After a relaxing few days or weeks on vacation, the last thing you want is a strenuous return journey. With these 4 tips you can start your journey home relaxed.
1. Take a skilful vacation
If you have the chance, make sure you have good timing for your outward and return journey when planning your holiday. Check the holiday periods in other federal states and possibly also at your destination. This way you can be sure that you won’t get in the way of other holidaymakers. If you have school children and need to drive during holiday periods, pick off-peak times that start and end atypically. The ADAC provides regular information on its website about the current situation on the roads and also makes statistical predictions.
2. Avoid Friday and Saturday
The streets are often particularly crowded on Fridays: weekend trippers want to make the most of their time, commuters head home and vacationers head off on vacation. It’s hardly any better on Saturday either: Most holiday accommodation is rented from and to Saturday, so a lot of traffic is to be expected here as well. Try pushing your vacation back or forward a few days to avoid those crowded days.
Because even on the adjoining days Sunday and Monday, a lot of traffic is to be expected. The best days to start and end the holiday are Tuesday and Wednesday.
3. Drive in the evenings and at night
If you absolutely have to or want to leave at the weekend, the night from Friday to Saturday is a good choice. Alternatively you can start late on Saturday afternoon from 4 p.m.
In general, it is good advice to start driving from around 10 p.m. in order to use the whole night for the journey. At night, the streets are rarely used, you should only pay attention to construction sites. The ADAC recommends that you make sure you get enough sleep and regularly change drivers when driving at night.
4. Stay stuck in traffic
If you do get stuck in a traffic jam, the best tip is to actually stay in the traffic jam. Although this sounds counter-intuitive, it can often be the quickest way. Because if the traffic jam is less than ten kilometers long, it usually takes more time to leave the motorway. This is because traffic jams often form on the surrounding roads, which are more difficult to resolve. Away from the motorway, the roads are often smaller and create a bottleneck effect. That’s what traffic researchers found out.
5. Extra tip for a stress-free journey home
If things don’t move at all, sometimes even the best tip doesn’t help. A little break sometimes works wonders. Therefore, plan nice stopovers that allow you to breathe deeply for a few moments. Is there perhaps a beautiful lake or stream not far off your route? With invigorating breaks, you can escape the confines of the car and start fresh in the new section of the route.