[ddc]

hi

we want to make next year vacation a big one
we want to start in new york and go with the car via washington and some other places to orlando , and staying for a week
how many days must l take for the trip
any tips are welcome

R NALD

[bali]

It really depends on how thorough you want to be in each of these cities. If you drove from New York straight to Orlando, it would take you about a day and a half of solid driving (spending the night in a hotel), I'd say. Figure out how much time you'd like to spend in selected cities, and form your plan around that. There are a lot of fantastic cities on the East Coast that are well worth spending a day or two in. If you want this to be a truly great vacation, I'd plan to spend at least a week and a half driving from New York to Orlando.

[MJD]

Originally Posted by ddc

hi

we want to make next year vacation a big one
we want to start in new york and go with the car via washington and some other places to orlando , and staying for a week
how many days must l take for the trip
any tips are welcome

R NALD

When will you be starting your trip?

[disneyguy]

Bali, You can make it from NYC to Orlando in 1.5 days!!!!??? You must really have a lead foot . I would budget closer to to two days driving straight through.

You could easily spend 2-3 days doing a thorough tour of DC. While your in DC be sure to check out Baltimore's Inner Harbor. They have an awesome aquarium (The National Aquarium) right there, and there is TONS of shopping, as well as several tours and meuseums.

You may want to also check out St. Augustine, FL if you are a history buff. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the US(don't let them tell you it is the oldest in the US, thats my hometown of Jacksonville!!!). The Jacksonville/St. Augustine area has great beaches, and is also home to the World Golf Hall of Fame at the World Golf Village, if your golf fans. They also have an IMAX theatre which would make a great stop, it is just off I-95 on World Golf Blvd, just before St. Augustine.

[ddc]

thanks for all the repleys
we will started in new york and than drive to washington for a few days
and want to drive 200 or 300 miles a day(its vacation not a race )
we have not booked yet , but l want all the info l can get


R NALD

[ddc]

Originally Posted by MJD

When will you be starting your trip?

the first 3 weeks in august


R NALD

[Soundgod]

200 to 300 miles a day is going to kill quite a bit of time. The NY Metro to Miami drill is like this. Leave by 9 AM. Make DC by about 1 or 2. Hit the Beltway after 4 and you'll be in trouble. There's also a rush hour in Richmond you'll have to deal with. At least you'll clear Baltimore around mid day. Usually I'll stop for the night somewhere south of Dillon, SC, this about the half way mark and south of South of the Boarder. Awake in the morning and hit the road by 9. You want to try to clear Jacksonville before rush hour as well. On the other hand, you can take days to get to Orlando, but you'll have less time once you get there. Or, you can do a whole bunch of amusement parks between NY and Atlanta and not even make Florida, especially if you spend any time in DC.

[disneyguy]

I have to say you DO NOT want to hit DC/Baltimore rush hour. It is the worst in the US.

Jacksonville's rush hour is very managable. They are nearly complete the construction there ( I know isn't it amazing!!!, but hey they had to have it ready for the Super Bowl)

[ddoll]

We did the drive from RI to FL a few years back. We allowed 3 days travel each way so we could stop and enjoy some cities and sights. There are some truly lovely places to visit along the eastern seaboard. We enjoyed Savannah very much, and Cape Hatteras (to visit Kill Devil Hills, where the Wright Bothers took their first flight) was well worth the visit. The drive along the coast is quite scenic, but of course much less efficient than taking Rte I-95.

I would plan which cities are a must, and get in some serious driving to go between them quickly.

As the others mentioned, avoiding rush hour traffic in the big cities is important in planning.

[woohoo]

not me- that is too much vacation! A lot of driving for a little stop here and there is not worth the lot of driving- I would rather fly out and stay put here and there for longer stints. We did do this same idea up to Canada and back- thank god for veggie tales- that is what kept the kids in check! Fun but tiring!
Oh and in August?? Make sure you have a great air conditioning system in the car! It is the hottest and most humid time of the year!

[hanwill]

Depending upon your route, AVOID Atlanta rush hour too. It is between 6:30-10:00 am and from 3:30-7:00pm. It is the second worse in the nation. On Fridays, afternoon rush hour starts about 2pm. It is worth avoiding if at all possible!

[maelstrom]

It takes about 20 hours of non-stop driving to get from New York to Orlando. We generally drive from New York to Santee, South Carolina on the first day, and then go on to Orlando the next. But we aren't the type of family to take it slow and get there when we get there. We push to get to WDW as quickly as we can, and when coming home we do the same. One time we drove from Orlando to 2 hours into Pennsylvania on our first day. Don't get caught in Baltimore during rush-hour, though. And pray that there are no accidents on 95! When we were driving down once, there was an accident on the north-bound side of 95 involving seven tractor-trailers, and north-bound 95 was closed for the rest of the day!