There is a toll to use the tunnel, payable in full even for drivers who already display on their vehicles a Swiss motorway vignette.

Tourists on the Swiss side additionally find themselves reminded by roadside billboards of the saint's association with St Bernard dogs.

The approach roads have been progressively improved, and most recently the avalanche covers have been extended on the southern side.

The tunnel and most of the connecting roads between Aosta and Martigny are only single-carriageway roads, and for most relevant city destinations in Switzerland and Italy the toll-free St Gotthard Tunnel and Simplon Pass offer more direct or at least faster routes.

This and the toll ensure that the Grand San Bernard Tunnel rarely suffers from the levels of holiday season congestion that plague the more popular Alpine crossing routes.