How Bad Is Friday Evening Traffic From Berlin To Warnemunde

[Reggiefan]

Specific question intended for those living in or with much knowledge of the area. Warnemunde-Berlin excursion on Friday. How bad is the traffic leaving Berlin to return to the ship in Warnemunde? And during what hours is the traffic the worst?

 

Our ship is docked until 11:59 pm. What time should we leave Berlin to safely make it back to the ship?

 

Thanks in advance for all responses.

[Reggiefan]

I wish I could edit the heading for this thread.

 

Let's try this. A few people who post on this forum do live in northern Germany near Rostock and have some idea as to traffic conditions in the evening between Warnemunde and Berlin. A few.

 

However, any number of people who post on this forum have made the cruise excursion from Warnemunde to Berlin and have experience with traffic conditions as they were leaving Berlin to return to Warnemunde.

 

How long did the return trip take? How bad was the traffic? Did anyone make the trip on a Friday during the summer? What hour did you leave Berlin?

 

I am thinking that the worst hours for leaving Berlin because of traffic are those between 4 to 6 pm, and that the traffic begins to dissipate after 6 pm. Apparently, traffic jams in Germany can rival those in some major US cities. I am just trying to get some idea, to catch a ship leaving Warnemunde at midnight, by what time one travelling by car should leave Berlin.

[Travelanni]

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I wish I could edit the heading for this thread.

 

Let's try this. A few people who post on this forum do live in northern Germany near Rostock and have some idea as to traffic conditions in the evening between Warnemunde and Berlin. A few.

 

However, any number of people who post on this forum have made the cruise excursion from Warnemunde to Berlin and have experience with traffic conditions as they were leaving Berlin to return to Warnemunde.

 

How long did the return trip take? How bad was the traffic? Did anyone make the trip on a Friday during the summer? What hour did you leave Berlin?

 

I am thinking that the worst hours for leaving Berlin because of traffic are those between 4 to 6 pm, and that the traffic begins to dissipate after 6 pm. Apparently, traffic jams in Germany can rival those in some major US cities. I am just trying to get some idea, to catch a ship leaving Warnemunde at midnight, by what time one travelling by car should leave Berlin.

Hi, I am one of 'the few' living in Northern Germany but much as I would like to, I'm afraid I can't help you with first-hand experience as I never travel by car.

However, I have asked around and the general opinion seems to be that it is not so much the volume of traffic that causes jams as roadworks which close miles of one side of the autobahn and accidents which close whole sections.

You are right about the time of heaviest traffic although my friends would say that it continues until later, around 8pm, in summer. It is also agreed that Friday is the very worst day to travel from Berlin, everyone is either getting away for the weekend if they live there or going home if they only work there. I know that this applies to the trains and avoid Friday and Sunday evenings like the plague.

One friend who drives regularly between Rostock and Berlin told me that if she had a specific arrival time she would never risk the journey on a Friday evening without at least a 1 to 1.5 hour extra allowance on the 2.5 hour drive, ie allowing at least 3 to 4 hours. She pointed out that this applies if you are driving all the way from the centre of Berlin but if you have parked your car in the suburbs and taken the s-bahn into the city it would not be quite as bad. As she says, the tour drivers always have 'time up their sleeves' and also a 'route B' in case of a major hold up but this, of course, requires local road knowledge and listening to the radio reports all the time. Having said all this she admits that she has often done the Friday evening run with no problems in the normal time but...... it only takes an accident which closes the road and you could miss the ship.

I do hope you receive some rather more positive feedback from others who have 'been there, done that'.

Happy cruising, :)

Anni

Edited November 9, 2013 by rostocker

[Reggiefan]

Anni,

 

While I still welcome the comments of others, you have answered the questions I have. Thank you.

 

In our case, the ship is scheduled to leave Warnemunde at 23:59--and the missing of the ship would not be catastrophic (though we certainly do not want to miss it) because the next port of call is Travemunde (during the sailing festival in July).

 

Based on your comments, even from the center of the city, I would think that leaving by 18:00 or even 18:30 would be safe--unless the roadway to Warnemunde is undergoing major construction as you noted.

 

And as you said, the possibility of a major traffic accident shutting down a major roadway always exists. However, there is no way to eliminate entirely the possibility of missing the ship because of an extraordinary accident unless one stays in the Warnemunde area. Leaving Berlin five and a half to six hours before the ship departs seems more than reasonably safe. Plus, we will not be travelling in a large bus but a small van.

 

Thanks again.

 

PS Any comments you can offer about Travemunde Week would be appreciated as well. I believe we will be there on the last or second to last day of the regatta.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Reggiefan