My sister is moving in a few weeks and will be driving from Boston to Columbia. My guess during the end of November, she should stay on I95. I'm assuming the chance of snow is high along I81. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Which route would you take and where would you stay? I know Rocky Mount is a common stopping point. Any other good options? They want to do the bulk of their driving on day one.

I don't think 81 is any more likely to have snow than eastern 95--and it would be a strange storm.
Why not do the 81 route down to Columbia. I think 95 would be a good bit longer also.
She could probably get to up around Wytheville, VA pretty easily.

Just looked at a map and the I81 route is listed as being about 20 miles further but misses every major city on the I95 route--which would translate to me as being hours faster. It is "only" about 950 miles--we have driven from Charlotte to NYC in about 11 hours. Columbia is an easy 1.5 hours south. Can't say what the distance/time to Boston would be.
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-...d=0CIYBEPgPMAo

If they didn't want to go as far as Wyethville, Staunton and Roanoke good choices.
I used to follow this route traveling between Melbourne FL and central PA.

Yes, there are lots of places but Wytheville is about 5 hours from Columbia so would be a good target for a long first day, and a short last day.

I agree with Tom on this one. Staunton or Lexington is about as far as I ever wanted to drive from Boston in one day. But their mileage may be different.

In any case I90-84-81-77 will have less traffic than I 95 and is the route I would prefer, weather permitting.

If they were driving a Penske or U Haul, my advice would be different.

Thanks everyone. I will pass this on to her.

Ackislander - no Uhaul, they are using a moving company.

I95 is a hateful route to take. You have 2 choices - I have done each multiple times and each has its pros and cons. Either way - you do not want to take I95 south from Boston at the start of the trip. Take Mass Pike to I84 thru Connecticut and then over Tappan Zee Bridge. At this point you make a decision on the rest of the trip.

I81 is one of the most boring routes on earth. Lots of trucks, but fast and efficient and traffic jams unlikely. I drove alone Winchester, VA to Boston last year and it was brutal as far as fatigue and boredom. Lots of cheap hotels along the way.

Other option is Garden State Parkway to NJ Turnpike, thru Baltimore/DC and then south. This requires some planning to avoid rush hours in Boston, NYC metro area and Balt/Washington areas. I have driven with 2 drivers Boston-NC along this route on several occasions. With planning it can take from 13 hours upward, but is doable. Best timing is to leave Boston area really, really early - like 4-5 AM. This gets you thru DC prior to much of rush hour.

If it snows, all bets are off.