Will be leaving July 4 for Maine from DC area. Will stop half way because we have our dog with us. Everyone says do NOT go 95! Suggestions for routes and possible halfway points. Please don’t tell me how busy it’s going to be, I am fully aware. Just looking for suggestions. TIA!

Why wouldn't you use I-95? Who is "everyone" who says that?

Where in Maine?

There is an I95 toll booth at Hampton NH that is notorious for backups but your timing may be ok if you are late in the day. The heavy traffic northbound will probably be thursday afternoon and friday morning. But it really depends on where you are going in Maine.

google maps shows quickest route goes to I84 and later reconnects with I95. If you do that, get north of Hartford before stopping for a break.

I'm not "everyone," only "someone" who hates I-95. When the children were young we would be backing out of the driveway of our Northern Virginia (6 minutes from D.C.) home at 4:30 a.m. for our annual summer week on Cape Cod in order to keep the drive to about 8 hours-ish.

A few weeks ago DH and I went to NYC for a particular exhibit. We departed 6:30 a.m. and lost more than an hour on the Jersey Turnpike because of an accident that shut down all lanes. Neither traffic nor construction have gotten any better.

PSA: Love's Gas Stations have fenced dog parks.

I noticed that you did not provide an answer to the OP. Perhaps you could take this opportunity to detail a better route.

One possibility for the OP is to use Google Maps and take whatever route is easiest and adjust as things come up. Just the other day I was sent across the Bay Bridge to get up to Philadelphia, but there are certain days/times when beach traffic would make that an awful alternative. so I would say 'it depends.' If you keep yourself flexible, you will do better.

BTW, I am not part of the everyone cautioning against 95.

How far north in Maine are you going? That would affect suggestions for a halfway point.

I did suggest departing the D.C. area at 4:30 a.m., and suggested known places for their dog to take a wee, so there's that.

My "better route" would not include a "stopover" en route to wherever the destination in Maine might be. Aside from our time overseas, we've lived and suffered through more than enough I-95 crap to even suggest alternative routes.

As you wrote, "it depends."

I'd take 95 to the Garden State Parkway, to 287, cross the Cuomo Bridge, get on the Merritt/Cross pkwy, follow it to 91 North, take the Mass Pike east and rejoin 95 to NH and ME. You might also take 495 from the Mass Pike to connect with 95 further north. Been a while so I may have made an error -- check route on a map first! (Note" do not follow 95 to Philadelphia. Cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge instead, taking the NJ Turnpike north until it is rejoined by 95.)

Everone on my Maine travel group on FB. I mean literally everyone in caps said DO NOT TAKE 95!

I also hate 95!! My oldest lives in Richmond and that is a nightmare in the summer with the beach traffic!

We will be going to Hartland Maine. We already have reservation in Worcester Mass for overnight.

I hate I95 also and a lot of people do say that. I avoid it like the plague. It's longer but I go up to Harrisburg PA, your choice as to how, then I81 to Scranton, I84 east to CT up to MA turnpike I90 and then up to Maine, skirting Boston using 495.

Since there is a lot of construction along the 95 corridor right now, the route through Scranton is a good choice. It will be about the same duration and is surely more pleasant. This is usually longer, but not tomorrow.

I happen to have driven the I-95 route from DC to RI yesterday. Leaving NW Washington at 9:45 AM. (What's this 4 AM nonsense?) I crossed the Cuomo Bridge at about 1:30 PM. Only slowdown to that part of the trip was a minor one in Maryland, where the poor little road workers needed to close down a traffic lane although they were already protected by a shoulder and a concrete barrier. I zipped over the Delaware Memorial Bridge, used the car only lanes on the NJT then switched to the GSP. I am not bothered by trucks, but I am very bothered by drivers who are intimidated by them and hesitate to pass.

To be honest, the trip fell apart after the Cuomo bridge -- the CT Turnpike (yes, 95) -- was the more-than-usual disaster. Stop and go traffic from Stamford to New Haven, with a few breaks. However that is not the route I recommended to Maine.

I just drove my route today, except I'm going to Lake Placid, so went north on I87. I took rte 29 to I70 a bit then the beltway around Baltimore to get north to Harrisburg. Sometimes i just go north on i270 and then take 15 to Harrisburg. I just check traffic apps first.There used to often be road work oni81 south of Scranton but luckily I guess that's over. There is some road work on i84 east of Scranton but it didn't really slow things that much, at least not today.