Avoiding traffic on drive to Disney

[kaytieedid]

We are leaving from Lancaster, PA and heading down past Baltimore and DC on our drive to Disney. We did this once before leaving at 3pm and got stuck in HORRIBLE traffic in Northern VA right after leaving DC. What is the best time(s) of day to go to avoid any bad back ups? We're pretty flexible. Thanks!

 

[rwdavis2]

Try to hit Baltimore no earlier than 9am. That gets you around them both outside of rush hour.

I do not recommend I-295 through DC. It has bad backups even on Sunday afternoons. It used to be OK but not the last year or 2. The choice then is east or west sides of the DC beltway. It's a coin toss.

Hopefully you'll get some more opinions from people that travel it more frequently than I do.

 

[topiney]

We tend to leave (just North of Harrisburg) around 7 pm and that keeps us out of traffic the whole way down to southern Virginia where we usually spend the night. As you already know, from there on there are usually no problems encountered. I agree with rwdavis2 regarding Washington...we were going to stop on the way home last year before Washington but after talking it over with our daughter and grandkids decided it was foolish to stay over when we were that close to home..WRONG!!! We got in bumper to bumper traffic for hours so needless to say we will not be making that mistake again on the way home. Hope your timing works out for you.

 

[amcnj]

I leave around 2:30 am. I am just over an hour from the DE Memorial Bridge, and passing through the DC area around 5:30 am, beating the morning rush. If you are leaving later in the day, I believe I read previously that the afternoon DC rush is 3-7 pm.

 

[PapaPiper]

We are leaving from Lancaster, PA and heading down past Baltimore and DC on our drive to Disney. We did this once before leaving at 3pm and got stuck in HORRIBLE traffic in Northern VA right after leaving DC. What is the best time(s) of day to go to avoid any bad back ups? We're pretty flexible. Thanks!

You could try the inland route (81 to 77 to 26 to 95). That skips DC, Baltimore, and Richmond. We took this route last time and loved it. It shows up as about 60-90 mins longer than going down 95, but we hit no traffic whatsoever and it's a much more beautiful ride.

 

[topiney]

You could try the inland route (81 to 77 to 26 to 95). That skips DC, Baltimore, and Richmond. We took this route last time and loved it. It shows up as about 60-90 mins longer than going down 95, but we hit no traffic whatsoever and it's a much more beautiful ride.

We will be towing the camper this time in November and have discussed this as a possibility....depending on the weather of course. Thanks!