Anyone drives from Montreal to Florida

[Sunelis]

I've always taken the I-87 / I-95 route and of course I had to deal with the DC area traffic. I've seen lots of posts suggesting the I-81/I-77/I-26/I-95 route.

It seems to be a long detour west from Montreal (I'm in the Eastern most part of the island) getting to the 1000 Island crossing.

Can anyone from Montreal who ever took both routes tell me which one you consider the best and why?

TYA

 

[michelb]

FWIW, we're in Ottawa so closer to 81/77 than you and in the past we used to always take the I-81/I-77/I-26/I-95 route but the last two years, we've taken the 95 from Washington and it's worked out well. One thing we do is we keep the route on Google Maps and it notifies us of any accidents and if we need to make any alterations to the route. But I know a lot of people seem to prefer 77/26

 

[bankr63]

Also Ottawa, so can't speak from direct experience from your location. There is a another recent thread here for the 95/81 debate from Eastern Ontario. https://www.disboards.com/threads/81-or-95.3701352/

Yes, Google Maps shows the 81 route being about an hour longer from Montreal. Ran it with both the 1000 Islands crossing or taking I-87 south (easier access from the South Shore) and crossing over to I-81 on either 88 or 84. But I have in the past easily lost an hour in traffic in DC if hitting it at the wrong time. You would also deal with the NYC and Philly traffic as well. Yes, if you can time it to run this stretch in the dead-of-night city traffic is unlikely to slow you down, but any other time of day you can so easily lose that hour.

The luxury of the 81 route is that there are almost no large population centers along the way to slow you down. Charlotte NC is the biggest city you pass through on the way to rejoining I-95. I consider myself to be a very good and well seasoned driver, but I find that the I-95 is much more tiring to drive because it is so heavily traveled. The 81 is much more lightly traveled and MUCH more relaxing. DW generally gives me the driving duties on the heavy stretches of 95, so we can share the driving duty a lot more on the 81 route.

Since you have to travel it both directions, might I suggest you try different routes in each direction. We did this trick several years before settling on the current route; probably tried 5-6 variations. And I can say that if I ever moved back to Montreal, I would still use the 81 route.