Live border cameras: plan your trip around the queues

Live cameras at border crossings are not there for security alone — they are an excellent planning tool. Here are 5 tips on how to use them to plan your journey.

1. Learn to "read" the camera

What matters is not just the number of cars you see on the screen, but the context of the situation:

• Number of open lanes: If you see a long queue but three or four control lanes are open, it means traffic is actually moving quickly. A queue with only one open lane, on the other hand, can mean a considerably longer wait.

• Separating freight and passenger traffic: Pay attention to whether the queue is made up of lorries in the right-hand lane, or whether it is only passenger vehicles. Lorry queues often look frightening on camera while the car lane is completely clear.

• The area between the two borders: Check both cameras (the one for leaving the first country and the one for entering the second). It often happens that you get out quickly, but the real queue is waiting for you in the zone in between, which the first camera does not cover.

2. Follow the patterns, not just the current picture

The most common mistake drivers make is looking at the cameras only once they are a few kilometres from the border. By then it is too late to change the plan.

• What to do instead: If you are planning a trip for the weekend, start following the situation at your chosen crossing the weekend before, at the time you expect to arrive there. You will quickly spot the patterns — for example, that the queue usually shrinks dramatically after 8 p.m., or that the early morning hours are the worst. Customs staff shifts usually change at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and that is when extra congestion tends to build up. 

3. Check before you set off

Before you even carry the last bag out of the flat, open the site with the cameras. The situation at the borders is dynamic. If, for example, you are setting off from Vienna heading south, the situation at crossings such as Gradiška or Donja Gradina can change in just an hour. If you see a jam forming, you have two options: deliberately delay your departure, or immediately put a route to a smaller, alternative crossing into your navigation. In this case that option would be the border crossing Kozarska Dubica.

4. Compare the main and the alternative crossing in real time

This is the moment when live cameras show their true value. If you are heading for the coast and see that the main crossing has come to a complete standstill, open the cameras from the nearest alternative crossings in another tab. Visual confirmation that the smaller crossing is completely empty gives you the confidence to leave the motorway. Even if you end up driving half an hour longer on a slower local road, you will still arrive considerably sooner than if you had stayed put on the main route.

5. Use the cameras for the journey home too

Many drivers plan the trip out in detail but leave the return to chance. Driving fatigue is much greater on the way back, so avoiding the borders matters even more then. Follow the cameras for the opposite direction as well, especially on Sunday afternoons, when most travellers are heading home.

Ready to set off? Bookmark our site, check the cameras before you fasten your seatbelt, and give yourself and your passengers a calm start to the holiday. Have a good trip!