We are going to Zermatt from Domodossola, Italy next week and are exploring whether to drive over the Simplon pass or taking the car/train through the tunnel to Brig. Can someone who has taken the tunnel describe the process of taking your car on the train plus the cost. I have checked on viaMichelin and the route that goes on the train has no cost listed. I also saw on another site that trains run every 90 minutes. Is this true? If so, do you need to pre-book? We plan on traveling over a holiday weekend (Aug. 1) which could complicate things.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32921 posts
I've done it, Mona, where you need to go is http://www.bls.ch/e/autoverlad/autoverlad.php which is the BLS - the modern name for the Berne–Lötschberg–Simplon Railway. Everything you need is there. If the service you need will be crowded you can buy ticket in advance, we just turned up. I was going from Bern to Venice and thought I would give it a try instead of the San Gottard tunnel or the San Bernardino both of which I have used frequently. I've only done the BLS car train the once because we didn't like it. I'm used to the enclosed, lit, airconditioned (sort of) cars of the Eurotunnel and the unlit, open (have a look at the photo on the website) bouncy cars of the BLS were not comfortable. You do stay in your car and the walls are mighty close. We then didn't much like the windy single lane roads with lots of trucks on the Italian side. Just our preference, but that's how we saw it. We've never done the Simplon Pass. I'd love to and if the weather was alright I would do that... Happy planning
Posted by
OP
California USA
3967 posts
Thanks for your helpful firsthand description and website. We've driven over several of the Swiss and Austrian passes in the past and we even drove over the Simplon in a coach with our students one year. The car/tunnel experience doesn't seem like something we need on this leisurely trip to Zermatt. We weighed the cost of taking the train too and on this outing for the two of us, the car seems like the least expensive way to go even with purchasing the Swiss pass at the border.
Posted by
Tilburg, Netherlands
2829 posts
The Simplon tunnel has had a fire one month ago. Therefore, car shuttle services are operating on a reduced scheduled, and delays/cancellations are possible (for 4 miles within the tunnel, only one track is working). The Simplon pass is easy to drive, not really a typical alpine road with 30 harpins at all.