Traffic jam forecast for the weekend of July 4 to 6, 2025: You're guaranteed to be stuck in traffic here

While Bremen, Lower Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland are starting their new school holidays, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia have already been on school holidays for a week. Many vacationers from the southern Netherlands, as well as from Scandinavia and Northern Europe, are also on the road—either heading to the seaside, the mountains, or further south.

Not only long-distance travelers, but also last-minute travelers and day trippers are causing additional traffic, especially on routes to the coasts, lakes and Alpine regions.

The greatest risk of traffic jams occurs on Friday afternoons , Saturday mornings , and Sunday afternoons . Fridays are considered a particularly critical day, when commuter and tourist traffic converge. If possible, it's better to postpone your trip until Monday or Tuesday to avoid traffic jams.

The truck driving ban on Saturdays between 1 July and 31 August from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. also serves to ease holiday traffic.

Several motorways in Germany will be completely closed this weekend. In Hamburg, the Elbe Tunnel on the A7 will be closed in both directions from 10 p.m. on Friday, July 4, to 5 a.m. on Monday, July 7. The A43 between the Bochum interchange and the Recklinghausen interchange will also be closed for the entire weekend—the closure will apply in both directions.

The A44 is also affected: The section between the Meerbusch interchange and Düsseldorf-Stockum will be completely closed from Friday evening at 10 p.m. until Monday morning at 5 a.m. On the A52, the Düsseldorf-bound lane between the Kaarst interchange and Büderich will be impassable from 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 3, until Monday morning.

Another closure affects the A59 toward Düsseldorf. Between Monheim and Richrath, the route has been closed since 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 29, until 5:00 a.m. on Monday, July 7.

In addition, the long-term full closure of the A45 between Lüdenscheid-Nord and Lüdenscheid remains in place. This measure will remain in place until further notice.

There is a significant risk of traffic jams on the following motorways in both directions:

• A1 Cologne – Dortmund – Münster – Osnabrück – Bremen – Hamburg
• A2 Hanover – Braunschweig – Magdeburg
• A3 Cologne – Frankfurt, Würzburg – Nuremberg and Passau – Linz
• A4 Görlitz – Dresden – Chemnitz
• A5 Heidelberg – Karlsruhe – Basel
• A6 Mannheim – Heilbronn – Nuremberg
• A7 Hamburg – Flensburg
• A7 Hamburg – Hanover and Würzburg – Ulm – Füssen/Reutte
• A8 Karlsruhe – Stuttgart – Munich – Salzburg
• A9 Halle/Leipzig – Nuremberg – Munich
• A61 Mönchengladbach – Koblenz – Ludwigshafen
• A72 Chemnitz – Hof
• A93 Inntal Triangle – Kufstein
• A95/B2 Munich – Garmisch-Partenkirchen
• A99 Munich bypass

In Austria, summer holidays begin this weekend in six federal states: Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Carinthia, and Upper Austria. Accordingly, traditional transit routes such as the Tauern, Pyhrn, Inntal, Fernpass, Brenner, Rhine Valley, and Gotthard routes are congested.

Restrictions continue to be imposed on the Brenner motorway due to the construction work at the Lueg Bridge. Although two lanes will be open on weekends, traffic jams are still likely. Weekend exit closures for through traffic are in place on the A12 Inntal motorway and the Fernpass route.

There's good news from the Tauern Autobahn: The long-standing construction work in the Golling-Wengen tunnel chain has been completed, and traffic is flowing two-way there again. On the Reschen Pass, however, south of Pfunds, alternating one-way traffic is expected – the alternative route via Switzerland is recommended. The Pfänder Tunnel on the A14 Rhine Valley Autobahn is also being renovated, but will remain free of construction on busy days.

In the Czech Republic, a tunnel on the D8 (Dresden-Prague) near the border is being renovated, which may cause delays. In Switzerland, the San Bernardino Tunnel is partially closed at night.

Since May, increased entry controls have been in place at all German external borders. These are carried out randomly but can lead to delays – particularly at the Suben (A3), Walserberg (A8), and Kiefersfelden (A93) motorway crossings. Occasional checks can also be expected at the borders with France and the Netherlands. Those traveling to Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, or Turkey should plan for longer mandatory breaks.