Memorial Day weekend travel: Best and worst times to hit the road

Nearly 2.2 million Floridians will travel 50 miles or more for this Memorial Day weekend and about 90-percent of them are expected to hit the road, according to AAA.

Busy roads can be frustrating, so if you want to try and stay out of heavy traffic, AAA says you should avoid traveling at certain times and days.

BEST TIME TO TRAVEL ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

The experts at AAA say the best time to hit the road for the holiday weekend is very early, before 7 a.m., on Friday morning. The second best time on Friday is 9:00 p.m.

WORST TIME TO TRAVEL ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

AAA says try to avoid hitting the road between 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. That's when traffic will pick up.  

If you're coming back on Monday, the worst time to drive is between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

HOLIDAY GAS PRICES

Florida has seen record gas prices over the last few weeks, but despite that, millions of people will be filling up to head out to their Memorial Day destinations.

RELATED: TIMELINE: When rain and storms will hit Central Florida during Memorial Day weekend

The average for a gallon of regular unleaded going into the holiday weekend is $4.58 in Florida. If you're headed to the Panhandle, you'll hit some of the cheapest averages in the state., with the lowest around $4.35. If you're traveling northeast, you're likely to see prices around $4.56 and in the south you're going to hit some of the higher averages.

You can find the cheapest places to fill up using FOX 35's Pump Patrol. 

If you're flying to your holiday destination, the airports will also be jam packed on Friday.

Officials at Orlando International Airport say Friday will be the busiest day to travel during the holiday weekend. Saturday is estimated to be the second busiest day at the airport. Parking is expected to be an issue and security lines will most likely be long, so be sure to arrive at least 2 hours before your departure time.

If the parking lot you typically use is full, officials say there is additional parking in Parking Lot C.

The airport says travel numbers will be close to pre-pandemic levels.