Will Belgian drivers hit a wall of holiday traffic on Europe's motorways this weekend?
VAB, the Flemish motoring organisation, is warning that this coming weekend will be one of the summer's busiest on the main European holiday routes, as Belgian travellers heading south join a peak mid-August crossover of departing and returning holidaymakers…
In 30 seconds
- VAB, the Flemish motoring organisation, expects one of the summer's busiest departure weekends on Europe's main holiday routes, according to Het Nieuwsblad and Het Laatste Nieuws.
- The mid-August peak reflects the French chassé-croisé, when July holidaymakers return as August ones depart, amplified by the 15 August Assumption holiday.
- Belgian travellers heading to France, Spain and Italy join hundreds of thousands of other drivers on the same corridors.
- Belgium is also a transit country, with the E17, E19 and E411 carrying foreign holiday traffic.
VAB (Vlaamse Automobilistenbond) is Flanders' main motoring and mobility organisation, offering breakdown assistance, travel advice and traffic forecasting; its French-speaking Belgian counterpart is Touring. Bison Futé is France's official road-traffic forecaster, which grades expected congestion green, orange, red or black by region and direction. The mid-August peak reflects the French chassé-croisé — July holidaymakers returning as August ones depart — compounded by the Assumption holiday on 15 August.
Background
Every August the same handful of European corridors — the Rhône valley, the Spanish coast roads, the alpine passes — saturate as northern European holidaymakers head south. France's Bison Futé has for decades labelled the mid-August crossover weekend among the year's worst, and Belgian motoring bodies VAB and Touring issue matching seasonal guidance.
What to do
Drivers heading south should leave outside the Saturday-morning peak, budget extra time, check tunnel and border conditions, and monitor VAB or Touring updates before setting off.
Impact
Regional — Flemish households, a large share of Belgium's summer road travellers, are the primary audience for VAB's advice, while Belgium's own transit motorways (E17, E19, E411) also absorb foreign holiday traffic passing through toward France and Germany.
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.