Traffic to Germany from Austria?

A snowHead

Hi, in the autumn people living in that area were reporting jams due to the new border controls. How's the traffic now? How long should we expect to clear the border?
Thanks

A snowHead

Rather depends which border.

15 minute traffic jam after an accident at the border near Bregenz this morning, but no border controls. I guess you mean around Salzburg though?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@clarky999,

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Same concern here. Flying to/from Munich, going to Sölden. Will we have to wait for long at the border?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@SkiingDad, no border controls or waits when I went to Munich airport from Innsbruck and back on a coach over Christmas. No idea what's like now, sorry. Samerberg Sue will have more accurate info.

You'll need to Register first of course.

From what Samerberg Sue has said previously there won't be any issues on the way into Austria but maybe delays for random checks on the way back into Germany. I'm sure she will see this and update us accordingly. Also going from Munich to Obergurgl next Friday but have local driver for the transfers so not much concerned.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

The queue last Saturday heading for border at Kufstein was immense and not moving. I was kind of expecting it to be busy what with it being end of the NY hols and changeover day but it was bad enough that I elected to go off-piste, followed everyone else up the hard shoulder (naughty but almost the only option) and fiddle through to Ebbs and up on the small roads to Chiemsee. Surrounding roads attempting to join the motorway were of course also clogged. Then it was easier but still took the cross country route up. Luckily wasn't flying til next day.

After all it is free

It took me 45 minutes to cross the border after Salzburg from to A10 onto the A8 in Germany last Sunday afternoon. I had intended to avoid it altogether and take the A1 around the west of Salzburg but the Sat Nav decided to have other ideas. After that I decided not to risk any of the rest of the A8 and went to Munich airport via Wasserburg and Erding etc. It may indeed have been slightly longer but it is worth it just to keep moving and the Bavarian countryside is beautiful.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@sugardaddy, timing is everything I'm afraid and on busy changeover days the Walserberg crossing (A1/A Cool

is an absolute nightmare. Last Saturday Salzburg was at gridlock a lot of the day due to locals and Sat-Navs trying to bypass the controls. Even going off the motorway and trying to cross elsewhere led to hold ups in the town. The problem is that there are so few bridges actually crossing the river that marks the border.

It is not random, they are checking EVERY car visually and only pulling out those who have already been identified or those who look dodgy. Cars with local German number plates (BGL, TS, RO, M, etc) are still checked but most commonly waved through. The first check is as you approach the border, the police are using ANPR systems but for foreign registered cars (especially from Slovenia, Slovakia and all points further east) have been monitored since they entered the country. Anyone who thinks differently is dreaming!

The queuing at Kufstein is also a big problem on changeover days as well as Sundays when the weekenders and daytrippers all returning. They are talking of stopping or controlling the traffic going through Kufstein as well by the way as the town is suffering on several fronts not least of which is noise and emissions pollution.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I did stop for lunch but my Kufstein-Munich journey was 4.5 hours!

If you don't need a car in resort, the train from Munich is the way.

snow reports

OK, so, going into Austria the drive should be as usual. Coming back during January low season we should expect some added time. Maybe we should drive on Friday and get a cheap room near the airport?

@Pruman,

Watching this with interest as we have to make the Kufstein to Munich airport trip in a few weeks.

You know it makes sense.

@2waterford, there are several easy work abounds. I'll send you the alternatives by PM when I get back to my laptop tonight (I'm on my iPad right now, hence the short responses and bloody stupid autocorrect spelling errors rolling eyes

)

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Have done Munich-Inntal-Munich about 10 times in the last 3 months. Sometimes I drive my own car and others I use the (excellent) Four Seasons people.

Sometimes there is no check at all on the Austria- Germany border at Kiefersfelden. However, the Four Seasons people now do clever routes around the back roads to avoid the motorway border. Last Wednesday I drove to Munich myself and, not knowing the back routes well, I stayed on the motorway. It took about 1 hour to do the last 2kms to the border. You get corralled into 1 lane, and then there was 1 police car, and 1 elderly chap vaguely looking at the vehicles as they went through. It was strangely shambolic for Germany.

A snowHead

Any insider tips on getting from Zillertal back to MUC on a Sunday night? Flights are late-ish (9PM). We were planning on skiing until the last lift, maybe a beer (for the non drivers) and avoiding the rush by leaving at 4:30 ish.

According to the internet it *should* take just over 2 hours on the autobahn via Kufstein.

Would it be worth going on the B181 instead? That would be slower in normal circumstances, but it is shorter.

Either way I guess we shouldn't dawdle over the final beers Sad

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

My experience of leaving Zillertal at 4:30 ish on a Sunday ranges from busy but flowing to actually parked for 1 hour on the carriageway (somewhere between Rosenheim and the Munich ring), all engines off, everyone getting out (even coaches emptying) so people can take a slash behind the crash barrier. That one was last year, so before any bonus delays due to border checks. No obvious crash or anything. An hour later the traffic just moved off.
I'd say in general there would always be at least one tailback before Kufstein, one between Rosenheim and the ring, and usually none after that.
Personally I'd not ski till last lift if I had a flight to catch. Getting home much later than planned was just inconvenient.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@Samerberg Sue, Hi, travelling from Munich airport to St Anton next Saturday leaving around 10.30am, and going via the Fern pass, what is the traffic likely to be like ? and do they keep the pass well ploughed ?? thanks for any help, ps if the weather is bad would it better to go via the A96 - A14 rather than the A8 ??

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

There are often checks now on Autobahn's between Austria and Germany, but I haven't seen any on A roads. So, as @brandegg said above, get off the Autobahn in border areas if you can. I live in St Johann in Tirol and regularly travel to Munich with Four Seasons. Unless I'm going for a very early flight when the roads are quiet, they tend to use the A roads to get past Kufstein and join the Autobahn later.

