Ottawa to New York - driving
 

Can anyone please let me know how long it will take to drive from Ottawa to New York. Any particular delights on the way? Overnight stop worthwhile? Early October travel most likely. Many thanks.

Take a look at the Mapquest website: http://www.mapquest.com/ <BR> <BR>It maps out a 715 km route that is 4 lane highway all the way except between here and the 401. Should be easy to do in a day. If you wanted to do a two day,backroads trip, Cooperstown or Saratoga might make nice stops.

harry, you really can't drive from Ottawa to new York. You sort of have to go somewhere else on the way. If you have a reasonable map,youmight be able to follow this. Leave Ottawa and drive staight south the St. lawrence River, which is the Canada -US border. Prescott in Canada, Ogdensburg in the United States. <BR>South of Ogdensburg is a giant wilderness area and the Adidiondack mountains. There are no diect roads south, and the weaving country roads are not very interesting. Mostly all you will see is are trees and ugly little towns, and you'll spend as much time driving est or west as you will driving south. So the trick is to either go east or west at Prescott, and then head south along a four lane Interstate, as they are called in the US. <BR> <BR>The fastest route is probably east to almost Gananoque, over the Ivy Lea Bridge, and south through Watertown to Syracuse, then east to Albany and south to New York City. The part of this trip as far as Albany is really dull. <BR> <BR>Longer, but more intereting, is to head south east from ottawa to Cornwall along back roads, cross into the US and head for Saranac Lake and lake Placid (both famous tourist towns) until you reach Interstate 87 to Albany and then to new York. <BR> <BR>How long? A 12 -14 hour drive without stopping except for gasoline and quick meals, going through Watertown and Syracuse. <BR> <BR>Two days, including stopping for an hour or two in Lake Placid and heading a bit further east so you can drive along the shore of Lake Champlain and stop at Fort Ticonderoga. Stay overnight perhaps in Albany or across the Massachusetts border, and then get to New York city the next day. If budget matters to you, timeyour arrival in NYC for mid-morning,so that you pay for a small town hotel thenight before you arrive, instead of arriving in the evening and paying New York rates for that night. <BR> <BR>BAK <BR>

Harry, I live in Ottawa. <BR> <BR>You basically have three options (distances and routes below were all calculated by MapQuest - www.mapquest.com): <BR> <BR>1) Shortest but by far the dullest route: Ottawa to New York through mid-New York State, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey (443.8 mi, 714.1 km); <BR> <BR>2) Slightly longer but much more scenic, especially in early October - the peak of autumn colour in the region: Ottawa to New York via Lake Placid and the Adirondack Mountains - if you wish to stay overnight in the Lake Placid area (worthwhile, arrive in the morning and enjoy the day in the mountains), book as early as possible (449.0 mi, 722.5 km); and <BR> <BR>3) longest but also very scenic: Ottawa to New York via Montreal - Montreal is only two hours away from Ottawa - perhaps arrive in Montreal in the morning and enjoy the city during the day and stay overnight, then drive to New York during the daytime and enjoy the autumn scenery through the Lake Champlain and Hudson River valleys (495.9 mi, 797.9 km).