Driving from southeastern, MA/Providence, RI in August

[Mdoyle07]

Hi,

I'm planning a trip to WDW for mid August and planning to drive. We're planning on leaving 8/16 (Monday) around 3am. Any suggestions on hotels along I95 around Richmond/Petersburg?

We're also debating going the 84/81/64(?) route instead of straight down 95? Any thoughts on which would be better given the timing of leaving and it being a weekday?

 

[Kassidysdad]

HI, I'm in Southern NH - I would recommend the Marriott Fairfield Inn in Richmond - 9937 Mayland Drive - beautiful, clean hotel & affordable (79.00 for a double for 8/16) . I do the 84/81/64 route, This hotel is right on 64, so when you head off the next morning you can jump right on I-95 right there. This is by far the nicest way to go down, you don't hit the traffic in NY, NJ & DC - its much prettier to look at as well - We laft at 5:30AM from the Manch NH area & I was in Richmond a little after 6PM that night - with many stops on the way down too ( Wife, 4yr old daughter & 70 year old MIL). Best wishes-Mark

Hi,

I'm planning a trip to WDW for mid August and planning to drive. We're planning on leaving 8/16 (Monday) around 3am. Any suggestions on hotels along I95 around Richmond/Petersburg?

We're also debating going the 84/81/64(?) route instead of straight down 95? Any thoughts on which would be better given the timing of leaving and it being a weekday?

 

[BigTigger]

The inland route is good if you are a "smell the roses" type. If you're a "are we there yet" type, take I-95 to the NJ Turnpike to I-95 again.

With your start time you'll clear NYC before 6 am and probably not hit much traffic in the NJ stretch either. You can stop along the NJ Turnpike for cheap gas and food/bathroom breaks. You definitely should have a Fast Pass or EZ Pass to make the tolls a non-event. Listen to traffic on the 1's on 1010 WINS as you approach NYC to make sure nothing is causing any issues and know the alternative routes to avoid any issues (there are at least five that I've taken when driving to NYC and Hoboken for work).

With your start time you'll miss the DC rush, although it can be a bit slow way up near Baltime where the White Marsh Road area is at any time of the morning.

If you have AAA, try running some TripTiks to play what if and look at mileage and time differences as you change your routes. Google and Bing, and Yahoo also have maps you can manipulate. Richmond is a good day one stopping point if you're OK with only being about halfway there. Given your 3 am start, you could get well in NC and maybe SC by dinner time if you're not too long on breaks. The sticky post at the top of Transportation has lots of driving advice. If you search for other posts by me you'll find many replies from me in the past on driving as well.

Enjoy the trip!!

 

[Mdoyle07]

Thank you for the suggestions. I've driven to the Richmond/Petersburg area before and found that to be about as much as I can manage in a day (12 hrs is my max in a day). It'll be me DS(10) and DS (5). I like going 95, but traffic can be difficult. I've also driven 81 to Harrisonburg, Va which wasn't a bad drive. I'll definitely keep searching past posts.

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

Mdoyle07....we're from the same town!! BigTigger.....I was born and raised in Southboro!!

SMALL WORLD!!

I can't imagine driving all the way to Orlando from here! Perhaps when it's just Hubby and I!! Good luck!!

MrsB

 

[GranddadTom]

Sometimes it seems as though I spend half my life driving from Maryland to either North Carolina or South Carolina (grown up kids live there). My choices for those trips are either I-95 to I-85 or I-81 to I-77. To get to Charlotte, it’s about equal time either way. I dislike I-81 so much that only in extreme cases will I go that way. Let me tell you about I-81. First of all, it is the most dangerous highway in Virginia. One-quarter of the traffic consists of big trucks. The road is very hilly and these trucks crawl up the hills (often passing each other at speeds will below the 65 mph speed limit) and then fly down the other side of the hills (usually well about the 70 mph or so that everyone else is going). Then if you really want fun, add either rain or wind (or snow but you won’t get that in August).

The Washington rush hour in the direction you will be going ends around 9:30 am. Just make sure, at that hour, to go on the outer loop of the Beltway (i.e. heading East when you get onto the Beltway) and go across the Wilson Bridge. You shouldn’t have any trouble in Northern Virginia as long as you leave the Beltway by 2:00 or 2:30 pm.

Once you get to Richmond you shouldn’t have any serious traffic problem. Even I-95 in Georgia is getting finished up (finally) although there is still a 30 mile stretch (from milepost 60 to milepost 30) where there was still construction last month when I went through there.