Thanksgiving In Illinois: Here’s The Best And Worst Travel Times

Year after year, the Thanksgiving holiday is the most-traveled holiday period of the entire year, and Thanksgiving 2025 looks like it will be no exception. In fact, with almost 82 million of us planning on traveling more than 50 miles from home, we may be looking at a record-setting Thanksgiving holiday when it comes to travel.

As we gear up for the Thanksgiving holiday, it's clear that the highways are going to be busy.  AAA projects 81.8 million Americans will be on the move from home during the holiday period from Tuesday, November 25th, to Monday, December 1st, which is an increase of 1.6 million people compared with last year.

What does this mean for Illinois residents? For drivers in the Land of Lincoln, it means being smart about hitting the road at the right time can make a huge difference in how smooth your entire trip over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house feels.

Here's What Illinois' Thanksgiving Travelers Need To Know This Year

While AAA’s national numbers don’t break out Illinois‑specific travel volume in detail, regional reporting suggests that about 4.1 million Illinoisans are expected to travel at least 50 miles this Thanksgiving. Because roughly 90 percent of travelers are expected to drive (about 73 million of the total) nationally, many of those Illinois trips will mean seatbelt on and coffee in the cup‑holder.

Here's what AAA says about the best and worst travel times for Illinoisans this week:

Worst: Tuesday (November 25th) from noon to 9pm and Wednesday (November 26th) from 11am to 8pm.

Best: Tuesday before noon; Wednesday before 11am, for return traffic on Sunday, before 11am.

Illinois drivers leaving for the holiday weekend should plan to be on the road no later than noon on Tuesday the 25th, or before 11am on Wednesday the 26th.

Read more from AAA here.