Christmas truck driving bans in Europe 2026: dates and hours by country

Christmas truck driving bans in Europe 2026 concentrate on Friday 2026-12-25, Saturday 2026-12-26 and Friday 2027-01-01, and Switzerland is the exception among Germany, Austria, Italy and Poland, because it applies no day ban on 26 December. Road freight carried 25.7% of EU tonne-kilometres in 2024 ( Eurostat ), so two banned days back to back stall a lot of freight. This guide gives one table for 2026-12-24 to 2027-01-06, then lists the countries where you must verify hours yourself and the 2027 decrees that are still unpublished.

How do the 2026 weekdays change the Christmas and New Year ban pattern?

The calendar is the whole story this year. Christmas Day falls on a Friday, so most of Central Europe gets a Friday, Saturday, Sunday run of ban days, and the key dates are Thursday 2026-12-24, Friday 2026-12-25, Saturday 2026-12-26, Sunday 2026-12-27, Thursday 2026-12-31, Friday 2027-01-01, Sunday 2027-01-03 and Wednesday 2027-01-06.

Germany shows what that run looks like in practice. The ban covers trucks over 7.5 t from 00:00 to 22:00 on Sundays and holidays ( StVO section 30 ), so 25 and 26 December and the Sunday 27 December are all closed, and the only gaps are two hours from 22:00 to 24:00 on the 25th and the 26th. Nobody can plan a leg around a two-hour gap.

Austria is stricter still. Its statute bans trucks over 7.5 t every night from 22:00 to 05:00, plus 00:00-22:00 on holidays and Sundays. If Saturday 26 December is read as a full ban day (the Saturday ban from 15:00 combined with the holiday ban from 00:00, which is our inference and not statute wording), Austrian roads stay closed from the Thursday 22:00 night ban through to Monday 05:00. The same reading leaves a ten-hour gap on Saturday 2027-01-02, from 05:00 to 15:00.

New Year repeats the shape with less weight. Friday 2027-01-01 is a ban day in Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, and Sunday 2027-01-03 brings the ordinary Sunday rules. Wednesday 2027-01-06 (Epiphany) is a ban day in Austria only among the countries confirmed here. Germany, Poland and Switzerland have no entry for it.

Thursdays matter as much as the holidays. Thursday 2026-12-24 and Thursday 2026-12-31 are working days almost everywhere, yet the Czech Republic starts its ban at 13:00 on 24 December, and France and Hungary start theirs at 22:00 on both evenings. The weekday logic also changes every year, so last season's table is a poor guide. Switzerland's 26 December rule, covered below, is the clearest example. You can cross-check each country's holidays for the same dates on the public holiday calendar .

Which countries ban trucks between 2026-12-24 and 2027-01-06?

Eight transit countries have a confirmed or well-grounded ban on at least one of the days in this window, and Belgium and the Netherlands have none for ordinary trucks. The table below covers eight countries where the rule rests on a primary text or a direct reading of one, plus a Belgium and Netherlands row that rests on secondary sources. Times are local, and "None" means we found no ban for that date.

Two notes on reading it. First, Sunday 2026-12-27 and Sunday 2027-01-03 follow each country's ordinary Sunday rule, which the table does not repeat. Second, the Belgium and Netherlands row comes from secondary sources. TIMOCOM's overview (header dated 2026-07-14) lists Belgium among its Christmas-specific countries, while another aggregator reads the Belgian holiday limits as applying to exceptional (oversize) transport only. Treat ordinary trucks as unaffected, but check before sending an abnormal load.

Is there a truck ban on 26 December 2026 in Switzerland?

The night ban from 22:00 to 05:00 still applies on that Saturday, so the usable window runs from 05:00 to 22:00. Friday 2026-12-25 and Friday 2027-01-01 are full 00:00-24:00 ban days. ASTRA's list has no entry for 2 January or 6 January, so neither is a federal ban day. For the full reasoning, read the Swiss 26 December truck ban explainer .

The practical effect is a lane that opens for one day. A truck held at the Swiss border on Friday can cross and unload on Saturday, while the same truck held in Germany or Austria stays parked.

What do Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Poland and the Czech Republic do?

All six apply a holiday or Sunday logic, but they differ on thresholds, start times and which December days count. The sections below give the rule basis for each one.

Germany

Germany is the simplest case. StVO section 30 lists 25 and 26 December and 1 January, and it has no entry for Heiligabend (24 December), Silvester (31 December) or Epiphany. The Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility (BALM) names 25 and 26 December 2026 as nationwide ban days, and as of 2026-10-24 it has published no 2027 list. The ban on 2027-01-01 therefore rests on the statute, not on a BALM page.

