Traffic jam at the Elbe Tunnel – current traffic situation and traffic jam alerts at a glance (July 12, 2025)

Whether on your way to vacation, on a weekend trip, or on your daily commute – the Elbe Tunnel in Hamburg is one of the busiest traffic junctions in Germany. Traffic jams, delays, and long wait times are therefore common.

In this article you will find everything you need to know about the traffic situation at the Elbe Tunnel: a current, automatically updated traffic jam overview , background information on the importance of the route, typical bottlenecks and possible alternative routes.

What's the current situation at the Elbe Tunnel? The following overview shows you at a glance whether traffic is flowing around Hamburg or whether you should expect traffic jams and delays. The table is updated automatically, so you can get a reliable overview at any time, whether it's morning, evening, or the middle of the night.

Four tubes, almost 3,400 meters long and over 120,000 vehicles passing through daily – the Elbe Tunnel is one of the busiest sections of the Autobahn 7. As a connection between northern and southern Germany, it plays a central role for long-distance traffic, commuter traffic in the greater Hamburg area and holiday travel – especially in the summer months.

The enormous traffic load regularly causes bottlenecks. In addition, there are construction sites and renovation work, which are unavoidable in a structure of this magnitude. Even minor accidents or breakdowns quickly lead to traffic jams, as there are no alternative routes within the tunnel itself.

The situation is exacerbated by its geographical peculiarity: The Elbe Tunnel is one of the few permanent Elbe crossings in the greater Hamburg area. Alternatives are limited, and detours are often overloaded. Anyone traveling at the wrong time can quickly find themselves stuck in traffic – especially during rush hour, such as rush hour, Friday afternoons, or holidays.

The Elbe Tunnel is particularly prone to traffic jams at certain times – and this applies not only during the holiday season. Anyone who regularly travels through Hamburg knows that there are typical rush hours when traffic backs up in front of the tunnels – often for miles.

These are the classic bottleneck times:

• In the morning between 6 and 9 a.m.: When commuters drive into the city, it gets crowded, especially in the northbound direction.
• In the afternoon from around 3 p.m.: Rush hour traffic then causes full lanes, especially in the southbound direction.
• Friday afternoon and Saturday morning: The start of the weekend, especially during the holiday season, regularly leads to long traffic jams – especially in the southbound direction.
• Return journeys on Sundays and public holidays: From late afternoon onwards, travel northwards is often congested as holidaymakers and weekend trippers return.

It becomes particularly critical when one of these peak times coincides with a construction site , a road closure , or bad weather . This can quickly lead to long delays, even outside of the traditional peak travel times.

When traffic stops moving in front of the Elbe Tunnel, the question quickly arises: Are there any sensible detours? The answer: Yes—but with restrictions.

These options are generally available to you:

• Elbe ferries between Blankenese and Cranz or in Glückstadt and Wischhafen: They are an alternative, especially for cars – but with limited capacity and waiting times, especially on weekends and during holidays.
• A1 via the Elbe bridges: Those coming from the south can leave the A7 and take the A1 and the Elbe bridges (B75). However, this route is also heavily trafficked.
• B404/A21 towards Lübeck: For interregional traffic heading for the Baltic Sea or Scandinavia, a long detour via Lübeck may be advisable, depending on the starting point.
• Internal bypasses through Hamburg: For those familiar with the area, a trip through the Hamburg city area can be worthwhile depending on the traffic situation – but only with good navigation and patience.

Despite these alternatives, the Elbe Tunnel is difficult to avoid completely. If you're flexible with your time, it's best to travel early in the morning or late in the evening—this is when you'll have the best chance of getting through without traffic jams.

At over 950 kilometers long, the Autobahn A7 is Germany's longest motorway – and one of Europe's most important traffic arteries. It runs from the Danish border crossing at Flensburg right across Germany to the Austrian border near Füssen. It's no wonder, then, that it carries enormous traffic volumes every day.

This is particularly noticeable in the section around Hamburg, where different traffic flows converge:

• Holiday traffic towards the North and Baltic Seas
• Transit traffic between Scandinavia and southern Germany
• Commuters from the Hamburg area
• Freight transport to and from the North German seaports

The Elbe Tunnel acts as a bottleneck that bundles all these flows. The result: Even slightly increased traffic volumes cause traffic jams – especially during peak travel times or when additional traffic is caused by events or construction sites.

The planned A7 expansion in the Hamburg area is intended to improve the situation in the long term. However, until all construction phases are completed, the Elbe Tunnel remains one of the most critical points in the German motorway network.

travel reporter