Samare

The day after Labor Day, my husband and I are planning a trip from Knoxville, TN, to Staunton, VA, then on to Colonial Williamsburg. We will probably stay in Staunton 2 days and 3-4 in Colonial Wmsburg. We'd like to drive through scenic areas, eat good food, and take in some sites. I've read all the appropriate topics in Fodors and have gotten so many good ideas, such as the Shakespeare Plays and the American Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton and the scenic routes 6 and 5. I think my basic question is this: starting from the SW corner of Virginia which route should we take-- the longer scenic route to Staunton (BG Parkway?) or I-81? Is I-81 scenic? We'd like to get into Staunton at a reasonable hour. Also, we've never seen the Shenendoah Valley, but my husband says "we can't do it all in 1 trip!" Please advise as to what you think of this plan. Thanks! (Sorry if this all sounds sketchy. I'm new at it!)

Samare

Blue Ridge Parkway...not BG Parkway! (was thinking of the BlueGrass Parkway)

montereybob

The BR Parkway is very slow going but very scenic. So you might want to just take part of it for a scenic drive and do the majority of your driving on 81. You can use mapquest.com or google maps to get an idea of the travel times on the Parkway between any two towns near it. On the way to Williamsburg, I would recommend a stop to see Monticello. And from Williamsburg, a side trip to Jamestown.

weimarer

I mentioned I-81 to a couple from OZ on another thread. It's fairly scenic as interstates go, but it's high speed and can have lots of trucks. There are only two lanes each way for most of it which can make for either irritating (slow trucks taking up both lanes on a hill) or hair-raising driving (trucks bearing down on you on hills approaching 100 mph).

You might want to think about taking 58 (no trucks allowed) and stop at Grayson Highlands State Park. You could hike a bit at Massie Gap, absolutely fantastic, open, almost alpine-looking terrain, with wild horses running loose. Or a shorter hike to the pinnacles for a great view, or just drive up to the other great overlook into NC/TN. It's all at about 5000 ft, so great scenery. From there you culd head east then north on either 221 or the BRP towards Roanoke. 221 is a nice route, and the BRP north of here is actually fairly straight thru mountain pasture scenery. 50-55 mph no problem here (45 mph posted limit).

Samare

Thank you for your responses and good information. We are also considering camping a few times along the route to Staunton. Any advice of best sites?

RedRock

If time permits and you would like to see the way things were long ago when traveling take old US-11 instead I-81. It goes thru some charming little towns.

weimarer

For camping, I would pick from either National Forest sites:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/recreati...ng/index.shtml

A state Park. Grayson Highlands, Douthat or Hungry Mother sound like the best bets for your route, although GH and HM may be too close to your starting point for an overnight.

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_pa...ate_park.shtml

Or one of the 4 along the BRP. Rocky Knob, Peaks of Otter, Otter Creek or Roanoke Mtn. I liked the look of Rocky Knob, but haven't camped there.

I usually primitive/car camp in the National Forest, so I can't really suggest one over the other-they're all pretty good.

Since you're going after Labor Day during the week, you should be fine just pulling into any of them without reserving or anything.

Samare

Thank you again! I appreciate your info very much!