Interlaken? Are there enough charging stations?
Hey! I have checked with the larger rental companies and you can rent EVs in Switzerland! For Bern and Interlaken, give them a call. However, they may be on the pricier side sometimes (Tesla or e-tron). If you choose to go along and rent one, I would make sure you can charge the car overnight (at your accomodation or nearby), as there are almost no fast chargers in the mountains. On chargemap.com you can look for suitable chargers. As for consumption, you will need more when going uphill, but be able to recuperate when going downhill and it somewhat equals it out. I hope this answers your question! If you have more feel free to ask 😄
@@SwitzerlandInsider thank you 🙏🙏
Raquel Brenes anytime!
I am coming in May driving from Geneva to Bormio can you please suggest some mountain passes along the way instead of the motorway all of the way
You will want to drive GVA to Brig in highway or you can take it easy wth slow roads. Then you take the Furkapass to Andermatt. From there you take the Oberalppass to Chur. From there you have a few options to go to Bormio, up to you! 😄 please note that the mountain passes still may be closed at this time (snow) and you will have to take a route through Zurich or Interlaken (lots of kms more). You will not ve able to do it in one day probably 😉 if you want less traffic, avoid weekends. Check www.alpen-paesse.ch/en for open/closed. Have fun!! 🚗
Switzerland Insider thank you soo much I love Switzerland 🇨🇭
T Rashid enjoy your trip!! 🇨🇭😌
What is the speed limit in the mountain?Thanks
80 kph out of towns and villages. This is unless its indicated differently. In many cases its not possible for normal drivers to even reach 80 so dont worry too much 😄😊
The tips are helpful; however, the video could have been reduced to about 3 minutes. Thank you!
Thanks for you feedback, I understand you! For this reason the points are also listed in the description of the video!
The the video presentation
was appropriate; the length of this video also allows viewers to relax and take in the view....also, we gained much insight....thanks for the upload 😃
And don't cut the corners, especially the sharp ones! You don't see alway what's coming.
That’s a big one. And I see your a bike rider, I see too many people doing this and had led to too many close call on the bike and car. Switzerland is beautiful everywhere so if in doubt about an overtake wait and enjoy the view 😁
"Dont speed over cow barriers" * continues to speed over cow barriers*
Okay now you mention it, it was a bit on the faster side 🙄😄 thanks for the feedback!
No speed radars? This is not switzerland! 😂
They will fall over when put on a hill 😉
ни хера не понял
Which country are you from? All your remarks are quit “open doors” 🤣
Hey JJ I am Swiss. What do you mean by open doors? :-)
Switzerland Insider: An “open door” means that your comments are so obvious that everyone who thinks normal does drive anywhere with your thoughts in mind.
@@JJ-J I agree that they should be common sense. But if you have driven in Switzerland and if you have seen how some tourists struggle, you know that they are not. And that's okay. This video is here to help those that have some questions about driving here ;-)
Switzerland Insider: I live in Switserland.... the way we drive should be normal to everybody because it is just common sense. If you cannot drive then you should not drive in another country.
@@JJ-J haha you know that no one in this world drives the way we drive... although i like the way we drive here, it's not the way i would prefer to drive, if i could choose.