Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

All you need to know about travel to, from, and within Switzerland this Easter

As is the case before any major public holiday, roads and airports will be more congested than normally. What can you expect in Switzerland in the days leading up to (and after) Easter?

Published: 21 March 2024 16:16 CET
Updated: 30 March 2024 05:42 CET
All you need to know about travel to, from, and within Switzerland this Easter
Expect airports to be more crowded than usual. Image by ilaria piras from Pixabay

Whether you travel by car, train, or plane, chances are you will not have a totally hassle-free experience, because traffic and sheer numbers of commuters will be heavier than usual.

This is what you should know, and do, if you are setting out on a journey during the Easter break.

First: if you are heading to Ticino

If, like tens of thousands of other residents of Switzerland, you want to spend the holiday in Ticino, there are some things you should know about travelling through the Gotthard tunnel.

READ ALSO: Why is Ticino Switzerland’s favourite Easter destination? 

Just before, during, and after this holiday, traffic is jammed at the tunnel, which connects Swiss-German part of Switzerland with Ticino, so five new measures were adopted on March 20th to help diffuse the bottlenecks.

Göschenen entrance

It will be closed if the traffic jam is at least three km long. This measure reduces alternative traffic on the cantonal road from Erstfeld to Wassen/Göschenen.

Wassen entrance

It will also closed if the bottleneck is three km long. Additionally, this closure will prevent holidaymakers from taking an alternative route via cantonal roads.

‘Opening window’ at the Göschenen entrance

In the event of a three-km traffic jam, the entrance will be opened for vehicles four times a day for 15 minutes each : from 6:45 am to 7 am., from 8:15 am to 8:30 am., from 5:15 pm to 5:30 pm, and from 6:45 pm to 7 pm.

Speed reduction

If the traffic jam reaches 8 km, a speed limit of 80 km/h will apply on the A2 (Gotthard) between Altdorf and Amsteg.

Exits

In Erstfeld and Amsteg, exits will be gradually opened based on the traffic load on the cantonal roads.

These measures will be in effect from March 20th and are expected to end when the Gotthard Pass opens in mid-May.

Traffic on other roads

As it does each year at this time, the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO)  publishes warnings of expected disruptions not only on the Gotthard, but also  on the A13, which the San Bernardino axis.

Disruptions are to be expected in particular on the following roads:

Motorways
A1, Harkingen – Wangen a.A.
A1/A6, Bern region
A1, Geneva (at Bardonnex customs)
A9, Lausanne area
A2, Basel
A2, Diegten–Härkingen
A2/A14, Lucerne region 
A2, Erstfeld – Biasca (Gothard road tunnel)
A2, Chiasso (at the border crossing to Italy)
A3, Walenstadt–Reichenburg
A6, Bern – Thun
A8, Brienz – Interlaken – Spiez
A8, Sarnen – Lopper interchange
A9, Vallorbe (at the border crossing)
A9, Vevey-Martigny
A12, Châtel-St-Denis – La Veyre / Vevey interchange
A13, Sarganserland–Rothenbrunnen
A13, Andeer – Mesocco
A28, Landquart–Klosters

Main roads

Spiez – Kandersteg 
Gampel–Goppenstein 
Raron – Brig

In addition, expect heavy traffic in Bernese Oberland, Graubünden, Valais, as well as at various border crossing points.

What about air travel?

If you are going to be catching a plane, be prepared for long lines at the airport because Easter and spring school break are among the peak travel times in Switzerland.  

The situation will be chaotic at all of Switzerland’s airports: Zurich, Geneva, and EuroAirport

You probably won’t be able to totally avoid the crowds, so to be at the airport between two and three hours before departure.

Train travel

If you prefer to travel to Ticino by train, you will be happy to know that the national railway, SBB, is putting additional trains into service for Easter.

It is adding 49 trains to circulate between the Swiss-German part of the country and the Italian-speaking canton.

Some of the trains will run through the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which has partially re-opened to traffic after an accident caused its closure in August 2023.

The SBB recommends seat reservations for all trains this Easter.

All other public transportation will run as well, though it may operate on a limited ‘Sunday’ schedule on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

What else should you pay attention to?

Before you make plans to travel to your destination, check whether any industrial actions, especially those related to transport sector, are planned anywhere along your route.

Right now, we know that Valencia airport will be impacted by a strike over Easter weekend, as staff unions will stage two-hour walkouts from March 28th to April 1st, between 11am and 1pm each day. 

You can check the list of impending strikes in Europe here. 

READ ALSO: What will be open in Switzerland over the Easter holiday weekend?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

SHOW COMMENTS