The days and times to avoid on the roads over the holidays

NZTA has announced which days and times drivers will want to avoid taking to the roads if they can over the holiday period.

For most of the country, roads on the days between Christmas and New Year's will experience increases in traffic at times, but shouldn't be too bad.

But the country's largest centre, Auckland, will likely experience periods when traffic gets really heavy as people leave the city for their summer holidays.

The predictions are based on previous years' travel patterns at the busiest times.

On State Highway 1 heading north between Puhoi and Wellsford, traffic is expected to be heaviest between Boxing Day and December 30. Roads will start to get busy at around 9am and reach their busiest point at around 10am lasting until around 3.30pm.

Heading south towards central Auckland, traffic will be heavy at times, with the worst expected after 4pm on Friday, January 2.

Traffic on SH1 southbound from Manukau to Bombay will be heaviest from today until Christmas Eve.

The days with the longest stretches of heavy traffic here are expected to be Monday, December 22, and Tuesday, December 23. The worst traffic on these days is expected to start after 9am, and end after 4pm.

Heading north on this stretch of motorway towards the central city, traffic will be busy, but is not expected to be too heavy.

Regions outside of Auckland will experience their busiest traffic days on the afternoon of January 2, as people return home from their holidays.

NZTA said it wanted travel over the holiday period to be "easy and crash-free", urging drivers to plan ahead.

"NZTA wants everyone to get to their destinations safely. More cars on the road, tired drivers and people driving on unfamiliar roads can all add up to make holiday driving stressful and risky," a spokesperson said.

It said there were "simple things" anybody could do to keep the roads safe.

"We encourage everyone to check that their car is safe before heading off, keep your speeds down, drive sober, watch for signs of fatigue and share the driving on long trips.

"Always drive to the conditions, which can change quickly. Check the weather forecast before leaving home, as well as our real-time traffic updates for any incidents or closures."