All three crossings stay open all winter. What catches drivers is the paperwork on either side and the weekend queues.
Austria wants a vignette, plus a separate toll on the Brenner (€12.50) and Tauern (€15) motorways. Switzerland wants its CHF 40 vignette and charges nothing extra for the Gotthard tunnel. Italy wants winter tyres or chains on board from 15 November on the motorways down from all three.
The motorway over the Brenner, the tunnels on the Tauern motorway and the Gotthard road tunnel are winter routes. Snow is rarely what turns a drive into a bad day. More often it is a vignette bought at the wrong moment, an Italian rule that applies whether or not it snows, or a Tyrolean village road closed to through traffic on a Saturday in January.
Every fact on these pages comes from the motorway operators, the regional governments and the federal offices that run the roads. We read them in October 2026, and a second reader checked them again.
Compare the Three Crossings Side by Side
Brenner
Tauern
Gotthard
The drive
Munich – Innsbruck – Verona (A12, A13, then Italy's A22)
Salzburg – Villach (A10), on to Slovenia or Italy
Basel – Lucerne – Lugano – Milan (A2, then Italy's A9)
Vignette
Austria; free from the Kufstein border to Kufstein-Süd
Austria; free from the Walserberg border to Salzburg Nord. Slovenia's too if you go on
Switzerland, CHF 40
Extra toll
A13 €12.50 one way; Italy's A22 by distance
A10 €15 one way; the Karawanken tunnel to Slovenia €9
None for the tunnel
Winter rule beyond
Italy's A22: tyres or chains on board, 15 Nov – 15 Apr
Italy's A23: same dates. Slovenia: 15 Nov – 15 Mar
Italy's A9 from Chiasso: same dates
Watch in 2026/27
Luegbrücke on one lane; Tyrol's weekend detour bans
Tunnel works: single lanes, a few night closures
Holiday queues at the tunnel
On the Austrian side of the Brenner and the Tauern, winter tyres are compulsory from 1 November to 15 April whenever there is snow, slush or ice. Switzerland has no winter tyre law at all, but its police and insurers judge the car you crash in. The details for each country are on winter tyres country by country.
Pick the Crossing by Where You Are Going
Verona, Lake Garda, the Dolomites or Venice: the Brenner, straight down the A22 from the border.
Slovenia, Croatia or Friuli: the Tauern, then the Karawanken tunnel or the A23 through Tarvisio.
Milan, Lake Como, Genoa or the Riviera: the Gotthard. One vignette, no tunnel toll, but the queue on the busiest holiday days.
Buy the Vignettes at Home, Not at the Border
2026 is the last year Austria sells a sticker. From 2027 the vignette is digital only, tied to the number plate. A one-day vignette costs €9.60 and is sold online only; ten days cost €12.80.
The trap is the online two-month and annual vignette. Bought online, it becomes valid only on the 18th day after purchase. For a trip that starts sooner, buy the ten-day one or buy at a counter. The full rules are on Austria's vignette page.
Switzerland is simpler. The e-vignette costs CHF 40, is tied to the plate and is valid the moment you buy it. Each one runs from 1 December of the year before to 31 January of the year after.
Carry the Kit for Both Sides of the Mountain
Italy does not wait for snow. On the A22, A23 and A9 the rule is winter tyres fitted or chains on board from 15 November to 15 April, whatever the sky is doing. Most cars that are legal in Austria are legal in Italy too, because Italy still accepts M+S tyres.
In a hire car, the contract decides what is fitted, not the law. Ask for it in writing: winter kit on a hire car.
Not Published Yet for 2026/27
Tyrol's weekend detour bans. Last winter they ran from 20 December to Easter Monday. The 2026/27 dates were not out on 26 October.
The Luegbrücke day calendar for 2027, the days when the bridge gets a second lane.
Waiting times at the Gotthard. No official page publishes them in a form we can read.
We check these again in December and add each one when the authority publishes it.
Where to leave the car, from our sister site. Each card is the short version; the full guide has every car park, the tow pound and the charging points.
ParkingInEurope
Innsbruck
About 90 km of the A12 from the German border at 100 km/h, then a free ski bus in town.
Best bet
P+R Olympiaworld, €21.00 a day — and that one ticket covers up to five people on every IVB bus and tram in the core zone, 06:00–24:00. A carload of skiers cannot beat it.
Watch out
100 km/h, not 130, on about 90 km of the A12 from the German border to Zirl. Permanent, year-round, six fixed radar units. This is the drive in from Munich.
Free all day Sunday, three hours on Saturday, and every central garage is 2.05 metres.
Best bet
Park & Ride, €15.00 a day, and the ticket includes the bus into town — at Messezentrum, Salzburg Süd, the Designer Outlet or the airport. At Salzburg Süd, parking alone is €6.00 for 24 hours.
Watch out
Every central garage is 2.05–2.10 m. With a ski box or roof box on the car you will not get into the Mönchsberg, and you find out at the barrier. P+R Alpenstraße Süd clears 5 m.
A camera on every road into the old ring and €7.50 a weekday to pass it. The metro-end car parks charge €1.50 for five hours and let the train do the rest.
Best bet
ATM interchange car parks: €1.50 up to five hours, €2 up to ten.Lampugnano has 1,830 spaces on metro M1, which runs straight to Duomo.
Watch out
Area C: Mon–Fri 07:30–19:30, €7.50, foreign plates too. €7.50 if activated by midnight the day after; from then to day 7 it's €22.50, then a €83–€332 fine.