Border checks in 2026: Austria, Germany and your drive time

Until 15 March 2027, unless extended or ended early, you can meet police border checks when crossing Austria's borders with Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary or Slovenia, and when entering Germany from Austria or Czechia. Not every car is stopped, but everyone on board should carry a valid passport or national ID card. Your navigation app is likely to account for a check only once it has slowed the traffic around it, so the estimate you see at departure can be too optimistic.

What is in force, and until when

Schengen countries may bring back checks at internal borders only temporarily, as what the European Commission calls a measure of last resort, and must notify the Commission. A notification for a foreseeable threat covers at most six months, which is why both current periods end on 15 March 2027. The Commission's list showed this on 26 September 2026:

Both governments cite irregular migration among their reasons; Germany's notification also names migrant smuggling. Austria has notified no checks at its border with Germany, and ADAC says there are no systematic checks when entering Austria from Germany, only spot checks on special occasions. Between Austria and Germany, the checks that hold up traffic are therefore German ones, on the way into Germany.

On longer trips, two more entries matter: Italy checks its land border with Slovenia until 18 December 2026 (Slovenia has notified no checks of its own), and Poland checks its land borders with Germany and Lithuania; its current period ends on 1 October 2026 and a new notification continues the checks until 30 March 2027. Any period can be extended or ended early.

What a check looks like

Neither country stops every vehicle. ADAC notes that Germany has concentrated on traffic from Austria since 2015. At the motorway crossings of Suben, Walserberg and Kiefersfelden, ADAC warns that the checks regularly cause queues and waiting times, depending on traffic.

Austria works differently. Announcing the latest extension on 15 September 2026, the interior ministry described broad, flexible checks across the border area rather than purely stationary checks at crossing points, aiming to burden commuters as little as possible. Its December 2025 announcement described a 'control belt': checks and staff, from the EU's external border to Austria's own border area and hinterland, steered flexibly according to the current situation.

Police can also check people near a border without a notified border control: the German Bundespolizei (federal police) may do so up to 30 kilometres inside Germany.

What to carry

This summarises the EU's official Your Europe portal, ÖAMTC and ADAC. It is not legal advice: check the linked sources for your own situation, especially if you are not an EU citizen.

• EU citizens: a passport or national ID card, valid on the day of travel. Your Europe says you must show one when temporary border controls apply.
• Children: their own passport or ID card, as Your Europe, ÖAMTC and ADAC all point out.
• Not enough on its own: a driving licence. Your Europe says driving licences and bank cards may be refused as proof of identity; ÖAMTC says only a passport or ID card counts.
• Non-EU nationals: a passport plus any visa or residence permit you need. Your Europe advises carrying them when travelling to or through a country with temporary checks.
• Non-EU family members of EU citizens: a passport with a residence card, or with a residence permit issued by a Schengen country; Your Europe says either removes the need for a visa.
• The driver: a driving licence, which the Bundespolizei lists among the documents it may ask for, along with an ID card.

Crossings on popular routes

The table covers the main road crossings on routes in Mapssy's guides. It shows who has notified checks there, not whether officers are present on a given day.

Nothing is notified between Slovakia and Czechia, such as the D2 north from Bratislava (Bratislava to Prague), or between Slovakia and Hungary, such as the D2 to the Čunovo–Rajka crossing (Bratislava to Budapest). Leaving Austria for Slovakia, Czechia or Hungary means entering a country with no notified checks of its own.

How checks affect your arrival time

The app makers all describe arrival times built from traffic data; how and why their figures differ is set out in why navigation apps show different arrival times. None of their descriptions mentions border checks, so in practice a check mostly reaches your estimate through the traffic it slows. Waze says its estimate also accounts for irregular events such as accidents and other hazards.

A check looks like any other jam

The app usually shows slow or stopped traffic near the border without saying why, so a border queue can look like any other jam. If your own car is waved aside for a closer look, that time is simply added: the traffic flow the app measures may keep moving past you.

The figure at departure is a forecast

The arrival time shown when you set off predicts a border section you will reach much later. A queue that builds meanwhile is usually picked up once devices stuck in it report slow speeds, so check the route again as you approach the border.

Regular queues are easier to predict than moving checks

Google says its forecasts combine historical traffic patterns with live conditions, and in 2020 it said recent weeks were given more weight. Where German checks slow traffic at similar times week after week, that pattern may already be reflected in the forecast. Austria's checks move around the border area, so a stop in a new place, or on an unusual day, will not be.

Apps disagree, and some suggest detours

Each app has its own data, so one may show a border queue before another. An app may also offer a different crossing. That can help, but checks are not tied to one place: ADAC names Selb and Schirnding, as well as the A6 at Waidhaus, among Bavarian–Czech crossings where waits are possible.

Mapssy's route comparison puts live estimates for one trip side by side, so a disagreement near the border stands out. Only the figures a provider measures itself (Google, TomTom, and Apple in the iOS app) come from separate traffic data; Mapssy's Waze figure is calculated from Google's, so it will not show a queue that Google misses. For which of those figures come directly from a provider and which are Mapssy's own estimates, see how Mapssy works.

Before you reach a checked border

• Every traveller, children too, needs a valid passport or ID card; keep them within reach rather than in the boot.
• Look at official traffic information before you leave: ASFINAG for Austrian motorways, with traffic reports, webcams and an app; ÖAMTC for links to traffic information in Austria, Germany and other European countries; ADAC for German roads, including border crossings.
• In Bavaria, BayernInfo, run by the Bavarian transport ministry, shows about 500 webcams on the main motorways plus traffic messages from neighbouring regions, including Austria and Czechia. For Hungarian roads, Útinform is run by Magyar Közút.
• Allow extra time on busy days: ÖAMTC advises expecting waits on entry, especially at weekends and in holiday periods.
• Refresh your route before the last motorway exit ahead of the border, while another crossing is still an option.
• If you switch crossings, check whether the new road needs a vignette; see the 2026 vignette guide.
• For a trip after 15 March 2027, check the European Commission list first, as the checks may have been extended or ended.