If you're planning to head out of town for Thanksgiving, Google Maps has offered up some advice that offers everything you need to know to make sure that you're getting the most out of your travel time.

Most people think that if they hit the road the day before, they'll miss obscene amounts of traffic. Not so much. If you're driving to your destination, don't leave the Wednesday before, if you can help it. You should try to leave before 2pm on Wednesday, or after 7pm on Wednesday. Do your best to avoid all other times on Wednesday because that when other people are expected to hit the road in droves.

The best day to travel is Thanksgiving Day. Keep in mind that there will probably be more people on the road between 12pm and 2pm Thanksgiving Day but that traffic will still be so much lighter than if you travel the day before.

If you're doing what my family will be doing and are traveling to Philly for Thanksgiving, you should probably know that it's actually been ranked the very worst for holiday traffic. I'm going to guess that would be thanks to the Schuykill. If you've ever driven this road, you know what a nightmare it can be.

Planning to stay with family for a couple day? Great! Just try to travel home on Sunday and not Saturday. Most people will be driving home Saturday, making the roads just as congested as the will be the day before Thanksgiving. My guess is that most people hit the road Saturday so they have a full day to recover from traveling before going back to work on Monday, but if you can hit the road early on Sunday, you'll still have a couple hours to unwind before work the next day.

[via Google]

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