NJ to NC to SC to FL

[thlarock]

Hi all,

Going to break our trip down to a 3 day affair. Going to go from NJ (South near Philly), make an overnight stop in Smithfield, NC, then on to Hilton Head, SC for a 2 night stay, then to Disney.

Leaving Friday May 19th - was going to leave at 11am (have to work until then) - I am hoping this would get us through the DC traffic?
Sat 20th - travel from Smithfield to Hilton Head
Mon 22nd - travel from Hilton Head to Disney

Any thoughts, suggestions as far as times to leave on each leg of the trip? Any route suggestions or is 95 most likely my best bet.

Wanted to break it up in to about 6-7 hour drives on each individual route.

Thanks - Tom

 

[OKW Lover]

Mon 22nd - travel from Hilton Head to Disney

Any thoughts, suggestions as far as times to leave on each leg of the trip? Any route suggestions or is 95 most likely my best bet.

From HH to WDW should take you about 5.5 hours. Stick with I-95 to I-4. Plan your departure from HH about 9 AM which should put you going through Orlando on I-4 before the evening rush hour starts.

 

[hrhdhd]

For the last leg, use the new(-ish) Express Lanes on I-4. You'll need a toll transponder, but that will get you through 23 miles more easily. You can get on around Longwood.

 

[nw6675]

In NC from about exit 80 to mm 50 or so, you will have major construction with no shoulders. There aren't usually lane closures, but it can be a tight squeeze and plenty of accidents. Just a heads up.

 

[Jimsig]

As others have said 95 is mostly your best bet if you are stopping in Smithfield. Leaving at 11, especially on a Friday would put you near DC around the beginning of the rush hour. To avoid DC traffic most likely your best bet would be to avoid DC by heading down Rt 13 in DE to US Route 301 and that will bring you back to 95 between Fredericksburg and Richmond. You can make a decision of where to get back on 95 as you get close to it as there will be a couple options. You can get on after you roughly Bowling Green, VA or stay on 301 and get on closer to Richmond or even take 295 South around Richmond depending on traffic, it's just about the same amount of time either going 95 through Richmond or around on 295 IIRC.

As you said you were south of Philly I picked Harrison Twp as your starting point, you can see both the 95 and 301 route on this Google Map. I did the map at 1245p. Although a bit earlier then you would be going through DC with an 11a departure traffic would probably be similar as to your leaving time. As you can see 301 is 30 min quicker then 95. The Google map is "live" when you click on it so it may not show you the 301 route so I have included a screen show of that route here so you can see it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Stratman50th]

As others have said 95 is mostly your best bet if you are stopping in Smithfield. Leaving at 11, especially on a Friday would put you near DC around the beginning of the rush hour. To avoid DC traffic most likely your best bet would be to avoid DC by heading down Rt 13 in DE to US Route 301 and that will bring you back to 95 between Fredericksburg and Richmond. You can make a decision of where to get back on 95 as you get close to it as there will be a couple options. You can get on after you roughly Bowling Green, VA or stay on 301 and get on closer to Richmond or even take 295 South around Richmond depending on traffic, it's just about the same amount of time either going 95 through Richmond or around on 295 IIRC.

As you said you were south of Philly I picked Harrison Twp as your starting point, you can see both the 95 and 301 route on this Google Map. I did the map at 1245p. Although a bit earlier then you would be going through DC with an 11a departure traffic would probably be similar as to your leaving time. As you can see 301 is 30 min quicker then 95. The Google map is "live" when you click on it so it may not show you the 301 route so I have included a screen show of that route here so you can see it.

Hope that helps.

View attachment 758456

We used to live in Sykesville, MD. We always drove the above 301 route which came out well below DC. Actually we weren't on the eastern shore so we didn't cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We went 97 to 5, then down 301.
One warning. And I'm getting into the weeds a little, but traffic is pretty bad through Waldorf, MD the area past where 301 and 50 merge. To us, it was still worth it to avoid 95.

 

[thlarock]

As others have said 95 is mostly your best bet if you are stopping in Smithfield. Leaving at 11, especially on a Friday would put you near DC around the beginning of the rush hour. To avoid DC traffic most likely your best bet would be to avoid DC by heading down Rt 13 in DE to US Route 301 and that will bring you back to 95 between Fredericksburg and Richmond. You can make a decision of where to get back on 95 as you get close to it as there will be a couple options. You can get on after you roughly Bowling Green, VA or stay on 301 and get on closer to Richmond or even take 295 South around Richmond depending on traffic, it's just about the same amount of time either going 95 through Richmond or around on 295 IIRC.

As you said you were south of Philly I picked Harrison Twp as your starting point, you can see both the 95 and 301 route on this Google Map. I did the map at 1245p. Although a bit earlier then you would be going through DC with an 11a departure traffic would probably be similar as to your leaving time. As you can see 301 is 30 min quicker then 95. The Google map is "live" when you click on it so it may not show you the 301 route so I have included a screen show of that route here so you can see it.

Hope that helps.

View attachment 758456

Thank you - where would I pick up RT. 13 in DE, is it right after going over the DE Memorial Bridge?

 

[thlarock]

As others have said 95 is mostly your best bet if you are stopping in Smithfield. Leaving at 11, especially on a Friday would put you near DC around the beginning of the rush hour. To avoid DC traffic most likely your best bet would be to avoid DC by heading down Rt 13 in DE to US Route 301 and that will bring you back to 95 between Fredericksburg and Richmond. You can make a decision of where to get back on 95 as you get close to it as there will be a couple options. You can get on after you roughly Bowling Green, VA or stay on 301 and get on closer to Richmond or even take 295 South around Richmond depending on traffic, it's just about the same amount of time either going 95 through Richmond or around on 295 IIRC.

As you said you were south of Philly I picked Harrison Twp as your starting point, you can see both the 95 and 301 route on this Google Map. I did the map at 1245p. Although a bit earlier then you would be going through DC with an 11a departure traffic would probably be similar as to your leaving time. As you can see 301 is 30 min quicker then 95. The Google map is "live" when you click on it so it may not show you the 301 route so I have included a screen show of that route here so you can see it.

Hope that helps.

View attachment 758456

One other question, how did you get Google Maps to route that for you? When I put that in it is either taking me the 95 route, or Route 13 all the way down back to 95, but no 13 to 301 route?

 

[Jimsig]

Thank you - where would I pick up RT. 13 in DE, is it right after going over the DE Memorial Bridge?

Sorry for the delay I was away all weekend in NYC.
If I did this correctly you can see the exit on the map near the Wawa.
Google Map

One other question, how did you get Google Maps to route that for you? When I put that in it is either taking me the 95 route, or Route 13 all the way down back to 95, but no 13 to 301 route?

When I put in the the directions there was a lot of traffic on 95 so it gave me both options. What I have done here is I entered the map like you are making stops in Annapolis, La Plata, MD and ending in Richmond. This should give you that route and of course you just stay in 50 instead of going into Annapolis and stay on 301 instead of going through La Plata

When you get to Bowling Green VA you will have the option of heading over to 95 or staying on 301 and catching either 95 or 295 closer to Richmond. I would use Google Maps on you phone to see what traffic looks like on 95 and making a decision then. You could also use Waze and that will route you the best way taking traffic into consideration.

Here is the map that should show you that route:
Google Map

 

[brockash]

We used to live in Richmond and we would also choose 295 over 95 if you don't need to be in Richmond. It does not take any longer and is so much smoothwr sailing. 95 backed up a lot while we lived there, so you're really rolling the dice unlike with 295.