The initial section of the E20 from Shannon Airport to Dublin via Limerick is approximately 228 km long and is only partially signed, along the M7/N7. The section from Shannon Airport to east of Limerick is mainly dual carriageway, with a short section of motorway as part of the Limerick Southern Ring Road. The Shannon Tunnel, opened on 16 July 2010, completed the bypass of Limerick. The section from Limerick to Naas is motorway, and the final section from Naas to Dublin is dual carriageway. A ferry must be used from Dublin to Liverpool.
E20 follows the A5080 from Liverpool to Huyton, the M62 from Huyton to South Cave, and the A63 from South Cave to Kingston upon Hull. The route length across the UK is in total but is not signposted. There are no ferries between Kingston upon Hull and Esbjerg. Alternative ferries were once available from Immingham, which is from Kingston upon Hull, and Harwich, which is from Kingston upon Hull. There are no longer any passenger routes operating between the UK and Scandinavia. The closest alternative is to take the Eurotunnel Shuttle from Cheriton to Calais, or take a ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland. Both of these routes would require a detour of around 900 miles.
Denmark
In Denmark, E20 is a motorway from Esbjerg to the Øresund Bridge. The length of the Danish part is. It passes first along Jutland from Esbjerg to Kolding, then crosses the Little Belt Bridge onto Funen. E20 crosses the entirety of Funen, passing around 2km from Odense. Then, at Nyborg, E20 crosses the Great Belt Fixed Link onto Zealand. E20 follows the Vestmotorvejen until Køge, where it goes north to Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, E20 passes south of the city, crossing onto Kastrup where it meets the Copenhagen Airport. The Øresund Bridge begins as a tunnel on Kastrup. Between Køge and Copenhagen, the road has three E-road numbers. The Great Belt Bridge and Øresund Bridge are both tolled, charging over €30 each. The road crosses the border between Denmark and Sweden on the Øresund Bridge.
Sweden
In Sweden, E20 is a motorway from the Öresund Bridge in Malmö to Nääs 30 km east of Gothenburg, a long motorway. Furthermore, it is a motorway most of the route from Vretstorp to Stockholm. The Swedish part of E20 is long. Its extent is shared with E6 along a long stretch, with E18 along and with E4 along. The part through Stockholm has very heavy traffic, including the most heavily trafficked road in Scandinavia, Essingeleden. There is often congestion on this stretch. A new tunnel for route E20, "Norra länken", was built north of the city center and opened 30 November 2014. The planned Förbifart Stockholm bypass will divert traffic from Essingeleden. Between Stockholm and Tallinn a car ferry departs daily, taking 15 hours. The port in Stockholm is located at Lilla Värtan, about 4 km northeast of the central core of the city.
Estonia
In Estonia, E20 follows the route of national main road nr. 1. In Tallinn to relieve traffic a bridge has been built on the intersection of the E263 and the E20. The E20 across Estonia is partially an unsigned expressway, for 80.7 km east of Tallinn to Aaspere along with a section near Haljala and a section between Kohtla-Järve and Jõhvi. The remainder being single carriageway. The distance from Tallinn to the Russian border at the Narva River is 218 km.
Russia
In Russia, the route takes the Narva Highway running from Ivangorod to Saint Petersburg as a dual-lane highway. The distance from Ivangorod to Saint Petersburg is 142 km. The border control facilities at the Estonia-Russia crossing are equipped and being operated for a limited amount of traffic on both sides of the border. The border crossing requires a reservation - despite this, waiting lines still can extend for many hours and even days.