I drove to Salzburg on Saturday - the route passes through Germany. No hold ups at all on the A road (even though it was changeover day), but as we drove under Autobahn bridges we could see big queues.

You'll need to Register first of course.

@thunderer, Fernpass is almost always open and well maintained. I have only experienced it being closed a couple of times in the last 30 years, so no worries on that count. Traffic is very variabe. If you get stuck behind a Dutchman it can be bad! I always leave Munich very early for that reason. If the weather was really bad I might consider going over the A8 / A93 to Kufstein and Innsbruck instead of going A95 to Garmisch. I would not consider going over the A96 to Bregenz, especially if you are staying in St.Anton rather than the other side of the Arlberg in Lech.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@Steilhang, It looks as if it might be quite snowy end of next week so might just ask you for some advice !!!

After all it is free

Are they checking going into Austria? Or is it just leaving?

@Dougie, comments higher up this page suggest the checks (and delays) are going from Austria in to Germany, not the other way around.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

I offered myself as a sacrificial lamb today and, despite my satnav warning of traffic jams at the border, chose to drive on the autobahn past Kufstein. It was no problem at all. Joining the motorway at Kufstein Süd at 13:05, I was over the border, past the control, about seven minutes later. That is probably only a couple of a minutes more than without controls. The tailback only started at the 400 metre warning sign and there can have been only about twenty cars ahead of me (the control point is just after the filter signs in the photo)...

It isn't always that way and today, Sunday, there was no heavy goods vehicle traffic, which usually blocks one lane. However, I think I have been lucky enough only ever having to wait at most about fifteen minutes at that crossing. I suspect that if you hit a time when many others are leaving Austria after a day's skiing (or a week's skiing), the delays could be much worse, even though the traffic is just waved through in general. If you're travelling at a busy time, the alternative back routes could be the better choice (up to now I haven't tried them; I would worry that the roads immediately parallel to the autobahn would also become blocked which has happened to me on other occasions).

@thunderer, as Steilhang says the Fern Pass is always kept open so that is not a problem. They do hold up the traffic at the Lermoos Tunnel if there is heavy traffic. This means they let all the traffic heading one way through using both lanes, then stop the flow and let the other direction do the same in reverse. They call it "Blockanfertigung" and they announce it on the radio. You can avoid it by turning off to the right, following the signs to Ehrwald and Biberwier you then pick up the road to Garmisch and the A95 to Munich.

You know it makes sense.

I came back via the Salzburg route this evening by the way and the hold up at about 19:00 was still over well over 40 minutes. I used one of my alternatives and only added 8 minutes to my journey time.

There is a warning sign telling you how long the delay is on the right-hand side of the A10 where the slip road joins the motorway at Salzburg-Süd. As I drove past it said +20 minutes, but my sat-nav and also the local network was saying upwards of 40 minutes, so basically double whatever time the sign tells you and you are looking at a better estimation. I waited until the day trippers had returned home before setting off, but the delay is really variable.

Something has to give soon as there is a lot of frustration starting to be felt by the communities affected by this as well as from the motorists (via their motoring associations). Kufstein is quite often grid-locked in peak periods which is affecting trade and the knock on effect in terms of delays at peak periods like last Saturday (returning traffic from New Year week) caused the whole area around Salzburg and the surrounding roads to more or less to grind to a halt for the best part of the afternoon.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Drove the Kufstein route to Munich yesterday (Saturday) afternoon at approx 5pm. The delay was minimal, slowed from 70mph to around 30mph a few hundred meters or so before the checks. Looked to us like they were checking most lorries/buses but very few cars.

Drove the opposite way from Munich into Austria 2 weeks ago (again Saturday evening) and there were no checks at all.

A snowHead

@jellemr, the checks are only being carried out as you enter Germany, not as you exit the country.

A snowHead

@Samerberg Sue, you gave me a brilliant route to travel to and from Munich Airport/Maria Alm via Seebruk last year. I intend to travel that way again next month so will I be affected on the return journey with these delays or is it just the motorways?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@robandliza, I don't think so as currently the controls are only on the main Autobahn crossings. BUT you may have increased traffic along the section from Saalfelden to Siegsdorf as more and more people look for ways to avoid the damned queues at Walserberg on a changeover day.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Thank you

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Travelling from Munich airport to St Anton at 10am Saturday, snow forecast doesn't look to bad, does it look okay for going via the Fern Pass ??

You'll need to Register first of course.

@thunderer, should not be a problem if you use the Ehrwald/Biberwier road to avoid possible hold ups at the Fern Tunnel. When traffic is heavy they use a system whereby traffic is halted alternatively in each direction and the traffic going in the direction permitted uses both lanes. This is call Blockanfertigung and it can cause hold ups between Lermoos and the tunnel.

Traffic-wise, the day trippers will be long gone so the bulk will be heading north to Reutte and the start of the A7 to all points north (longest autobahn in Germany, goes all the way to Hamburg!).

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Thank you, @Samerberg Sue,

After all it is free

Wondering how today was for change over and were there many delays.

No idea to be honest as I was too busy cleaning and prepping apartments for new guests. But friends drove back from Flachau yesterday via Salzburg Airport and then on to Stuttgart. Whether they had any probs or noti don't know, but they had time to stop off at the Gabor outlet shoe shop at Rosenheim and bought 2 pairs of shoes each!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@2waterford, I went through at about 2.30 pm. No delay at all and traffic free flowing. At about 11am the sign was reporting 25 mins

Help!!

Traffic to Germany from Austria?

snowHeads Forum Index >>> The Piste