Driving from Boston to Miami

Old May 2nd, 2015, 04:54 AM
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Driving from Boston to Miami

I am flying with my family to Boston and will drive to Miami. Which route shall i follow? where can i stop? which cities shall i see? Can i have your suggestions? thank you?
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 06:13 AM
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What month? How many days from Boston to Miami?
May I suggest that you take a train from Boston to New York, Philadelphia or Washington DC?
Have you looked at the drop off fee for dropping off a rental car in Miami?
I-95 is rather boring. Would you rather drive a coastal route or the mountain route west of I-95?
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 10:02 AM
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How many and who in the family? If little kids this is going to be a very long, weary drive.

You ask which cities you should see. No interest in any of the countryside or beaches in between?

And again, how many days?
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Old May 3rd, 2015, 03:22 AM
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There is no possible advantage to driving from Boston to Washington, DC, unless you have a lot of time to explore the side roads. I suspect you are English, and it is like the M25 most of the way. I drive it lots. If you have thoughts of New York City or Philadelphia on the way, you absolutely don't want a car. You can take Northeast Regional trains rather than Acela, and they can be inexpensive if booked in advance.

You can get a rental car in Washington at Union Station or Reagan National Airport when you are ready to leave. Again, the car is a problem in the city.

From Washington southward, you have the choice of dreaded Interstate 95 all the way -- heavy traffic and never goes through an attractive area -- or US 17, a mostly dual carriageway route that hugs the coastline all the way from Fredericksburg, VA, to Savannah, Georgia. Charleston is a great place to stop for a visit, but you pass through and near many very pleasant places and historic sites.

From Savannah to Miami, you can take some combination of Florida A1A (which actually runs on the Beach in Daytona) US 1, I-95, and Florida Turnpike.
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Old May 3rd, 2015, 06:20 AM
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I don't know, Ackislander, I think it might be worth driving that section if major cities is NOT what the OP is after. I mean I might go to Newport, Mystic, Cape May NJ, the Brandywine valley in PA. But you are right that if they want to get from point a to point b and maybe visit one of the major cities, the train or bus is the way to go.

This is just too big a question without some parameters. Devbar, you're talking about the entire eastern seaboard. There are so many choices it's hard to know what to recommend.

What is your purpose in making this drive, and how long will you spend? Please, give some clues...
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Old May 3rd, 2015, 12:17 PM
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Yes, without knowing WHY and WHEN, all we can offer is generalities.
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Old May 13th, 2015, 12:01 PM
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I have already rented a car. I planned to spend 3 nights on the way. 9 years old son is with me. I will be there at last week of jun. I dont have a special purpose. It will be a just adventure. I will stay in miami 1 week and drive back to boston again
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Old May 13th, 2015, 12:47 PM
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This is still a little confusing. You say you're going to stop for three nights, and want to see some cities. How much time do you think you can spend in each if have to drive 1500 miles and spend about 22 hours of drive time?

But OK. Here are my suggestions:

First day, with overnight stay: Drive to Washington, DC, area. Actually, I would drive a little south of DC, into Northern Virginia. You could maybe tour Monticello or Mount Vernon. Or, if you spend the time, the city of Washington. And using Northern VA as your starting point will help you skip a little traffic on your next leg. My suggested route for the first leg is: Mass. Turnpike to Route 84 to Route 684 to 287 over the Tappan Zee Bridge to the Garden State Parkway to the NJ Turnpike to 95 south.

Second day, with overnight stay: Drive to (your choice) Charleston SC, Hilton Head SC, or Savannah GA. Take 95 south all the way until the obvious turnoffs for the desired locales.

Third day: Get back on 95 and drive to Miami.
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Old May 13th, 2015, 03:17 PM
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Having driven Boston-Georgia or North Carolina too many times to count, vincenzo above has the correct route Boston-DC. One added point, however, is that on this leg, the difficult part is to avoid rush hours in Boston, NYC metro area and DC. The only reliable way I have found to do so is to leave really, really early - like 5 AM. Drive into Connecticut and find someplace for a fast breakfast and keep going. Lunch will be somewhere on the NJ Turnpike or Garden State Parkway and either pack a lunch or get a really fast lunch at one of the rest stops. This puts you into DC area mid-afternoon.

If you stop and see anything on this leg, you risk hitting DC rush hour. I would pick Savannah for night #2, because it is the most convenient to I95. Stay either right in Historic District or if you want to save some money in an area called Midtown - which is really an area of chain restaurants and strip malls - not really a town or mid to anything.

