Crossing Swiss-Italian border by bike

Training
1

Greetings!

Originally planning on training in Andermatt Switzerland this coming weekend in advance of Haute Route Davos. Unfortunately the weather in Andermatt looks horrific this weekend (high of 5 degrees celsius on the Saturday with snow - far colder at top of Furka pass given its another 1000m higher) so tempted to bail on Andermatt and spend 3 days in Lugano (25 degrees and sunny). Many of the bike routes cross the Swiss and Italian border. Will be carrying my Passport (CDN) and vaccine certification - but curious to know if people have experience crossing the borders in this part of Europe by bike? Much hassle?

Thanks!
Ryan

2

Zero hassle, don’t worry at all. You might not even notice a border.

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3

I lived in the Lugano area for a while in 2013 and had no problem in walking or riding across the border at Ponte Tresa. We went back and forth every week and just needed our passport. We also drove across most of the other nearby crossings and just needed a passport.

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4

I grew up in Kreuzlingen (Lake Constance) and often crossed the border to Germany multiple times a day. I never (ever!) had to show my passport/ID. :

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5

It is polite to nod slightly to the officers while riding through.

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6

as you overtake the cars in the queue

7

I crossed the swiss/Italian border in three places, on the bike, and I don’t recall anyone asking me for a passport. This was 7 years ago…

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8

Not a problem. Like others said, you’ll probably won’t even notice you’re crossing the border. You also don’t have any restrictions traveling to Italy as a Canadian.

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9

Should not be a problem and if you cross the border on less populated roads there is a good chance that there isn’t even a person on the crossing. And they mostly not interested in Cyclists riding through… should not be an issue. Unless Corona would really flare up again…

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10

Lol.

You’re inside the Schengen area already at that stage. Passport checks are done upon entering the Schengen area - there are no passport checks moving within the Schengen area.

I crossed the Franco-Swiss border on MTBs I think 4 times a couple of weeks ago (twice on roads and twice offroad) and the most you can see is a sign with the country flag on it. Certainly wasn’t carrying my passport!

Edit to include Schengen link: Schengen Area - Wikipedia

"The Schengen Area is an area comprising 26 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. " (CH not EU but is Schengen)

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