Christmas and New Year’s traffic is going to be a nightmare: These are the best and worst times to be on the road |
With the last weekend before Christmas upon us, the holiday travel period has begun.
This year, the American Automobile Association (AAA) says a record number of Americans will be making journeys—122.4 million of them in total. While millions of those journeys will be made by plane or other forms of public transportation, the overwhelming majority—109.5 million—will be made by car.
If you’re one of those making your Christmas trip by car, here are the best and worst times to hit the road over the holiday travel period, which AAA defines as running from December 20 to January 1.
The 2025 holiday period spans 13 days this year, running from Saturday, December 20, 2025, to Thursday, January 1, 2026.
The good news is that for four of those days—Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s........