Germany’s motorists face what the ADAC calls the ‘second travel wave’ as school holidays in North-Rhine Westphalia and parts of the Netherlands overlap this weekend. In its traffic bulletin published 24 July 2026, the club predicts sustained congestion from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening on virtually every north-south and east-west trunk route. More than 1,000 construction sites and multiple full motorway closures compound the problem. Holidaymakers heading south on the A3 (Arnhem–Cologne–Frankfurt–Passau) and A5 (Frankfurt–Karlsruhe–Basel) are told to expect stop-and-go conditions for hours; coastal routes to the North and Baltic Seas are likewise flagged. The truck ban for vehicles over 7.5 tonnes—active every Saturday in July and August from 07:00 to 20:00—will provide only limited relief, ADAC warns, because return traffic from Hessen, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland overlaps with outbound flows. Business-travel planners should avoid Friday evening departures and consider Monday- or Tuesday-morning departures instead. Companies operating time-critical logistics are advised to advance freight movements to Thursday or postpone until Sunday night once the ban lifts. ADAC’s live traffic app and the Federal Autobahn GmbH portal carry real-time diversion advice; travellers should also keep an eye on Dutch road-works, which are funnelling additional traffic through the German network. Beyond road travel, knock-on effects are likely at rail hubs and airports, particularly Frankfurt and Munich where connecting passengers could miss onward flights because of highway delays. Mobility managers are therefore recommending greater schedule buffers, especially for long-haul departures that cannot be rebooked easily in high season.
Source: ADAC
