Pentecost is approaching and with it the holiday season. The traffic jam forecast for the Pentecost weekend looks bleak. Where it gets particularly crowded and how you can avoid the traffic jams.
The Auto Club Europa (ACE), and also the
ADAC predicts long traffic jams. In short, the upcoming long Pentecost weekend (May 26 to 29, 2023) can become a test of patience on certain routes.
This is not just the start of the Pentecost holidays in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. In others, such as Bremen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, the school will remain closed at least on the Tuesday after Pentecost (May 30th).
At Pentecost, the longest traffic jams threaten here
Almost all over Germany, drivers are thronging onto the trunk roads for a holiday or a long weekend. However, the clubs expect the greatest risk of traffic jams in the south of the republic. The ADAC expects the most massive traffic disruptions on Friday afternoon (May 26) and on Whit Monday (May 29). In the south, Saturday morning (May 27) should also be affected. A lot of patience is also required in the area of around 1300 construction sites that the ADAC has counted.
But Whit Sunday (May 28th) is also a relatively quiet day for everyone who can plan their journeys more flexibly.
Reading tip: Travel at Pentecost – full streets, trains and airports expected at the beginning of the holiday season
Where and when will the streets be particularly crowded at Pentecost?
Friday (May 26, 2023): The ACE expects a very high volume of traffic and the corresponding risk of traffic jams from early noon until late in the evening, especially around metropolitan areas and on the motorways. The ADAC also expects the most massive traffic disruptions and points out that in 2022 the Friday before Pentecost was the third day of the year with the most traffic jams.
Saturday (May 27): Saturday is also considered the main travel day. Therefore, in the period from about 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., severe disruptions and sometimes long traffic jams must be expected. Especially in the south of the republic. The routes towards the Alps and the Mediterranean region as well as towards the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas are particularly busy.
Pentecost Sunday (May 28th): The clubs are still expecting the quietest travel day of the long weekend here. Nevertheless, brisk excursion traffic on the branch lines and around the local recreation areas should also be noticeable throughout the day.
Whit Monday (May 29th): Day trippers are also on the road on the side routes on Monday. In addition, the home travel routes fill up from midday and cause traffic jams again.
Summarized: The traffic clubs expect delays in the metropolitan areas of Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr, Rhine-Main, Rhine-Neckar, Stuttgart and Munich, on the long-distance roads to the North and Baltic Sea coasts and on the following routes (often in both directions):
| a 1 | Cologne – Dortmund – Bremen – Hamburg – Lübeck |
| A1/A2/A3 | Cologne Ring |
| A 2 | Berlin – Hanover – Dortmund |
| A 3 | Passau – Nuremberg – Würzburg Frankfurt/Main – Oberhausen |
| A 4 | Kirchheim triangle – Erfurt – Dresden |
| A 5 | Basel – Karlsruhe – Frankfurt/Main – Hattenbacher Dreieck |
| A 6 | Nuremberg – Heilbronn – Mannheim – Kaiserslautern |
| A 7 | Füssen – Ulm – Würzburg – Hanover – Hamburg – Flensburg |
| A 8 | Salzburg – Munich – Stuttgart – Karlsruhe |
| A 9 | Munich – Nuremberg – Halle/Leipzig – Berlin |
| a 10 | Berlin Ring |
| A 11 | Berliner Ring – Uckermark triangle |
| A 19 | Triangle Wittstock/Dosse – Rostock |
| A 24 | Berlin – Hamburg |
| A 61 | Ludwigshafen – Koblenz – Mönchengladbach |
| A 81 | Singing – Stuttgart – Heilbronn – Würzburg |
| A 93 | Kiefersfelden – Inntal triangle |
| A95/B2 | Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Munich |
| A 99 | Bypass Munich |
There is also a risk of traffic jams in popular holiday countries
At Pentecost, travelers also cause a lot of traffic and a high risk of traffic jams in Austria and Switzerland, especially on the classic transit routes such as the Tauern, Inntal, Rheintal and Brenner autobahns and on the Gotthard route. As in Germany, this applies from Friday afternoon.
In addition, the access roads to the excursion regions are also filling up. The ADAC cites the Carinthian lakes, the Salzkammergut and Lake Neusiedl in Austria, as well as the recreational areas of the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Valais as examples.
Waiting times are also likely on the return journey at the borders from Austria to Germany. You can see how long you have to wait at the Walserberg (Salzburg – Bad Reichenhall), Kiefersfelden (Kufstein Süd – Kiefersfelden) and Suben (Ort i. Innkreis – Pocking) crossings on-line at the Austrian infrastructure company Asfinag.