Travel

Three Great Road Trips to Take During the Holidays

The winter holidays are when many people take time for themselves, but with wintery weather are road trips even a possibility?

There is nothing quite like a good road trip, and just because it’s the winter months doesn’t mean that you have to get off the road. If you want to spend your holiday break hitting the open highway, there are plenty of destinations worth your time. Sure, you can travel to the southern coasts for sun and surf in California or Florida. However, if you want to travel during winter and have it still feel like the season, you can visit some of these awesome locations.

road trips

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Winter Road Trips to Take This Holiday Season

Don't let the cold weather slow you down this winter. Start planning a trip to one of these great spots today!

1: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Road trips

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Located on the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina, this vast expanse of United States natural splendor is the perfect destination for a winter road trip. Once at the partk, you can take U.S. Highway 441 to a number of trail heads and gorgeous sites that overlook the park.

Along the way you can stop at the place where President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the park in 1940. There are other historical attractions you can visit from log cabins, barns, and other buildings dating back decades or centuries. There are museums, old mines, and natural wonders to visit.

You can enjoy the park by hiking some of the 850 miles of trails or hitting the water and fishing. You can ride on horseback or rent bicycles. What makes it a great road trip destination is that from every approach there are plenty of other interesting stops you can make along the way.

2: Hudson Valley, New York

Road trips

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If you want your road trip to be of the rural variety but feel that a national park is a bit too much, consider the Hudson Valley. Sure, the Hudson Valley is actually much larger than a national park, but that’s because it’s a part of New York full of vibrant communities. There are plenty of beautiful forests and other natural attractions, but there are other things to visit as well.

Hudson Valley is New York’s wine country, and even though it will be out of season you can still find plenty of wine tours. What makes it perfect for a road trip is that you have miles and miles of beautiful countryside and plenty of little towns and villages to visit. You can either begin or end the trip in beautiful New York City, a bustling metropolis that stands as a great contrast to the rest of the valley.

3: Route 100 in Vermont

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This road trip is only for that traveler who both loves wintery weather and feels safe driving in it. Vermont is a snowy, rural paradise full of small-town folk who are gracious to visitors. Route 100, which travels up the center of the state like a spine is a great way to see all it has to offer. This trip will take you past 27 towns and villages. These range in population size from more than 150,000 to fewer than 200 residents.

Along with these, there are natural attractions as well. You can drive through the Mad River Valley, home to two great ski resorts: Mad River Glen and Sugarbush Resort. The highway also brings you along the eastern edge of the Green Mountain National Forest. They have a number of trails used for skiing, both alpine and cross-country. You can also go horseback riding, winter hiking, or out on a snow machine, the jet ski of the tundra.


A winter road trip might seem like a strange idea, but it could be one of the best road trips you ever had.

Hitting the highway for the holidays is something we usually do, off to parties or family gatherings. So, it might seem strange to suggest even more traveling as a way to blow off steam. Yet, winter road trips allow for a leisurely time where you aren’t rushing to get to a destination. No, on winter road trips getting there can be just as interesting. Whether you are driving away from the winter climate or right up the middle of the great white north, it’s liberating. Taking road trips gives us a feeling of freedom that we rarely feel, especially when rushing through security to meet some plane or train on time. Behind the wheel of a car, you are the master of your own destiny.

What do you think? Share your thoughts, suggestions, and experiences in the comments below. Don’t forget to share the article on social media if you found it helpful, so your friends can get in on the discussion.

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