France braces for heavy road congestion as July vacation rush begins

Bison Futé warns that the first weekend of the summer holidays – Friday 3 July to Sunday 5 July 2026 – will see severe traffic congestion on several major French motorways. The A13 linking Paris to Normandy is expected to become very busy from mid‑afternoon on Friday, while the A10 and A6 around Île‑de‑France will experience “very dense” traffic from the end of the morning. The A7 in the Drôme department, as well as routes toward the Atlantic coast, the Rhône‑Alps corridor and the Mediterranean littoral, are also forecast to be heavily loaded, with red or orange alerts in many regions.

The agency advises motorists to leave before 10 a.m. or after 23 p.m. on Friday, and to avoid peak hours on Saturday, recommending departures before 5 a.m. or after 16 p.m. to ease bottlenecks. Drivers are urged to plan ahead, use real‑time traffic tools and consider alternative routes to mitigate the expected delays affecting millions of French holidaymakers and visitors from neighbouring countries.