Google Maps tips for Thanksgiving and Black Friday travel

We’re approaching that time of the year, the busy Thanksgiving and Black Friday season, when you’ll have to simultaneously navigate family events and score some of the best possible deals for your growing Christmas shopping list. This will involve some sort of traveling, whether flying across the country or going for a 30-minute drive. Not to mention that shopping might require in-store pickup, which involves additional travel.
Like every year, Google has handy tips for navigating Thanksgiving and Black Friday with Google Maps. The company released its forecast for this year’s Thanksgiving and Black Friday season, offering you an idea of the best time to travel in late November.
Google Maps also knows which are the busiest times at various places of interest you might visit, like airports, bakeries, gas stations, shopping centers, and others.
Google explained in a blog post the best time to travel for Thanksgiving (November 28th). You should avoid traveling on Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Leaving too early isn’t advised either. The Friday before Thanksgiving might be the busiest, especially between 1:00 and 2:00 PM.
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Instead, consider driving on the Sunday or Monday before Thanksgiving, around 8:00 PM local time.
While Google advises against driving on Thanksgiving, that will be the only option for some people. If that’s you, you should head out before 9:00 AM or after 3:00 PM to avoid traffic. On that note, Google says you should avoid driving between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM for the entire month of December through Christmas Day to avoid traffic.
Finally, Google compiled the following list of place busyness information for runnig errands. Even without the infographic, you can always check businesses in Google Maps to see when they’re the busiest.
Google Maps: 2024 trends for Thanksgiving and Black Friday travel. Image source: Google
Unlike the Google Maps tips from the previous Thanksgiving and Black Friday seasons, the 2024 list contains more AI than ever. That’s because Google Maps incorporates additional AI features, including support for talking to Gemini.
You can ask Google Maps for things like “fun winter activities in New York City,” and Gemini will provide answers. The chatbot can also answer other questions about points of interest, like telling you whether there’s free parking around.
Google Maps also supports product search, which should come in handy for Black Friday and Christmas shopping. You can search for various items on your list, and Google Maps will display the nearby stores that stock them.
Other handy Google Maps features while navigating Thanksgiving and Black Friday are the Immersive View mode for routes, which lets you preview an upcoming drive and the improved weather support, which provides information about weather disruptions in the area you’ll be visiting.
Google Maps also lets you plan EV charge stops before you start driving, so you’ll be certain you get to your destination.
If you happen to haul larger cargo, cars with Google built-in and Maps will show you routes that avoid low bridges and tunnels. For now, the feature works only with a few vehicle types, including the 2024 Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, and GMC Yukon.
Finally, Google reminds commuters that they can help improve Google Maps by reporting delays with public transit. If flying is part of your trip, you’ll want to remember the new “Cheapest” tab in Google Flights to plan your Thanksgiving journey.
Google Maps data also helps Google estimate the best times to drive on Black Friday. The roads will be busiest between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.