I’m from the UK, I’m going to be on the motorway for 3 hours tomorrow and I consider that to be a long drive. Was wondering what people from a much bigger country thought.

So, Americans, what’s a long drive for you?

11 comments

  1. 3 hours is on the longer side. But, for me, that 3 hour drive gets me almost 250 miles / 400 km, because we can go 80 mph / 130 kph on the highways outside of town (and 70 mph on the interstate highways in the city).

    Some people do a 3 hour drive very regularly. We owned a property 3.5 hours away and would go twice a month in the right season. Some people’s two-way commute can get near 3 hours.

  2. If I drove for 6 and a half hours west I’d still be in my same state. Long, I would say is 4 hours. A realistic drive for me is about 26

  3. 3 hour drive wouldn’t be long at all, either one way or round trip. Many Americans could drive that long, and not be out of their home state.

    A group of Professors from the UK visited the University I was attending. A good potion of their intro speeches to the students was just how taken aback they were at having to travel 3-4 hours from the airport to reach our campus. And that during the trip they saw “Nothing”. Wasn’t an insult they just could’ve wrap their head around driving for that long on a 4 lane highway, and seeing nothing but open ground and the occasional gas station.

    Anything that is getting close to 6-7 hours one way, that would be considered long. Or where you have to stop and refuel more than once on a car with good gas mileage, or to have a meal.

    If I can drive somewhere, and make it by skipping a meal or move it’s time by an hour, it’s a medium trip.

    Can make it between meals, it’s a short trip.

  4. 6 hours in the car would be a long drive for me, but then I had kids, so now a 4 hour drive is a long drive.

    They just can’t make it much longer than that in the car without crankiness setting in.

  5. It’s about context.

    My opinion:

    2 to 3 hrs each way- long drive but still a day trip
    4 hrs to 5 hours- start considering staying overnight
    6 to 10 hrs- long drive but still doable in a day. I would definitely be staying at my destination overnight
    11+ hours- start considering flying

  6. 3 hours isn’t long to me, once you’re up to 5 or 6 hours that’s long to me. If it’s 3 hours one way and it’s a day trip I’d consider that long since it’s 6 hours total in the car. I’ve done more 2/3 hour, non-day, trips I’ve lost count of them all so it’s easy now, doing the 6.5 hours to visit my parents though does get long.

  7. I would say 8 hours felt long.

    We used to drive to California every summer for like 15 years and that drive always felt interminable.

    About 4 hours is a mid-length trip. I could do it again in the same day but I would probably want to relax afterwards.

    An hour is a short trip. If I’m not that tired even after doing it both ways, then it’s short.

  10. Depends on the context.

    An hour is a long daily commute.

    Four hours is a long day trip.

    Six hours is a long drive for a weekend away.

    24+ hours is a long drive for a week-long vacation.

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