Cape Cod Traffic Jams

The Busiest Cape Cod Traffic Days and Times

Well, let's just say: "Good luck!" to anyone who tries to get onto or off the Cape at the wrong time.

Here's when you can expect the heaviest Cape Cod traffic ...

• Friday - 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

  If you'll be arriving on Friday during the summer, try your best to get here by early afternoon. Or wait til later in the evening.

  Anytime in between, I can just about guarantee you'll get stuck in heavy traffic with Cape Cod "weekenders" and daily business commuters.

• Saturday - 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

  These are the hours when you absolutely, positively don't want to be approaching either of the bridges onto the Cape.

  Saturday morning traffic coming to Cape Cod in the summer is right up there in nastiness quotient with Sunday afternoon traffic leaving the Cape in the summer.

  That's why it's super-important to plan your road trip right, and keep up with the latest Cape Cod traffic report, if you're driving to the Cape on Saturday in the high travel season!

• Sunday - 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

  Traffic coming on-Cape is usually a little lighter on Sunday morning than on Saturday morning.

  But it still gets busy. Especially on warm sunny days, with lots of
  day-trippers coming to hang out at the beach.

• Saturday - 8 a.m. to Noon (or so)

  Traffic going off-Cape on Saturday morning in the summer is a lot busier than you might guess.

  That's because many visitors rent a house or cottage for their vacation. And most rentals run from Saturday to Saturday.

  So, just as lots and lots of people arrive on Saturday morning - lots of people leave on Saturday morning, too.

• Sunday - 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

  This is when traffic leaving Cape Cod is usually at its worst.

  Almost everyone who has to be back to work on Monday morning leaves sometime Sunday afternoon or early evening.

  FYI: Weather plays a big role in the Sunday exodus.

  If it's not a good beach day, traffic leaving Cape Cod on Sunday often gets heavy as early as 9 or 10 a.m.

Peak Cape Cod vacations time begins the 1st week of July, when the kids are out of school and graduations are over ... and ends around the 3rd week of August with back-to-school time.

In early September, traffic to Cape Cod usually begins to lighten up considerably.

(FYI: September and early October weekends can be pretty traffic-y at the bridges if good weather is predicted, though not quite as busy as weekends in July and August.)

By late October, it's pretty much back to normal.

These U.S. national holiday weekends also bring heavier than normal Cape Cod traffic:

• Memorial Day weekend, at the end of May (the "un-official" start of summer on Cape Cod)


• Labor Day weekend, at the beginning of September


• Columbus Day weekend, in mid-October (the "un-official" end of summer on Cape Cod)

FYI: These holidays are celebrated on Monday.

So be prepared for heavier than normal traffic on those Mondays, too.