help with a roadtrip idea.....

[karentan]

so our original plan was to go on this years DCL WBTA cruise, then do a few nights in WDW, then fly up to north carolina to see some friends, then fly home. the only problem is that the one way flights are absolutely ridiculous prices, and its pushing the relatively cheap cruise price way up.
so we're now toying with the idea of a bit of a road trip instead (i've always wanted to see more of the states), plus it saves us about £1300.

we're looking at flying into washington DC and spending a night there sightseeing, then driving up past baltimore to get onto the scenic road to virginia. we're planning on a night at/near colonial williamsburg, then two nights with our friends in north carolina. we're then going to drive to the DVC resort at hilton head island in south carolina and spend the night there, then drive down to orlando.

i really want to go on the transatlantic, but being realistic, there's a good chance that we just cant afford that much. doing the roadtrip would work out as just over half the cost of the cruise.
can anyone suggest any good places to stop along the way? or which would you choose - the roadtrip or the cruise?

 

[UKDEB]

We flew into Washington DC back in 2005 and then did a road trip down to Orlando, driving down through the Appalachians and Blue Ridge Mountains, stopping at Roanoke, Boone/Blowing Rock, Charleston and Savannah. It's up there amongst our best holiday experiences ever. DC was the surprise highlight. We really had no expectations of it at all - it was just a convenient place to fly into - but we absolutely loved it and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[karentan]

thanks for the thumbs up deb, how far inland did you drive? we're a bit limited in the sense that we're going to edenton north carolina, which is kinda near the coast, so it'd be a huge detour to go very far inland.
would you mind sharing how long you took to drive there and where you stopped overnight?

 

[dixonsontour]

We flew into Washington DC for our honeymoon in 2002.

I agree - lovely city. You are able to walk around easily - I can remember we stayed near the white house and walked over to it our first night. I'd definitely spend a few nights there.

We did alot of civil war battlefields (DH is into that) in Virginia and the drive through shenandoah mountains was spectacular. We also visited williamsburg.

When planning our fly drive holidays I always used to get the brochures like virgin and the escourted tours from the travel agents and look at their itinerarys. It usually gives you mileage between stops so you get an idea of what is doable then plan your own from there.

 

[UKDEB]

The route we took was Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway (one runs into the other). It is quite a way inland and fairly slow-going thanks to the 35 and 45 MPH speed limits, respectively. This is the route we took:

We stayed 3 nights in DC - which equated to two full days, because, of course, we didn't land until evening on the first day - at the Hay-Adams bang opposite the White House We then picked up a car from Ronald Reagan Airport before heading for Shenandoah National Park at the entrance to Skyline Drive. We hadn't booked anything for our first night and ended up staying at a brand new Hampton Inn and Suites in Roanoke. (There's a story to that, though - funny now, but not so much so at the time!) The following day saw us head off again for more beautiful scenery and our home for the next two nights - a log cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains between Boone and Blowing Rock.

The final leg of our Blue Ridge Parkway drive took us less time than we'd anticipated, and it became apparent that we were going to arrive in Charleston a day early (contrary to our initial musings, we'd decided to book hotels both there and at our next stop in Savannah before leaving home). We phoned the hotel in Charleston, The Planters Inn, but they couldn't get us in, so we ended up spending a night at another suites-style hotel at Charleston airport before moving on to the Planters Inn for the one night that we'd booked.

Our next stop was the Mansion on Forsyth Park in Savannah, again for just one night. We'd originally intended to move on to St Augustine for two nights before the final drive to Orlando, but by this time we we'd had enough of being on the road and were just keen to get there. So, rather than the planned 11 days on the road/14 in Orlando, we ended up doing 9 on the road and 16 in Orlando. It was a wonderful trip and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, but we were fed up with checking in and out of hotels by the end of it and was nice to be settled in Orlando.

 

[karentan]

We also visited williamsburg.

what did you think of williamsburg? i've heard of it before and had a quick look on their website, our friends in NC have suggested going there as they say its very good. but i'm a bit worried that gary wont find it as interesting. not sure if its his thing or not. might have to quiz him on that later......

 

[dixonsontour]

I thought it was fine - I remember wandering around the buildings and people were dressed up in period clothes.

DH was less than impressed - not his cup of tea - too 'pretend' I think. He preferred the real battlefields.