Record-Breaking Holiday Travel Now Expected in MN for 2025

If it feels like everyone you know is packing up and heading somewhere for the holidays, you’re not imagining it. A record number of us will hit the roads and skies this Christmas season, setting the stage for one of the busiest year-end travel periods ever here in Minnesota!

Much like Thanksgiving this year, Minnesotans are getting ready to hit the road this holiday season, making plans to get together with friends and family this Christmas. Even though there will likely be a record number of holiday travelers hitting the highways and skies this season, with a little planning, the only thing soaring this year might just be your festive spirit!

AAA Predicts Record Holiday Travel Across Minnesota

A lot of us here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and around the country will be traveling during the Christmas and New Year holidays. In fact, the American Automobile Association (AAA) predicts 122.4 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over the 13-day year-end holiday period that kicks off on Saturday, December 20, and ends on Thursday, January 1, 2026.

READ MORE: This Convenience Store Was Just Named the Best in the US-- and It's Everywhere in Minnesota!

That figure represents an over 2 percent increase from last year's total, and is now once again more than the amount of holiday travelers who headed out during our holiday season before the pandemic, back in 2019.

Most Minnesotans Will Drive for Christmas and New Year’s

And once again this year, while some of us will be taking to the skies, AAA notes that the overwhelming amount of Minnesotans-- over 91 percent of Christmas and New Year's travel-- will once again be done in the car here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Here in our neck of the woods, AAA Minnesota not only covers the North Star State, but Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, as well. AAA's 2025 Christmas travel forecast breaks down those numbers like this:

• Total Travelers: 9.3 million (+1.02% / 94,000 more than last year)
• Auto Travelers: 8.5 million (+.4% / 36,000 more than last year)
• Air Travelers: 397,000 (+3.9% / 15,000 more than last year)
• Other Travelers: 384,000 (+9.4% / 33,000 more than last year)

AAA Shares Safety Tips for Holiday Road Trips

If you are hitting the road and heading over the river and through the woods this Christmas, AAA Minnesota offers the following tips to ensure a safe trip:

• Safety reminders: December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. Designate a sober driver and avoid distractions.
• Vehicle prep: Check tires, battery, and fluids before hitting the road. AAA responded to more than 860,000 emergency roadside service calls during last year’s holiday.
• Slow Down, Move Over: Protect roadside workers and stranded motorists-- it's the law in Minnesota.

And even if you're staying close to home for the holidays, heading out to check out the lights is still a fun activity for families all across the Bold North, right? Keep scrolling to check out some of the best in Minnesota in 2025!

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