To Avoid DC traffic what time would you leave from MA?

[mudman]

I would love to hear how people strategically time avoiding DC traffic. This will be our first trip down by car to WDW and need all the advice we can get.

We are thinking about leaving MA at about 4AM to venture out. I have no idea what time we will be in the DC area by leaving at this hour. How does one figure this out?

THanks
Michell

 

[debster812]

Wellllll, when my folks drove to FL this winter (for 8 weeks, the poor dears ). They left on a Sunday morning. Figure DC is 8-10 hours away, depending on your speed. Plus, you have the added attraction of a weekend. A little less traffic to deal with.

 

[disneyorbust]

We left about the same time last year when we drove down. It was a Saturday. We got through DC fine and stopped for lunch around 1 at one of the rest areas heading toward Richmond. As we ate lunch, we noticed the traffic not moving on the highway. Well, we sat in that traffic for 2 hours trying to get to Richmond. My advise, avoid DC AND Richmond! We are leaving Wednesday night (6/18) for a 10 day trip to FW. We are planning on leaving around 6PM and driving straight through to SC or GA. Once you get past Virginia, the rest of the trip is a breeze. Good luck!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Tho weekends around DC are a bit better than weekdays, you've still got tons of traffic (trucks, tourists, etc)to deal with no matter what time you get there. One of the worst backups I've ever seen was on a Sunday afternoon in mid-summer --no accidents, just cars. Was a 7 mile backup on the Tyson's Corner side of 495. It's all an unfortunate result of too many cars and a terribly designed road network (and confusing signs). They're working on it, but could be years away from a fix.
From many trips, I've found once you are just past DC the rest of 95 is fine. We always take the I-295 bypass around Richmond, and that's about as traffic free as an Interstate can get.

 

[feenie]

when we drove down a couple of years ago we left at 11 the night before and hit the DC area around dawn. No traffic!!!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Yeah--dawn is a good time. So is 2:30 AM