The summer Saturday ban (07:00-20:00, 1 July to 31 August) does not apply in winter, so Saturday 2027-01-02 is free of day bans.

Austria

Austria's StVO section 42 bans trucks over 7.5 t on Saturdays from 15:00 to 24:00, on Sundays and holidays from 00:00 to 22:00, and every night from 22:00 to 05:00. The Feiertagsruhegesetz 1957 counts 25 December, 26 December, 1 January and 6 January as holidays, while 24 and 31 December are not holidays. A truck with a trailer above 3.5 t is also covered at weekends and holidays, so a lighter combination is not automatically free.

Austria is the only country in the table with a ban on Epiphany. Our reading of 26 December as a full 00:00-24:00 ban is an inference, so confirm it in the Austria Christmas truck ban details before routing anything through the Brenner or Tauern corridors.

Italy

Italy publishes a new decree every year. Ministerial Decree 325, dated 2025-12-12 and published on 2025-12-30 by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport , bans vehicles over 7.5 t on extra-urban roads from 09:00 to 22:00 on 25 and 26 December 2026. It has no entry for 24 or 31 December. Article 3 delays the ban start by four hours for vehicles arriving from abroad with the right documents and ends it two hours earlier for vehicles leaving for abroad.

The 2027 decree had not been signed as of 2026-10-24. Last year's publication date suggests it will appear in late December 2026, which is an inference, so do not assume hours for 1 January or 6 January 2027. The Italy December 2026 truck bans post has the full calendar.

France

France runs on a general rule. The arrêté of 2021-04-16 bans vehicles over 7.5 t from 22:00 on the eve of a holiday until 22:00 on the holiday itself, and on Saturdays from 22:00 until 22:00 on the following Sunday or holiday (as summarised by Service-Public). Applied to 2026, the ban runs from Thursday 22:00 to Friday 22:00, then stops, then restarts at 22:00 on Saturday 26 December, because 26 December is not a national holiday. That leaves a free day on Boxing Day, which is our derivation from the general rule.

The complementary 2026 arrêté of 2025-12-26 contains no Christmas dates, and the Bison Futé page shows no 2027 version as of 2026-10-24. This table covers only the general regime. Check regional rules separately for Paris-area routes.

Poland

Poland sets a higher threshold than most countries. The GDDKiA list bans vehicles over 12 t from 08:00 to 22:00 on 25 December, 26 December and 1 January. It has no entry for 24 December or 6 January, so a truck above 12 t may run on Christmas Eve and on Epiphany. Vehicles between 7.5 t and 12 t are outside this ban altogether. Anything over 12 t is subject to it on every road, not only motorways.

Czech Republic

The Czech ban is narrow but long. Act 361/2000, section 43, bans vehicles over 7,500 kg (3,500 kg when towing a trailer) from 13:00 to 22:00 on Sundays and rest days, on motorways and class I roads only. Act 245/2000 makes 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January rest days, and 6 January is not one. Thursday 2026-12-24 is therefore a ban afternoon even though it is a working day for most of Europe. Each ban day leaves the overnight and morning hours open, so the Czech Republic is one of the easier countries to cross during the Christmas run, because the ban covers only motorways and class I roads between 13:00 and 22:00.

How does Hungary's EURO 3+ exemption work?

Hungary exempts trucks that meet the EURO 3 emission standard or better when they are in international traffic, and the exemption runs from 4 November to 1 March, so it covers every date in this guide. Government Decree 190/2008 sets a winter rule from 1 September to 30 June: trucks over 7.5 t are banned from 22:00 on the eve until 22:00 on Sundays and holidays.

Two conditions decide whether you benefit. The vehicle must be EURO 3 or newer. The movement must be international, so a domestic Hungarian leg is not exempt even for a EURO 6 truck. A Slovakia-to-Romania transit through Hungary in a EURO 6 truck falls inside the exemption. A Budapest-to-Debrecen delivery does not.

Our table marks Hungary as medium confidence for good reasons. The all-day ban on 25 and 26 December is derived from the eve-to-holiday rule, and we have not confirmed whether 24 December counts as a rest day.

Check before you go: Slovakia, Romania, Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, Luxembourg and Portugal

We left these seven countries out of the table because the rule basis is partly secondary and the hours are disputed, derived from secondary sources, or tied to a 2027 text we could not confirm. None of the entries below states an hour on purpose. Verify each one with the national authority before you dispatch.

