At the Dover ferry port in southern England, the situation for travelers to France remains tense at the beginning of the school holidays. The port boss warned of waiting times of up to six hours.
However, the situation eased somewhat over the course of Saturday. The shipping companies instructed travelers to be there three to four hours before departure. The port authorities also published travel tips that were updated several times.
France, which already carries out ID checks in Dover, has denied any responsibility for the delays. There were also delays at many UK airports and on trunk roads.
Congestion hotspots Paris and Rhone Valley
Car avalanches also in the south of France, especially here on the A7 along the Rhone river south of Lyon and in the greater Paris area. Around noon, the authorities calculated nationwide traffic jams of 790 kilometers. In the Rhone Valley alone, 90 kilometers of traffic jams were measured on the A7 at the same time, in the Valence area.
rush on the Adriatic
The consequences of the high season and bed changes were also clearly noticeable on Croatian motorways and at coastal ports such as Split. Whoever arrived here and waited at the quay, at least had the traffic jams on the motorway behind them.
Jelena Ivulić from Jadrolinija ferry company in Split said: “Passengers have been arriving in waves since the early hours of the morning. There is quite a crowd at the entrance to the ferry port. For this weekend we expect over 75,000 passengers and over 15,000 vehicles. The crowd is very large, especially in the direction of Supetar on the island of Brač.”
Needle eye Gotthard
At the northern entrance to the Gotthard tunnel, traffic was also partially backed up for 15 kilometers. Travelers had to digest two to three hours of waiting before continuing on their vacation. Among them were probably travelers from Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, where holidays begin this weekend. Only schoolchildren in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have to be patient for a few more days – otherwise the schools will be empty nationwide.
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