For the drivers out there

[Tanooki]

Hi!

I've asked this question on the Transportation board but I didn't get a lot of opinions so I thought I'd better ask here...

We are leaving next Saturday for our 5th drive to the World.
Since we leave from near Montreal, we've gone the I-95 all the way a couple of times but they were always during a weekend day in the winter time. We did the 88-81-77-26-95 way as well, mostly when we were traveling weekdays.
Last summer, we did our first summer drive and we also used the 81 since we didn't want to chance traffic, as I've read here that the 95 can be really busy during the summer months, even on weekends. We found that, even if we were using the "less busy road", we encountered much more traffic than any of our other drives.

This time around, we are leaving on a Saturday (August 11th) and I'm really wondering what itinerary we should take. The fact is, the I-95 shaves a couple of hours on the drive, which is nice at the end of the day. As dh says, these last 2 hours can seem like forever...
Can anyone tell me about their experience on using I-95 all the way during the summer? When we go this way, we usually hit Washington, DC around 4:00pm, which would be really bad on a weekday, but we're talking about a Saturday.

I'm also wondering if the I-95 would be a good option going back home, since we will be traveling during a weekday, but leaving from our overnight stay would put us in DC around 9:30-10am. What do you think?
We've also done the I-95 going down and I-81 coming back so this remains an option as well.

Alright, let's hear it now!

Thanks!

 

[Evelyne]

Salut,
we always drive from l'Outaouais always the same roads, any season: custums at 1000 islands, 81, 83, 95, we never had any bad experiences, sometimes you can get construction that will slow you down a little bit. If you make sure to avois big cities during ''heure de pointe'' you should be just fine. We always take the same roads to come back. Hope it helps you.

1990 to 1992 Off site
1994 and 1995 Off site
1998 and 1999 Off site
2000 to 2003 All star Sports
2004 to 2011 Pop Century

September 2012 DH and I for our 1st alone trip
Can’t wait to check inn at the POP!!!



http://www.**************/id/1348729281.jpg

 

[Evelyne]

Salut again,
I read your question more carefully and I think your big concern is about Washington... The best time to be there (if there is a best time) is before 6am or after 8pm. We usually drive strait to WDW, depending on when we leave we always manage to be between those hours, otherwise you could be in the traffic for a while (even on weekend days...)
Have a nice and safe trip.

1990 to 1992 Off site
1994 and 1995 Off site
1998 and 1999 Off site
2000 to 2003 All star Sports
2004 to 2011 Pop Century

September 2012 DH and I for our 1st alone trip
Can’t wait to check inn at the POP!!!


http://www.**************/id/1348729281.jpg

 

[Tanooki]

Salut again,
I read your question more carefully and I think your big concern is about Washington... The best time to be there (if there is a best time) is before 6am or after 8pm. We usually drive strait to WDW, depending on when we leave we always manage to be between those hours, otherwise you could be in the traffic for a while (even on weekend days...)
Have a nice and safe trip.

1990 to 1992 Off site
1994 and 1995 Off site
1998 and 1999 Off site
2000 to 2003 All star Sports
2004 to 2011 Pop Century

September 2012 DH and I for our 1st alone trip
Can’t wait to check inn at the POP!!!


http://www.**************/id/1348729281.jpg

Merci

We pretty much made up our minds when looking at the rates for the overnight stay We are NOT going to do it straight through, this is not an option for us, and the Comfort Suites in Salem can't be beat when it comes to rates.

And since we know about the I-81 during the summer but are unsure about the traffic on I-95, this sealed the deal...

Only 5 more sleeps...