I will be driving from Charlotte to NYC in mid-July and plan to take I-77/I-81/I-76 so that I can bypass Washington, DC. I will take two days to complete the drive. Is there a nice place for a stop-over? Lexington is ideal, but it is only 4 hours from Charlotte, leaving about 7 hours of drive for the next day. Harrisburg is almost 8 hours drive. Is there anywhere in between? Some detour is fine. Thank you.

A little farther than Lexington is Stauton & even a bit farther is Luray. This area is in close proximity to Skyline Drive & the Shenandoah National park if you are teh outdoorsy type. http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisi...line-drive.htm Luray would be pretty close to the middle.

Be great if I could type Staunton & t-h-e

A little ways of I81 is Chrlottesville VA

home of UVA, designed by Thomas Jefferson
http://www.charlottesville.org/

There was a nice article in the NYTimes last Oct
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/10/26...l/26hours.html



http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/10/26...l/26hours.html

We just drove from Charlotte to Milford PA, but at one point we were equidistant from Milford to NYC. It is an EASY 10 hour drive. I77 to I81 to I78. I could NOT believe it--you will be in NYC in 10 hours, and an easy drive at that. Did it last week.

Thank you for your replies. My GPS took me via I-95 last year and DC was a nightmare. Which is why I was planning on doing it in 2 days. Did you take one or two days to do it last week, Gretchen? I will probably have no time to sightsee. A good hotel and a good meal is all I am looking for...

Yes, I have done the I95 route years ago and it IS a nightmare.
It truly is a no-brainer drive of 10 hours. Take a look at Mapquest.
As I said at one point we were on I78 and NYC was 40 miles away!! And we were about 40 miles from our destination in Milford PA (sort of in a corner of PA, NJ and NYC). I was absolutely amazed.
We left Charlotte at 6:30AM and were at our friend's at around 3.
Left there at 8 and were home by 5:30PM.

Yes, well. That 10 hours or so on Google Maps does not allow for stopping for gas, something to eat, or using the facilities.

If you leave CLT at 7AM, you will arrive in NYC at the height of rush hour IF everything goes well. If you look at the driving time from Chambersburg, PA (actually a good place to stop), that last 223 miles are listed at 3 hours 50 minutes -- with another hour in traffic! So ten hours of driving could easily become eleven plus another hour for stopping etc.

Well, yes, our trip that I actually did DID include stopping, and even missing a turn and going 10 mile back to get back on the correct side.
Traffic is always a possibility in the metropolitan area--there's not much to be done about that.
I also did not believe the Mapquest time estimate either--said "no way", but it was right on.