Best route Savannah to Dallas, over a few days avoiding interstate.
 

Hi, we are looking to make this trip this summer, and would welcome some ideas for the route that wouldn't just involve the quickest way from Savannah to Dallas.

We are first time visitors to this part of the USA and wanted to see more than a motorway, but we are not big sightseers, we would rather experience some of real America.

There will be just two of us and no kids and we will be happy to play it by ear to book motels as we go. We are probably allowing 3/4 days for the trip.Thanks in advance.

What is your real goal - to not drive on interstates or to see things along the way?

If it's the latter, you could head up to Atlanta and then go through Chattanooga and Memphis and see lots along the way. You could take a southern route and stop at Apalachicola and the beaches of 30a, stop at New Orleans and then on to Dallas.

Hi Starrs, thanks for your reply, and my first ever response to a forum!

Really good question, I guess a bit of both really, if by traveling on the interstate and then turning off to visit places is a better plan then that could be a good option.

When i looked on a map it looked like the Interstate 20 was the most direct route, but we quite fancied smaller town US rather than big cities.

This is just part of our vacation which is already taking in Atlanta and Brooklyn and some west coast locations.
The southern route you suggest sounds good, i will check it out.

Thanks again,
Chris

Chris, I really like taking back roads or secondary roads and can give you a lot of suggestions going north and south.

I know the drive from Atlanta to Dallas very well and it's a really boring drive. I would take I 20 if that's the goal. If the goal is to see different things, then there are several options for detours to see things. It really depends on what your goals are.

The corner of Florida is called The Forgotten Coast and is a quieter version of Florida. I love it. The beaches on the gulf coast are called sugar sand beaches for a reason. I would go that way if I were you. Stay in Apalachicola or at Indian Pass or Cape San Blas and eat at the Indian Pass Raw Bar. If you've never been to New Orleans, that's worth a stop also. That's the route I'd take.

Turn south and go along the Gulf Coast - plenty of "real America" there including various small to mid-size towns (Pensacola and its Naval Air Station, Mobile, coastal Mississippi, New Orleans, etc.).

Once you get within range of Houston (can't miss it - the smoke from the refineries and the ridiculous humidity make it obvious), you can turn north on one of its ring roads and then head up I-45 to Dallas (not the world's most interesting drive, other than the Sam Houston statue, but it's pretty Autobahn-ish).

Are you having to make the trip back to Savannah from Dallas or are you flying back or going on a different direction to continue the trip. I would take Starrs advice adding in a couple of things such as the Blue Angels practice runs in Pensacola and the Air Museum. Maybe stay at the Gulf Shores in Alabama if you didn't take time in the 30a of Florida. Take the tour of USS Alabama in Mobile on way to New Orleans. Try to get into NOLA for a late lunch and explore the city before a nice dinner and then hit the Burbon or Frenchman Streets for some night life. Explore more in the day before heading west and hit a plantation such as Laura or Oak Alley in afternoon and then a straight shot to Dallas as there isn't much in that part of LA or east Texas worth taking away time from NOLA etc.

You could stop at Avery Island and the Tabasco factory on the way out of LA.

<< Explore more in the day before heading west and hit a plantation such as Laura or Oak Alley in afternoon and then a straight shot to Dallas>>

That's a long shot - 7.5 hours through Louisiana swamps and East Texas flats. A detour to Avery Island would break that up a bit.

Thanks all, and to say I am delighted by this response is an understatement. I have never been on this type of forum before so not sure of the etiquette, and can't work out how to reply and say thanks to individuals. Suffice to say, I have far more options to consider now than I did before I posted my question.
Cheers
Chris

You are welcome. Ask more questions as you plan. :-)

I agree Big Russ but if there isn't much to do, I would allocate my time doing the things that make NOLA area great and str8 shot it to Dallas. Obviously you stop to eat, gas, stretch legs but there isn't much that is anywhere near the value of New Orleans in terms of your sightseeing time