You might pick a different city to stay in on the way back. My second choice would be Charleston. And when headed north, try to get past DC for your night stay. We have found reasonable hotels in the Aberdeen, MD area. There is a minor league baseball team that plays there - so maybe catch a game. (If you follow baseball, Cal Ripken owns the team).

For this trip it would be worth getting a toll transponder (EZPass). It makes paying tolls much faster. Do not believe the mapping programs or GPS for the amount of time to get from Boston to DC. Something always happens in NJ or Virginia in way of traffic, construction, tie-ups.

And by last week in June, I am hoping you do not mean week ending July 4th. If you do, all bets are off about traffic.

I love long road trips and have taken several solo ones. But I am not sure your 9 year old will share the idea of 6 days in the car as an adventure.
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Old May 14th, 2015, 07:10 AM
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Good advice, gail, especially about EZ Pass. You won't use it much south of Washington, but it comes in very handy and is a time-saver for the Boston-Wash leg.
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Old May 14th, 2015, 08:55 AM
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Are you planning to start south on the day you arrive in Boston or the next morning?

It is about 23 hours driving without traffic, buying fuel, using the toilet, buying food. Add in any site seeing you want to do, say one to four hours per city.

Like Gail, I spent many years driving to and from North Carolina, and I currently drive regularly between Boston and Richmond, VA. I have driven from Boston to Florida, though thankfully not in a few years.

Southbound notes: if you leave Boston by 8 AM, rush hour is not an issue in NY, Philadelphia or Baltimore. If you arrive at the intersection of I95 and 495 outside Washington by 3 PM, you can expect to get to Fredericksburg, VA, in 1:30 or 1:45 hours. Double that if there is an accident or you arrive closer to 4. We allow 11 hours driving from Boston to Richmond, 9 and a bit going from Richmond to Boston.
Fredericksburg has lots of inexpensive places to stay and plenty of kid-friendly food. There is a Civil War battlefield center there if he interested in that sort of thing. The USMC historical museum is in nearby Quantico.

Next day, another 9 hours gets you to Savannah, GA, where your son may be more interested in freighter traffic on the river than historic architecture. You can break the journey at South of the Border, a place that rivals the Brighton sea front in tackiness. A kid will love it.

Then another 9 hours of driving to Miami Beach. Florida's Turnpike does not use EZ Pass, which makes it a bother. My detour for your son today would be to detour onto Florida Highway A1A at Daytona. The highway drives right along the beach.

Driving notes northbound: pretty much the same as southbound except that you need to time yourself to hit I 495 in Washington after 9 AM so as to arrive in the NYC area by 2:30 or 3:00, avoiding most commuter traffic.

There are lots of tricks and trucs that you will see in posts about this route, most of which a visitor would not understand, especially as we have a terrible habit of naming highways after honorees (the Major Deegan) rather than by the numbe on the map, though sometimes we do the opposite. No one would recommend (except for your GPS) that you take the George Washington Bridge rather than the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson, but don't worry about other shortcuts.

Fuel is cheaper in Boston, New Jersey, and Virginia than elsewhere in the north. I don't know current prices south of Richmond.
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Old May 17th, 2015, 08:19 PM
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thank you for all comments. I will be in Boston airport at 5 pm. i think will be leaving around 6 pm. what a hour, right? so it means i will be in the middle of rush hour. I planned to stay in cherry hill at first night. and next day will look around downtown of philidelphia. some you mentioned about EZ pass. where can i buy it? at the airport? is it valid for all roads?
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Old May 18th, 2015, 01:50 AM
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You will be leaving after rush hour - I think you are flying in from outside US, so you have to go thru Customs, Immigration, collect your luggage and then get your rental car. This will take longer than an hour.

You are going to drive 6 hours at night in an unfamiliar area after a long flight? Fortunately, Dunkin Donuts has lots of shops with decent coffee open late.

The car rental place will rent you an EZ Pass, but there are all sorts of fees associated with it. You can get a transponder mailed to you, but not sure if it is worth it for a trip of this length. You can not get it at the airport.
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Old May 18th, 2015, 03:07 AM
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Suppose I arrive at Heathrow at 5 PM and set out immediately to drive to Edinburgh.

Would this be wise?

It is what you propose to do.
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Old May 18th, 2015, 05:41 AM
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I am coming from Turkey and I rented a minivan. We will be two drivers so we will spilt the driving time. My wife and my uncle will be with me. I have already visited New York , Orlando during my previous visits ... So I just want to make this journey from Boston to Miami as easy and funny as possible.
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