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Switzerland Driving in December

Posted by on

I will be going to Europe this Christmas for a couple of weeks. The first week will be in France, the second in Italy. I am needing to get from Dijon, France to Merano, Italy on the 23rd of December. I was considering renting a car to get from Point A to Point B, but am having some reservations. These are my options for the most direct route:

Taking Route 3 (Swss) that passes through northern Switzerland, near Zurich and Liechtenstein and continuing on the A28 (Swiss, through the National Park) to SS41 (Italy)

or taking Route 3 (Swiss) to the A27 (Swiss) to SS40 (Italy).

I understand that weather is unpredictable, but my concern is are either one of the routes (A27 or A28) likely to be closed due to snow. I have driven in Europe and in snow before, but don't want to take any unnecessary chances. My other option would be to fly from Lyon to Venice, and drive from there to Merano. It's a smaller town so getting there is best by car.

Thanks for any advice and tips!

Posted by
21150 posts

You realize that it will be quite expensive to rent a car in Dijon, France and drop it in Merano, Italy. You might not even find anywhere that allows it. Merano is not a small town, but perhaps you are referring a nearby village as your destination. You could also travel by train and bus from Dijon to Merano, but will take 9 to 10 hours. Even driving shows 8 hours using SS41, the the shortest route (Viamicherlin). You will need winter tires on the rental, plus an International Drivers Permit, plus a Swiss vignette bought at the border.

Posted by
3 posts

Yes, I'm aware of the one way surcharge that rental companies charge from one country to another, of IDPs (having driven in Europe before), and the Swiss vignette. If I rent a car, I'd be dropping it off at Marco Polo Aeroporto in Venice, so I'm good with that. I have done quite a bit of research, and my main concern is if/what typical passes are closed in Switzerland at that time of year. I've looked on MySwissAlps.com to look at average opening seasons for alpine passes, but they don't address the roads I'm looking at....so, I don't know if that means they're generally open or not. Ideally, I'd like to get to Merano before dark, which I know will be around 5 or 6pm, so those extra couple of hours of driving vs train really matter. I know that it's not ideal, but I'm just trying to find the best/safest solution to cover that much ground.

Posted by
21150 posts

If Swiss Post buses are scheduled on the route, I would guess they would be open to auto traffic as well. If there is a blizzard, all bets are off. If you don't see any mention of pass closings, then they are normally open.

Posted by
6790 posts

Exactly how "bad" would it be if on the day you planned to drive, the pass was closed due to a storm?

December + mountains = chance of storm = chance of road closures.

How lucky are you feeling?

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to try to fly out of Paris. Initially, we were going to Paris for a week, go to Dijon, then head over to Merano. Instead, I'll try to hit the Dijon bnb first, then go back to Paris for a week so I can catch a flight from there to Northern Italy and drive from there to Merano.

Posted by
33821 posts

Have you tried local airports near Dijon to avoid retracing all the way back to Paris?

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