Husband and I are driving from Toronto area to Williamsburg in September. My question: is it too far to do in a day? Map Quest estimates about 12 hours. If we break the journey...any suggestions as to where? I was thinking of Luray..stay overnight, see the caverns next day then drive on to Williamsburg (about 3 hours). Maybe one of you Fodorites has some good ideas.

If we were to fly from Toronto and rent a car I'm sure there would be plenty to see and do in the area...Busch gardens, Virginia Beach, antique hunting...what would be the closest airport?

Can't help you with the drive time but I can tell you that Newport News (phf), Richmond (ric), and Norfolk (orf) are all within an hour of Williamsburg. The DC airports are also doable, about 3-3 1/2 hrs, but there will be traffic between DC and Williamsburg.

Yes, it'll be a very long day drive to get to Willamsburg same day.

As for place to stay overnight, if you're interested in the Luray Caverns to start with, then sure. There are quite a few motels in the 50-miles stretch of I-81 at Winchester, Strasburg, Woodstock and New Market.

Or you can consider Charlottesville and visit Monticello. More motels at Harrisonburg and Staunton.

But keep in mind that you're adding distance to visit Luray or Charlottesville, as the shorter driving route for you from Toronto to Williamsburg would be I-66 to US17 to I-95.

Check Airtran.com for cheap airfare to newport news (maybe 20-30 minute ot Williamsburg) or norfolk, VA (about an hour away).

We considered drigin from NYC whic is about 6.5 hrs, but decided to fly to Newport News instead. Airtran has an internet special that is very inexpensive. (less than the gas to drive there).

I think the drive is quite far to do in a day. And as others have mentioned Luray/Skyline Drive is adding time on. I'd consider stopping near Philly, Baltimore or DC and going on from there. DC to Williamsburg is 2 1/2 hours or so, depending on traffic. If you can avoid a Friday night or Saturday travel day, you should be fine.

Also worth noting is there are a bunch of William and Mary home football games in September, which may impact you for hotels, restaurant choices, travel around town, etc. check out www.wm.edu or www.tribeathletics.com and you can find those dates.

Once in Williamsburg, check out the Cheese Shop on DOG Street, Pierces Pit BBQ and the Chickahominy House (out Jamestown Road) for lunch. The Chickahominy House only serves breakfast and lunch, but well worth it.

Enjoy!

From Toronto, I'd be inclined to drive to Buffalo and take Southwest to Norfolk. I find pricing for 9/14 return 8/20 for $86 to $106 pp each way. I'm near Albany NY and no longer like to drive it in a day, but that's me.

baker,

freetrip.com shows Toronto to Wmsbrg 624 miles, 11:00.

Toronto to Luray 488 miles, 9:00 which you could do in a day. Luray to Wmsbrg 167 miles, 3:25.

To shorten your trip down here, do as rkkwan suggests and stay between Winchester and New Market. It's about an hour between those two points. If you go to free trip.com for routing between Toronto and Luray, check off hotels in your price range to see what appeals to you.

New Market to Luray takes about an hour over one mountain range.