Outside of the built up areas nearer NYC and the bridge crossings at commute time, the waits at the cash lanes are insignificant, and at the busy times is not too bad either. The toll booth attendants will have no difficulty making change, and there are no longer very many automatic lanes as the tolls are too high for easy coin usage. EZPass is probably an unnecessary hassle.

The Taconic is much nicer than the Thruway, but be very careful with your navigation as NY is not noted for ease of use in the road signage.

Stratton is one of those can't get to from here destinations, unfortunately.

Time wise your fastest routes will either be I684 to I84 East to I91 North through Battlboro, or I87 to I787, to Rt7. Those 2 routes will have you on the interstate most of the way. They are slightly more miles, but you can drive ~70mph on the interstates. (limit is 65, at least on the NYS thruway)

The next best (fastest, not shortest) would be the Taconic, connecting to I90West, 87N, then 787 through Troy to Rt7. You can connect to the Taconic just north of NYC using Rt100 over the Saw Mill.

Next, and probably the shortest mileage of all these routes would be the same Taconic north to the end, east on I90 for 1 exit (~40c toll) then smaller rds to wind your way to VT (Rt 22 to 43 to 7, north through Bennington.

Any of those routes above will be about the same total travel time.

I would NOT take Rt 22 all the way through NY - it'll take you quite a bit longer that way and there are numerous places that you have to slow down as you pass through small towns or residential areas.

thank you all so much. Really really appreciate all the great advice. Can't believe you are all online on labor day weekend, but I'm grateful!

I will try to work out the best way for us - we like scenic, but not sure I want to go the total slow route.

Julie

You may want to use the slowest scenic route. Another thread says the leaves are already turning:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...t=0&dirtyBit=1

AJPeabody,

I clicked on your link but got a thread about napa/sonoma - was I missing something?

I hope the leaves are changing - I was afraid we'd be too early...

I did too, now. How odd! I'll have to look for that thread again.

Try this one:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35153515

The address bar seems to be giving me wrong info on this site unless I reload the page a few time. Curious!

It's too bad that your fastrak won't work. But I'm glad you'll have EZPass. Good luck with your trip!

Any one know if a Texas EZTag will work on the Maryalnd toll booths??

No, The Texas EZ Tag can only be used on Texas area toll roads.

Thanks . .

"But I just wanted to point out that if you live in a state that uses something other than EZPass (like IPASS in IL, for example), it'll work too."

Well it looks like that was a vast overstatement! For future readers of this thread, I guess what I should have said was, "If you live in a state that uses something other than EZPass, you might want to check to see whether you can use it.

As I said, we were able to use our IPASS and it was really helpful. So I think it's well worth checking.

thanks for digging up the right thread AJPeabody. Just wanted you all to know we're in NY already and looking forward to our drive. I think we will probably go on the Taconic, but I'll try to get back on here after we return and let you know how it went. Hope we don't get lost connecting up with the 7. Everybody have a good week!

We are home from our trip and I just wanted to thank everyone for the great advice.

Wow, getting the EZPass was a fantastic idea! It was worth the $2.50 per day (only for the days you actually used it, which for us were two) on top of the tolls, especially because we could zip through the EZPass lanes without having to stop or fish around for money. Thanks so much for that tip.

J62, we decided to follow your route taking the Whitestone Bridge to the Hutchinson River Parkway to White Plains, then transferring to the Taconic Parkway to the end, east on I-90 for one exit, then Routes 22 to 43 to 7. This was a pleasant drive, and we especially enjoyed stopping where 22 intersected with 43 at the little shop where we purchased homemade fudge and had really good espressos.

Appreciate you all so much!

Julie

Good to hear everything worked out well. Leaves still aren't yet changing along the Taconic - were there any hints of color in VT?

When we first arrived there was barely a hint, but by the time we left, we were starting to see a fair amount of red mixed in. The next few weeks should be awesome. I wish we could be there now!