Summer Holidays in the North: ADAC Expects Traffic Jams on Motorways and at the Elbe Ferry

The effects were already visible on the first holiday weekend. On the A1, traffic backed up on Friday afternoon between Hamburg-Öjendorf and Stillhorn to a length of more than ten kilometres. Around the Norderelbbrücke and the Hamburg Elbe Tunnel, traffic on the A1 and A7 also came to a standstill in both directions over several kilometres. Until Friday evening, the situation in the greater Hannover, Bremen and Hamburg areas remained comparatively calm despite numerous construction sites, according to observations.

Focus A1: Full Closure near Hamburg

The A1 plays a central role. The section between Hamburg-Harburg and Hamburg-Stillhorn is closed due to bridge works, with the directional carriageways being封闭 one after the other on various weekends. The northbound carriageway between Lübeck and Bremen, that is, between Hamburg-Stillhorn and Hamburg-Harburg, has been closed since Friday at 22:00. The lifting of this closure is planned for Monday, 6 July, at 05:00. A second closure of the A1 is planned from Friday, 10 July, 22:00, to Monday, 13 July, 05:00, and may be cancelled if construction progresses more quickly.

Several construction sites on the A7 in Lower Saxony are also hampering holiday travel. Between the Horster Dreieck, Thieshope, Maschener Kreuz/A39 and Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, lane reductions and carriageway closures with varying durations are in place until between 4 July and 1 November 2026. In Schleswig-Holstein, there are permanent construction sites on the A1 between the Autobahnkreuz Bargteheide and Bad Oldesloe as well as between Scharbeutz and Ratekau, and also on the A7 around the Rader Hochbrücke with fewer and narrower lanes.

Construction Sites on the A2, A7 and A20

In Lower Saxony, two bottlenecks are added on the A1: the connecting ramp from the Horster Dreieck to the A7 is closed until 3 August, and between Wildeshausen-Nord and Groß Ippener the carriageway is permanently narrowed to 3.25 metres in width. On the A2, there are permanent construction sites between Lehrte-Ost and Hämelerwald with lane closures, as well as between Bad Nenndorf and Wunstorf-Luthe with two lanes in each direction. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a carriageway renewal on the A20 between the Selliner See Süd rest area and Kröpelin is underway until 31 July; until 30 July, fewer lanes are available between the Bretthäger Wisch Süd rest area and Bobitz.

The A29 between Oldenburg and Wilhelmshaven as well as the A33 between Osnabrück-Süd and Teutoburger Wald West also have permanent or long-running construction sites with restricted lanes. Autobahn GmbH explained that, in addition to the major construction sites, spot border checks also caused additional delays. According to the company, the signposted diversion via the B75 is already heavily congested at peak times.

Glückstadt–Wischhafen Elbe Ferry as an Alternative Route

An alternative to crossing the Elbe west of Hamburg is the FRS Elbe ferry between Glückstadt in the Steinburg district and Wischhafen in Lower Saxony. Currently four FRS ferries take turns daily, in summer between 04:30 and 23:15, at peak times every 20 minutes. FRS-Elbfähre managing director Tim Kunstmann said, "das Verkehrsaufkommen sei leider schwer zu kalkulieren, weshalb Tickets für die Überfahrt nicht vorab gebucht werden könnten." He advised travellers to use the ferry before 10 a.m. and after 4/5 p.m. to avoid the rush.

For travellers heading towards the North Sea and Baltic Sea, the Wyker Dampfschiff-Reederei (WDR) offers ferry connections to Föhr and Amrum. According to the WDR, as cited by NDR, there is sufficient capacity on the Föhr-Amrum ferries for foot passengers who leave their cars in the island car park in Dagebüll. Car drivers and campers should book ferry tickets in advance.

Autobahn GmbH recommends travelling off-peak, i.e. late in the evening or at night, to avoid traffic jams. The ADAC also warns of congestion on 4 July on the A3, A5, A7, A8 and A9 motorways heading south, as well as on the A1 and A7 heading towards the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Holiday Start in Austria

Parallel to the German holidays, the travel season is also starting in Austria. On Friday, report cards were distributed in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland to almost 500,000 pupils – and with that the holiday season officially began. An evaluation by the holiday home portal Holidu shows where Austrians are travelling or flying to this year. The top 5 holiday countries are Croatia ahead of Austria, Italy, Greece and Spain. Surprisingly, Austria comes in second – ahead of Italy or Greece. The main holiday is to last around twelve days. A holiday night in Austria costs on average 204 euros - making Austria even the most expensive as a travel destination. According to the "Ruefa Reisekompass 2026", the planned travel budget of Austrians is 2,209 euros per person. Proximity, reliability and easy arrival play just as big a role as price.

Austrians' appetite for travel remains unbroken despite higher fuel prices and inflation. The older generation spends the most at 4,444 euros, baby boomers at 2,630 euros. The younger Generation Z calculates with 1,938 euros. Regionally, the budgets are highest in the west: Tyrol (2,517 euros), Vienna (2,428 euros) and Burgenland (2,349 euros). The first traffic jams already appeared at the start of the holidays.