Saturday set to be busiest day on European roads this summer
Saturday is set to be the busiest day on Europe's roads this summer, according to the breakdown service Touring and the mobility organisation VAB.
As usual, the bottlenecks this weekend will be on the A6 and A10 motorways around Paris, the A10 to Bordeaux, the A9 between Orange and the Spanish border, and the A7 between Lyon and Marseille.
Alternative routes to the Autoroute du Soleil include the A75 (Clermont-Ferrand–Béziers) or, from Dijon, taking the A39 towards Geneva before joining the A7 near Lyon via the A42. There are likely to be traffic jams on these routes too, but they will be less severe than on the Autoroute du Soleil.
Changeover weekend
During this changeover weekend, a large number of holidaymakers are leaving the country and many travellers are returning at the same time. Traffic jams of 3 to 4 hours on the A7 between Lyon and Orange cannot be ruled out.
The Mont Blanc tunnel has also been particularly busy all summer in the direction of Italy. This is expected to continue this weekend.
The school holidays start this weekend in the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. Together with the usual roadworks in Germany and Austria, including on the Brenner Pass, this will lead to heavy traffic towards Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
Heavy traffic heading north
Additionally, many holidaymakers will be returning home by car this weekend, leading to heavy traffic on European motorways heading north. Saturday is expected to be particularly bad for traffic, with long queues and delays on the main transit routes from southern Europe.
In Austria, traffic jams are expected at the Tauern and Karawanken tunnels on the Slovenian border, where delays of more than an hour were already experienced last weekend. There is also a high risk of traffic jams on the Brenner motorway near the Luegbrücke bridge.
Best times to travel
According to VAB, the best time to travel is during the week, from Tuesday to Thursday. "If you have to leave at the weekend, Sunday morning is best. If you still want to leave on Saturday, do so in the late morning.”
"Leaving on Friday to avoid traffic jams is not a good idea"
Leaving in the late morning on Saturday means that there will be less heavy traffic at the bottlenecks when you arrive. "Leaving on Friday to avoid traffic jams is not a good idea because you will encounter a mix of holiday traffic and commuters," said VAB.
A 7-kilometre traffic jam on the A1 highway near Otocac in Croatia on 1 August 2025 © PHOTO HRVOJE KOSTELAC/PIXSELL
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