Traffic jam chaos at the start of the holiday: How to survive the trip!

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ADAC warns of traffic jams and full roads at the start of the 2025 holidays. Find out about critical routes and tips to avoid them.

ADAC warnt vor Staus und vollen Straßen zum Ferienstart 2025. Informieren Sie sich über kritische Routen und Vermeidungstipps.
ADAC warns of traffic jams and full roads at the start of the 2025 holidays. Find out about critical routes and tips to avoid them.

Traffic jam chaos at the start of the holiday: How to survive the trip!

At the start of the summer holidays, heavy traffic and traffic jams are expected on German motorways. How Süddeutsche.de Reportedly, the roads in Lower Saxony and Bremen, where many holidaymakers start their journey, are particularly affected. The traffic situation is also becoming critical due to the closure of the Elbe Tunnel in Hamburg. A bottleneck is expected here, which could also affect alternative routes towards the North and Baltic Seas.

Many travelers plan the first week of July, as the summer holidays begin not only in Lower Saxony and Bremen, but also in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. This period is directly linked to an increase in traffic volumes, especially on the busiest day, Saturday. ADAC predicts chaotic conditions and advises planning flexible arrivals and departures.

Available routes and construction sites

The A7 motorway between Hanover and Hamburg could prove to be a bottleneck due to construction sites. There are a total of around 1,200 construction sites on German highways, some of which are even completely closed. Routes particularly prone to traffic jams include the A1 (Cologne-Hamburg), the A3 (Cologne-Nuremberg-Passau) and the A9 (Leipzig-Munich), to name just a few. The traffic situation is expected to be tense not only on German highways, but also in neighboring countries, including Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

Delays are expected as early as the first weekend in July, especially in the area around the Elbe tunnel and on the A7 in Hamburg, where diversions may be necessary. Travelers from Northern Europe are also contributing to increased traffic density, which could further exacerbate the situation. The situation could also worsen in the Czech Republic and Switzerland, where tunnel work and night closures are taking place.

Tips for avoiding traffic jams

To avoid traffic jams, the ADAC recommends a few strategies: Travelers should try to drive outside of the busiest times, such as Friday mornings or evenings, Saturdays early or afternoons and Sundays early mornings. Critical times often occur when vacationers meet commuters. A truck holiday driving ban applies on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. until the end of August.

In addition, the ADAC recommends finding out about construction sites before starting your journey and making sure you have snacks and drinks during the journey. Breaks and driving changes are important to ensure that drivers stay rested. Detours should be taken into account using dynamic signposting and it is recommended to create an emergency lane in the event of traffic jams.

In summary, the coming weeks are likely to be challenging for travelers. Good preparation and consideration can go a long way toward ensuring stress-free driving. Current information on construction sites and traffic regulations is available on the ADAC website, which also points out the need for special driving behavior in construction zones in order to avoid accidents and further delays. You can find out more about this on verbandsbuero.de read up.