My sister's wedding is coming up in October and I am considering driving from DC suburbs to NYC (Gramery Park area). We will need to drive up on a Friday for the rehearsal dinner and I would like to arrive early enough to hang out and relax before the dinner.

My husband and I drove up a couple of weeks ago in less than 4 hours which I thought was pretty good...but it was on the weekend.

If we did drive, what time would be the best to leave DC before 6:00 am or after 9:00 am?

I would love to save the money that it would cost going on the train, but if I am going to be wiped out, then maybe I should just forget driving.

P.S. It will be me, my husband and my elderly parents who will be going together.

Thanks in advance for advice!

I think Amtrak has a deal right now that may fit your situation(4 passengers).

www.amtrak.com

Here's the offer I think previous poster was suggesting on Amtrak
http://tinyurl.com/ntm5v

Unfortunately, those amtrak deals only apply to Boston to DC, not from DC to NYC.

Thanks anyway.

You're probably going to hit huge amounts of traffic coming into NYC whether you leave at 6am or 9am, so the choice is really yours. Either way, you arrive well into the time when traffice picks up in Manhattan. It's only really quiet before 8am, and there's no way you're going to get into the city before then. I can't really advise you in terms of travel time, but I'd guess that you would be more likely to miss the worst of the traffic in New Jersey if you leave at 9am.