The Fourth of July holiday falls on a Tuesday this year, which means many Americans will begin traveling to their holiday destinations this weekend, beginning Friday, June 30. It’s a weekend of travel that will see a “record-breaking” number of Americans set out for the holiday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
The organization says that a total of 50.7 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more for the national holiday. That’s an increase of two million over last year and is above the 49 million people who traveled for the holiday weekend in 2019, before the pandemic.
While 4.17 million Americans are expected to make their travels by plane and 3.36 million are expected to make their travels by other modes of transportation (trains, etc.), most Americans who are traveling—43.2 million of them—will make it to their Independence Day destinations by automobile.
If you are traveling by car this 4th of July holiday period, AAA says these are the best and worst travel times:
Thursday, June 29
- Best: before noon
- Worst: 4-6 p.m.
Friday, June 30
- Best: before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
- Worst: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Saturday, July 1
- Best: before noon
- Worst: 1 p.m.
Sunday, July 2 and Monday, July 3
- AAA says that it expects minimal traffic impact, most likely due to the fact people will have already arrived at their holiday destinations.
Tuesday, July 4
- Best: before 11 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
- Worst: noon–3 p.m.
And if you’re making your way back home via road on Wednesday, July 5, AAA says the best time to do it is before 2 p.m. The worst time for return journeys on that day will be 3-6 p.m.
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