best driving routes from mystic, ct to washington dc
 

driving thru from mystic, ct to washington dc
please direct me via best routes. not congested roads or bridges

Unfortunately, this is one of the most congested routes in the United States.

Having driven it many times (as recently as last week) I would recommend I-95 to I-287 and the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson. Join the Garden State Parkway (no trucks) until it joins the New Jersey Turnpike (which has truck free lanes until about Exit 8). Traffic is not heavy south of Exit 5.

Cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge and rejoin and follow I-95 again to Baltimore. From Baltimore, take the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (no trucks) to I-495 or to its junction with US 50 in the District.

If you really, really hate trucks, you can instead take the Garden State Parkway to Cape May and the ferry to Lewes, Delaware. You then make your way across Delaware and the the Eastern Shore of Maryland on relatively untraveled roads to where you pick up US 50 into the district.

The worst section is from New Have to the NY state line any time and from Baltimore to your destination if you arrive in Baltimore after 3 PM.

Well, you could actually get up really EARLY in the day and avoid a lot of the usual traffic.

I would not endorse the Cape May-Lewes ferry idea unless you have a lot of time to kill. Instead of that you might consider I-95 south to Rte 896 in Delaware and take that south to US 301 to Rte 50 and come into the city that way.

Both the above are right on. And really early means leaving Mystic before 4 AM to avoid normal congestion from New Haven to Newark and put the WAZE app on your phone or iPad and check for construction, accidents or anything else that would tie up the roads along the way.

I have found that suggesting getting up before daybreak around here can bring about waves of ridicule but I continue to do so because it actually works. Of course, for those people who claim they cannot function, "Before I've had my coffee" I guess all bets are off.

Directions given by Ackislander above are the ones I usually follow. One variation which avoids some of the truck traffic is to get off 95 and onto the Merritt Parkway after New Haven (Exit 38) and follow it to the New York Line where it becomes the Hutchinson. Take exit 26 (E) from the Hutch to 287 and the Tappan Zee.

Sorry, make that 26 W!

I always take the Merritt if I am driving from Boston and often do when driving from the ferry at Hyannis. It is sometimes a tossup between trucks and construction on I-95 and BMW commuter gridlock on the Merritt.

Your Amtrak option would be to take Northeast Regional #93 from Mystic at 10:56AM arriving in WAS at 5:20PM. if you wanted an overnight trip, take #67 at 11:17PM arriving at about 7AM in WAS.
The lowest fare (saver) is $71 up to $140 for a business class seat.
This would be the most certain trip in case of winter weather.

Love folks who thank you for your help.

Although this area is very congested 24 hours/day, the key to making this trip without losing your mind is timing. That means leaving early enough to miss NYC rush hour (yes, 5 AM at the latest) - which gets you to DC area prior to their PM rush hour.

Ignore driving times on any mapping program. There is always some construction, accident, or some mysterious delay. Plan on at least 8 hours and be pleasantly surprised if it is faster.

Tappan Zee Bridge - not George Washington Bridge. There are several variants on how to do this, but do not choose the GW Bridge.

Buy gas in NJ - it is less expensive and they pump it for you.

Get a toll transponder/EZ Pass if you can - makes the endless tolls faster.

thanks for all your help & suggestions. this will definitely help. especially to dukey1, yes people are still considerate.

I know you've already made your trip, but for those who may be reading this for future reference, do NOT take the Baltimore-Washington Parkway between Baltimore and DC. I live right next to that road, and because of GPS it is now gridlocked almost 24/7. Yes, it is several miles shorter than I-95 if you are heading south of DC, but it is only two lanes in either direction. When the 35,000 workers at the NSA get out or people start heading to the Maryland Live Casino after dinner or travelers head to BWI airport, that little road is completely saturated. Add in the thousands of people whose GPS thinks it can save them some time by saving some mileage, and you're talking a 5mph pace from the BWI access road (I-195) all the way in to DC.

Yes, it is true that I-95 and the Beltway aren't much better during rush hour, but at least there are places to get off if there is a wreck.

Another alternate route to get south of DC is I-97 out of Baltimore to Rt. 3/301. If I-95 is backed up south of DC, Rt 301 will take you over the Harry Nice Bridge. There are a lot of traffic lights on the Maryland side, but it's open and un-congested once you get to Virginia.

During rush hour it's ALL bad, and if there's a wreck all bets are off. We live in Maryland and my wife works in Virginia, and on a couple of occasions she's started out for work and returned home several hours later, unable to get across the Potomac River. One time during an ice storm it took her nine hours to get home.