Tripadvisor Road Trip Forum (2025)

FAQs

How many hours should a road trip be? ›

Ideally your road trip should be four to six hours between stopping points, maximum. Sometimes your stopping points are along the way, so you might do two hours, then have an hour or two stop, then two more hours with an hour or two stop, then two more hours.

MAKE A BIG-PICTURE ROAD TRIP PLAN.

Once you've chosen a place to land, you can plan your route and stops. Use online mapping tools to calculate how far you can drive in one day, or make a plan to switch off driving and sleeping with others so you can keep moving through the night.

For safety and sanity, try to limit yourself to driving less than eight hours per day. With this in mind, we can safely say that every 500 miles of driving is at least one day of travel. Of course, this doesn't factor in traffic, extra stops for tolls, changing drivers, or additional bathroom breaks.

To keep yourself, your travel partners, and others on the road safe, it is recommended to hit the brakes on your driving time at 8.5 hours per day and no more than that. Adhering to this limit will not only significantly benefit your health and safety but also improve the overall experience of your road trip.

Can you damage a car by driving it over 12 hours non-stop? No - not at all. Assuming you have stops for gasoline - and it's generally in good shape - plenty of coolant, oil levels OK, good battery, etc. Be sure to check fluid levels before you leave - it should be fine.

A long car journey can vary in length depending on the individual, but generally it is considered to be a trip lasting for more than two hours.

This is a good discussion to have before you leave home so everyone on the road trip agrees. It's often a good plan to estimate a 15-minute stop for every two hours on the road.

How do I make my road trip bearable? ›

That's an entire workweek in the car. According to the Americans we surveyed, an ideal road trip includes 13 total hours of driving, five total days, and four passengers in an SUV/Crossover. The second most ideal car is a 4-door sedan and the third is a minivan (nerd alert).

Depends on how much you are used to driving, if your longest drive is to the store and back than probably for you 5 hours would be a long drive, but a typical truck driver would drive up to 8 hours without stopping. It all depends on your health and how long you typically drive?

The average length of a trip in miles in 2022 was 12.2 miles (Table 8), statistically unchanged from the average length of a trip in 2021 (12.7 miles) and 2020 (11.9 miles).

The DOT 14-hour rule details how long commercial drivers can work during a 24-hour period. The rule dictates that drivers must fit all of their driving time for the day into a 14-hour shift. They must then take a mandatory 10 hours off-duty period after the 14 consecutive hours on duty.

11-Hour Driving Limit: You may drive a maximum of 11 hours after you have taken 10 consecutive hours off duty. 14-Hour Limit: You may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, following 10 consecutive hours off duty. Off-duty time does not extend the 14-hour period.