Please forgive me if somebody else has already posted this, but I just wanted to find out what were the best places to go to get some rest and relaxation in within several hours' drive of D.C. I am almost 30 and do not have a family, but I do not want a crowded place where I have to fight to find a parking spot that I have to pay for, nor do I want a sleepy town with a Tractor museum and a gift shop as the only things to go to when you get there. I just want a fairly affordable destination with access to peace and quiet combined with plenty of activities to do, preferably near the beach, but mountains will do, too. Thanks for your help.

classic.mapquest.com

Personally like Front Royal/Skyline Drive to

www.blueridgeparkway.org in summer

cool scenic centering beautiful.

For beach best outer banks NC around Roadanthe many cute BBs

More touristic action excellent prices overall

for me on betterbidding.com try www.visitmyrtlebeach.com

6-7 hours away but best beach...

Good suggestions by qwovadis. You can get to the northern parts of the Outer Banks in 5 hours or so (I've heard), but I've never been there & don't know how crowded the northern reaches are.

Other places to consider would be Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland, or Williamsburg, VA. Williamsburg can get quite crowded in the summer so it may not meet all your criteria, but it's very interesting if you've never been there. The nearby Jamestown settlement and Yorktown are pretty interesting too.

Wintergreen Resort outside of Charlottesville VA.

www.wintergreenresort.com

Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg.

www.kingsmillresort.com

Cape May NJ.

What kind of activities do you enjoy?

Charlottesville area is very nice. Charlottesville is a nice college town and u can easily do some day trips to Skyline Drive for hikes or other outdoor activities. Monticello is right there and does tours. Lots of cute small towns and wineries u can visit during the day.

We enjoyed Chincoteague, VA quite a bit. It might be a little too sleepy for what you are looking for, but it does have some good activities. It has the beach, boating, fishing, a neat lighthouse, the Assateague nature preserve, good bike riding, and things like that.

This is really a pretty open ended question. Within in 5 hours there is really too much to do to list as vacation spots and highly depends on what you like to do. For outdoors you have Deep Creek Lake MD or Lake Anna VA. Beach you can get to Virginia Beach, Bethany DE, Rehoboth Beach DE, and Ocean City MD. If you want to be a real tourist and like shopping New York City is only 4.5 hours or so away by bus or train. For small town get-aways Berkley Springs WV, St. Michaels MD and Charlottesville VA.