Holiday-goers be warned: this Friday, July 19, the last schools in the Netherlands shut their doors, giving way to the summer vacation. Unfortunately, that means busy roads and traffic jams are also on the horizon.

Traffic jams and delays expected in the Netherlands

If you are planning to go on holiday, keep in mind that you’ll probably experience delays on the roads due to traffic jams on European motorways from Saturday, July 20. In the Netherlands, it seems as though it is only Friday, July 19, which will see busy roads.

This is especially around Nijmegen, as visitors from all over come to see the arrival of the participants during the last day of the International Four Day Marches. There are also roads works on the N325 at Nijmegen and Arnhem, which will only exacerbate the traffic.

International traffic situation

Holiday-goers in Belgium already have to take traffic jams into account. Expect jams on the E19 from Breda to Antwerp on Friday afternoon and Saturday, as, up until mid-August, only two narrowed lanes are open between St.-Job-in-‘t-Goor and North-Antwerp. If you are heading this way, it is possible to take a detour via Bergen op Zoom.

As for France, the busiest roads on Saturday are the A6 and A7 from Paris to the south and the A10 to Bordeaux. The route via the middle of France on the A71 and A75 is also extremely busy. Additionally, the travellers’ association ANWB anticipates increased waiting times at the Mont Blanc Tunnel in the direction of Italy.

When it comes to Germany, it looks like Saturday will be especially busy on the roads. The bottlenecks will be the A1 and A7 at Bremen and Hamburg and the A3 between Frankfurt and Neurenburg. Expect considerable traffic jams on the A5 between Karlsruhe and Bazel, A7 between Würzburg and Ulm and the A8 Stuttgart - Munich – Salzburg. In Germany, road works are being carried out in more than 500 places, adding to the inconvenience for holiday-goers.