Driving from Chicago to HH

[disang]

We are driving to HH for the first time. I have the directions from mapquest, but was wondering if you followed the same directions or went another route and how long it took you? Also were did you stop that first night? We would like to drive as far as possible that first day but we have kids.
Thanks in advance!

 

[RobDoc]

We live about 2 hours south of Chicago just off I-65. We take I-65 to Indy and then I-70 to I-275 around Cincinnati and then pick up I-75 - thru Lexington to Knoxville. At Knoxville we take I-640 to I-40. We usually stay on the north side of Knoxville or sometimes in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area on the way. It's another 6 hours from there taking I-40 to Asheville, I-26 thru Columbia and then take up I-95 south to exit 8. It's about 25 minutes to the HH resort from there.

The whole trip takes us about 12 hours driving time.

(You can also take I-65 thru Indy, south to Louisville and pick up I-64 there to Lexington and on to I-75. The distance is within 1 mile of the other route, but the traffic crossing the Ohio at Louisville is often an issue depending on time of day.)

Enjoy!

 

[mrsR123]

Have you ever gone across from Atlanta? I'm in Central Illinois and usually go down I-57. Would going further east to Indy be faster?

 

[Disneyaholic]

(You can also take I-65 thru Indy, south to Louisville and pick up I-64 there to Lexington and on to I-75. The distance is within 1 mile of the other route, but the traffic crossing the Ohio at Louisville is often an issue depending on time of day.)

Ah, but then you'd have to contend with I-75 going through Atlanta. Personally, I'd recommend just about any route OTHER than that...

(I live just NW of Atlanta and we have to go through or around the city when we go to HH or WDW...what an absolute pain!!!)

 

[RobDoc]

Have you ever gone across from Atlanta? I'm in Central Illinois and usually go down I-57. Would going further east to Indy be faster?

Depending on the mileage to Indy- the route thru Atlanta adds about 2 hours (actually, you'll go south of Atlanta on I-75 and take I-16 from Macon to Savannah). You can also take I-65 to Chattanooga and then pick up I-75 there.

You may find that taking I-74 to Indy from the Peoria area will cut off some time- depending on you location in IL.

We've tried all routes over the years (have been going to HH since the late 70's) and all are good ways to travel depending on time of year. The route described above works best for us to save time, but thru Nashville/Chattanooga/Macon is only about 2 hours longer and might work better from points in IL. Better plan to hit Atlanta at a non-rush hour, as it's very busy from 7-9 am and 4-7 pm.

The route around Knoxville is definitely shorter and faster unless it's out of your way.

Enjoy!

 

[RobDoc]

Ah, but then you'd have to contend with I-75 going through Atlanta. Personally, I'd recommend just about any route OTHER than that...

(I live just NW of Atlanta and we have to go through or around the city when we go to HH or WDW...what an absolute pain!!!)

I don't suggest going thru Atlanta as a faster way. If you head south on I-75 fom Cincinnati, take I-640 around Knoxville and then I-40 to Asheville as already described. No reason to go thru Atlanta unless you live south of Knoxville or need to head thru Chattanooga to get to I-75.

I agree, going thru Atlanta requires extra time or extra planning.

 

[mrsR123]

Thanks, Doc!

 

[cgcw]

(You can also take I-65 thru Indy, south to Louisville and pick up I-64 there to Lexington and on to I-75. The distance is within 1 mile of the other route, but the traffic crossing the Ohio at Louisville is often an issue depending on time of day.)

This is the route we have taken the last several years. For us, the drive time is about 16 hours. Last summer we pushed it all the way to Columbia. That's our plan for this summer too. The drive the next morning to HH was a breeze.

Doc, I will share your tip getting around Louisville with DH. Any short cuts help.

 

[cgcw]

We would like to drive as far as possible that first day but we have kids.

We have DS10 & DS4 with us. They do moan and groan a bit on the first day but we just tell them the longer we drive, the quicker we are going to be there the next day. We'll talk about the beach, bike paths, pools, crabbing, watching dolphins, etc, etc, etc and it will calm them down a bit. I really feel that making the first day a LONG one is the route to go. We've done this trip for 4 summers and each year, we push it more and more.

Who knows, maybe one of these days, we'll make it to HH in one day.