• Slovakia: Act 8/2009, section 39, sets the ban by position in a block of rest days, with a new version taking effect on 2027-01-01. Act 241/1993 makes 24, 25 and 26 December and 6 January rest days. We could not confirm that the 2027 wording matches what applies in December 2026, and aggregator tables contradict each other, so check Slov-Lex or the Ministry of Transport.
• Romania: Bans apply to selected major roads, not the whole network, for vehicles over 7.5 t. Sources conflict on eve-of-holiday hours and on whether 6 January counts, and we found no primary instrument.
• Spain: There is no general nationwide holiday ban in this table. The DGT publishes an annual resolution (BOE-A-2026-1255, published 2026-01-20) with date-specific restrictions for vehicles over 7,500 kg on named road sections. For example, the N-230 is restricted on Sundays from 6 to 27 December 2026. Those date-specific entries do not carry into 2027, so wait for the 2027 resolution.
• Slovenia: Aggregators list 25 December, 26 December and 1 January as ban days for vehicles over 7.5 t, but they differ on the evening end time. Confirm against the Slovenian ordinance.
• Croatia: Selected state roads are restricted for vehicles over 7.5 t or longer than 14 m. Windows reportedly shift when a holiday falls on a Friday or Saturday, which is exactly the case in 2026.
• Luxembourg: The ban covers transit only for vehicles over 7.5 t. Windows start the evening before and differ by direction of travel (towards France or towards Germany). Our source is a third-party aggregator, and we did not read the Grand-Ducal regulation of 1997-07-19.
• Portugal: There is no general ban. The restrictions target ADR tankers (vehicles carrying dangerous goods under the European ADR agreement) on Sundays and national holidays, and sources disagree on the hours.

What should dispatchers do before the 2027 decrees are published?

Plan around the confirmed 2026 dates and treat every 2027 date as provisional. As of 2026-10-24, none of the four national texts for 2027 was published: the Italian decree, the Spanish DGT resolution, the French complementary arrêté and the BALM list for Germany. The steps below fit that gap.

1. Count back from the earliest start. That is 13:00 on Thursday 2026-12-24 on Czech motorways and class I roads, then 22:00 that evening in France, Hungary, and under the Austrian and Swiss night bans, then 00:00 on Friday in Germany.
2. Plan the restart separately. Germany reopens at 22:00 on Sunday 2026-12-27, and Austria reopens on Monday at 05:00 if our 26 December reading holds.
3. Do not copy a table from last season. The Swiss 26 December rule flips with the weekday, and every date-specific decree changes each year.
4. Check the EURO class of any truck that crosses Hungary and confirm the movement is international, because the exemption depends on both.
5. Watch four publications and recheck the New Year plan the day they appear: the Italian Ministry decree, the BALM list, the Bison Futé page and the Spanish DGT resolution in the BOE.
6. Get written confirmation for the seven countries in the check-before-you-go list. For a broader reference on thresholds, use the truck driving bans in Europe country guide .

Frequently asked questions

Are trucks allowed to drive on Christmas Day in Europe?

In most of the countries in this guide, no. Heavy trucks face a day ban on Friday 2026-12-25 in Germany, Austria, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Switzerland, and France bans them until 22:00. Belgium and the Netherlands apply no general ban to ordinary trucks.

Is there a truck ban in Germany on 26 December?

Yes. Saturday 2026-12-26 is a ban day from 00:00 to 22:00 for trucks over 7.5 t and for trailers behind trucks. The summer Saturday ban does not apply in winter, and the 26 December ban comes from StVO section 30.

Is there a truck ban in Germany on 31 December?

No day ban applies on Thursday 2026-12-31. StVO section 30 has no Silvester entry, and a weekday that is not a holiday carries no ban. The next German ban day is Friday 2027-01-01, from 00:00 to 22:00.

Is there a truck ban in Italy on New Year's Day?

Italy's 2027 decree has not been signed, so the 2027-01-01 hours are unconfirmed. The 2026 decree set 09:00-22:00 for 25 and 26 December, and a similar pattern is likely for New Year, but that is an expectation. Check the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport site in late December.

Is there a truck driving ban in Poland on Christmas Eve?

No. The GDDKiA list for vehicles over 12 t names 25 December, 26 December and 1 January (08:00-22:00) and does not include 24 December. Thursday 2026-12-24 is a free day for Polish roads.

Does the truck ban apply to vehicles under 7.5 tonnes?

It depends on the country. Poland starts at 12 t, Germany and Italy at 7.5 t, Switzerland at 3.5 t, and the Czech Republic and Austria apply a 3.5 t threshold to a truck towing a trailer. Check both the vehicle weight and any trailer before assuming a lighter combination is exempt.

Shipping across Europe between 2026-12-24 and 2027-01-06? Get a compliance-aware freight quote and we will route around the ban windows for you.