Best and Worst Times to Travel This Thanksgiving Weekend
If you’re planning to hit the road this Thanksgiving, there is a good time to get behind the wheel. Looking at the historical data from Google Maps, Google just posted its suggestions for when the best and worst travel times would be during Thanksgiving Week at 25 US Metro. The company also took it a step further this year to see when people usually head to places like a liquor store or movie theater during the week, in case your parents’ house isn’t your only weekend getaway.
Avoiding movement
Generally speaking, the worst time to travel is between 3 pm and 4 pm on the eve of Thanksgiving. If you are planning to go to grandma’s house, it is best to do so before or after this time frame.
If you’re traveling just for food, driving on Thanksgiving is surprisingly not that bad, especially if you start your journey early in the morning rather than lunchtime.
When you’re heading home from a holiday, Google suggests trying to avoid the “hustle and bustle” of Friday or Sunday by planning your departure in the morning instead.
Avoiding the crowd
Getting away from crowds of people when you are in stores is a little more difficult. You probably don’t need Google to tell you to avoid grocery stores on Wednesday afternoon, but if you didn’t hear the note, this is a terrible idea.
Here’s a Google breakdown of several popular locations:
As always, you need to prepare things in advance. If you can, try to use this weekend to get everything you think you need for your big day. Once you reach your Thanksgiving destination, you can just sit back and enjoy.
Pro tip: If you eat turkey and watch football all day on Thanksgiving, you don’t have to worry about traffic jams at all.