John

Has anyone tried this before ?
How many days should it take from California to Florida by car ?

xxx

What kind of car, John ?

xxx

What part of Ca. are you leaving from and what part of Fla. are you going to?
This makes all the difference in the world.

Gary

It is about 2500 miles. If you go 65 MPH, it should take 30 hours of driving. I would break it into a four day trip,or 7 and one half hours of driving a day.

Don

Gary, check that math--30 hours at 65 mph gets you only 1950 miles. 40 hours would be closer...

russ i

John,

CA and FL are 2 huge states, so your start and end cities will make a significant difference. According to mapblast.com:

LA - Jacksonville - 2424mi in 38 hours
SF - Miami - 3152mi in 48:15 hours

Quite a difference.

I recomment mapblast or mapquest for anyone with "how long or how far" questions. It's very useful.

xxx

Use Mapquest to determine mileage between your beginning and ending city. It would be more realistic to figure you will average 60 mph when driving.

Becky

I live in FL, and I am sure it is common in other states as well. It has been my experience that if at any point in your trip you can run into, construction or traffic, or (sadly) an accident, you will, always allow extra time for these factors. Plan for the most extreme, and you will then be pleasantly surprised when you make it ahead of schedule. I also love to use mapquest, as it gives very detailed driving instructions, however, and maybe it is because we just drive too fast, but it never takes us as long as the projected time to reach our destination. If you are a member of AAA, you might want to call for a free triptik, and state guide books, these are great, and best of all you can get as many as you want for free.

John

About my California to Florida trip:
start point is San Jose and end point is Miami. Thanks for the math + mapquest info. I'll check it out.
Altogether, we have 3 weeks of time on our hands, but the more time we spend on the freeway the less time we'll have at our final destination. Thanks again.

John

John:
Since you've some time on your hands, spend 2-3 days in Pensacola. Great place to visit.

Stephanie P.

Take a plane, it's not worth the torture of driving cross country - 4 to 5 hours tops!!!!

bill clarke

I agree, unless you have specific must sees, or must visit points of interest on route why drive that far, as the return journey will seem to last for ever, and you will need another vacation to get over it.

betty

Hi John,

When my husband and I went to school in Houston, Texas, we drove to Tempa, FL in 15 house on one trip; on another trip, we spent two days on the road from Houston to LA (both trips were on I-10 except side trips). It is doable, and there are a lot to see along the way: White Sand National Monument in NM, Big Bend National Park in west TX, Pensacola in west FL, to just name a few. A lot of our friends thought my husband and I were crazy, but we had a lots of fun then. A couple of things you do want to prepare: (1) about 30% of your drive can be boring in NM and west TX if you stay on I-10; (2) add gas frequently-no gas station within 80 miles between east NM and west TX, and gas stations could close on major holidays.

Betty

Jeannie

My parents have driven from Northwest Florida to various points out west (LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Banff, Calgary) and back at least a dozen times over the last 32 years. They can afford to fly but much prefer the drive. This past year, we convinced them to fly to San Jose rather than drive. They still prefer driving. They get to see more, can take the dog, and have more control over their plans. Still, they have never been gone more than 20 days at one time.