Gotthard Tunnel: Traffic Jams in Early August and Night Closures in Autumn 2026
Anyone driving through Switzerland to Italy can hardly avoid the Gotthard Tunnel. Right there, massive traffic jams built up again in early August. In both directions, waiting times of more than three hours occurred at times. Now, in September and October, several night closures are underway for maintenance work. For holidaymakers from southwestern Germany, this still means extra planning effort: alternative routes for the autumn nights.
The Gotthard road tunnel is located on the A2 between Göschenen and Airolo. The tunnel is 16.9 kilometers long and is one of the most important north-south connections for motorists heading to Ticino, northern Italy, or further south.
Early August: the Gotthard was a bottleneck
Things were especially tight between August 1 and 8, 2026. Heading south, vehicles queued for up to eleven kilometers in front of the tunnel, with waiting times of at least two hours and 45 minutes.
On the return journey, it took even longer in places. Heading north, August 8 was the most difficult day, with up to 13 kilometers of traffic jams and more than three hours of waiting time. After the first August weekend, the pressure eased — heading south from August 9, and heading north from August 18. You can find more information on the general traffic situation on the first August weekend in our news article on the traffic forecast for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.
For September and October, normal or moderately heavy traffic is expected during the day without longer waiting times, apart from the planned night closures. Towards the end of the year, things could get busy again. On December 20, 22, and 26, very heavy traffic and jams of up to eight kilometers are expected heading south.
Additional night closures from August 10 to 28, 2026
In addition to the traffic jams in early August, there were further restrictions: the Gotthard road tunnel was closed for maintenance work from August 10 to 28, 2026, on a total of twelve nights, each from 11 pm to 5 am. The reason was preventive work on the tunnel's intermediate ceiling. This was intended to prevent stresses from building up there that could otherwise have led to unplanned restrictions or closures later on. No work took place on the nights of Friday to Saturday, Saturday to Sunday, or Sunday to Monday, so that the tunnel remained fully available during the busiest weekend traffic periods. Anyone traveling on the affected nights could use the Gotthard Pass road as an alternative route.
Night closures in September and October 2026
From September onwards, the Gotthard Tunnel will remain closed at night in several phases. The work takes place outside the main travel season and does not affect weekends. In the first phase, the tunnel will remain closed for up to seven hours, later for up to nine hours at a time.
The following dates are planned:
September 7 to 11, 2026: four nights from Monday evening to Friday morning, each from 10 pm to 5 am
September 14 to 18, 2026: four nights, each from 8 pm to 5 am
September 21 to 25, 2026: four nights, each from 8 pm to 5 am
September 28 to October 2, 2026: four nights, each from 8 pm to 5 am
October 5 to 7, 2026: two nights, each from 8 pm to 5 am
That's a total of 18 night closures in early autumn. In addition, regardless of the maintenance work, the tunnel is regularly closed on Wednesdays between 11 pm and 1 am for a time window reserved for special transports.
Important: Anyone wanting to cross the Gotthard at night in September or early October should check the dates before departure and, if necessary, take an alternative route or travel during the day.
What alternatives are there?
In the event of heavy traffic jams or night closures, the A13 via the San Bernardino route through Chur and Bellinzona is especially recommended. The Gotthard Pass can also be an alternative, although not for vehicles with a camping trailer. Other alternative routes go via Simplon, Grimsel, and Nufenen. However, these usually take considerably more time and can themselves become overloaded in the event of heavy diversion traffic.
In practice, this means: plan alternatives in advance, not only once you're stuck in traffic in front of the portal. It's worth checking current waiting times and webcam information right before departure.
Toll in Switzerland
Anyone driving through the Gotthard to Italy should be briefly aware of the Swiss toll rules. Unlike in Austria, there is no short-term vignette, and the weight limit is based on the permissible gross vehicle weight (GVW) including passengers. You can find an overview in our guide on tolls in Switzerland.
Annual vignette
For cars, motorcycles, and vehicles up to 3.5 t GVW, the Swiss annual vignette (digital or as a sticker) applies on motorways and many national roads. The Gotthard Tunnel and most other motorway tunnels (such as San Bernardino) are covered by the vignette. Our guide on vehicle classes explains in detail which vehicles require a vignette.
Heavy vehicle charge
If the GVW exceeds 3.5 t, the vignette requirement no longer applies. Instead, the heavy vehicle charge applies: either as a PSVA (flat rate, for example for heavy motorhomes) or as an LSVA (performance-related, based on kilometers and weight, mainly for freight traffic). You can find details in our guide on the heavy vehicle charge.
Special toll
On a few routes, an additional special toll is charged on top of the vignette or heavy vehicle charge, for example at the Great St. Bernard or the Munt la Schera Tunnel, as well as on some Alpine pass roads. The Gotthard itself is not among them. You can find more information on this in our guides on special tolls and tunnels and passes in Switzerland.
Car trains
As an alternative to the pass and tunnel, Switzerland offers car-carrying trains (Autozüge), for example via Furka, Lötschberg, Simplon, or Vereina. For this, you need a separate ticket from the respective operator; the annual vignette does not cover this. You can find more information on car trains in our guide on car-carrying trains.
Toll in Italy
Anyone continuing on to Italy switches to a different system: there is no vignette in Italy, but rather a distance-based motorway toll. More on this in our guide tolls in Italy. You can use our route planner to plan your trip.
The Europamaut team wishes you a pleasant journey!
With enough time buffer, up-to-date traffic reports, and a clear alternative to the Gotthard route, you can travel to Italy and back more relaxed, even in midsummer and autumn. If you have any questions about the digital vignette and tolls in Switzerland, you can reach us at any time by email.
