On Dec. 21, around 5.00 PM My Dominican family of 8 persons will be getting out of JFK and heading to Roanoke, Va. We want to drive for 2-3 hours and find a decent hotel and restaurant to stop, and resume our journey next day. We would appreciate your recommendations on good places( and even hotel names) to stop.

TTT

From JFK to Roanoke, VA you have your choice of 2 routes.

1. West through NJ to PA, then south on I-81

2. South through NJ through DC, then West through VA to Roanoke

Route #1 will likely be much faster as you'll avoid a lot of the congested areas which can add hrs to your drive.

2-3 hrs from JFK would take you into Eastern PA, somewhere around Bethlehem.

or if you take route #2, then into Central/southern NJ.

Sorry, I can't recommend specific hotels. Be sure you check back here to get good directions from JFK out of NYC. Online mapping programs may send you through Manhattan, a definite no-no.

head west then south to avoid major traffic problems on the "coastal" route. it looks like to get out of jfk and on your way,
278 (north or west) to 440 (east or south to PERTH AMBOY,NJ) to 287 (west or north) to 78 west 78 west to 81 south.
not so much in NJ but once in pa, you should see signs for various hotels along your route like hampton inns, days inns etc. i would think you would be able to get rooms as walk-ins. Bethlehme Emmaus area is about 2 to 3 hours out as J62 says,

there are major intersections there that should mean hotels. (route 309, 478 etc) if you don't want to go that far, you might check around phillipsburg, nj or lehigh pa. that is the delaware river. the border between pa and nj. mapquest can produce a pretty good point to point map BUT design it yourself, not the auto mapping it may take you out of the way defaulting to certain major roads, like route 95. good luck.

Thanks J62 and Justme22 for your recommendations; this is a good start. Your point about avoiding Manhattan is very valid(specially the day and time that we will be around), but up to now online mapping is our only resource. What's your recommendation to get the best route.

Go through NJ and PA as listed above and take I-81 south to Roanoke. Freetrip.com will give you time, milage and hotels along the way. However their directions in this case gives a lot of directions to reach NJ. I would suggest the belt parkway, cross the Verrazano Bridge into Staten Island and I-287 across the Outer Bridge Crossing to I-78 to I-81.

Three hours driving should put you around the Harrisburg, PA area.

To clarify what the others have said about getting from JFK airport to NJ:
- Leaving JFK, look for signs for Belt Parkway West. This is a busy, winding parkway (no trucks allowed) that will bring you from Queens into Brooklyn.
- Once in Brooklyn, follow signs for the Verrazano Bridge/I-278 into Staten Island. (No toll in this direction; at least $7 coming the other direction if you return to JFK.)
- On Staten Island, follow the signs for Outerbridge Crossing/Route 440. Note that you don't want to take the Route 440 exit for Bayonne Bridge! Again, the Outerbridge Crossing will be a toll on the return, but not outbound.
- Once you cross the span, you will be on Route 440 in NJ. Unfortunately, I can't help you from there, since I've only ever taken it to NJ Turnpike/I-95!

ggreen

You can probably go a little further than Bethlehem. Lots of motels near Hershey or Harrisburg, PA.