borivlikar1

need trip ideas for 4 days. base will be centreville,va about 20 mins from washington dulles airport.

We are travelling with a 5 yr old.

1.) would like day trips preferably but can stay over if needed. can drive upto a little over 2 hrs if needed each way not including the congested traffic time.

2.) would like to do hershey's if possible....snow activities primary among them being snow tubing.

3.) any activities in va or w.va or nc are all welcome.

4.) we like nature ( we absolutely loved yosemite....ended up extending our stay by 2 days inside the park).

4.) no museums unless they involve kids activities. any aquariums, zoos would be nice. But mind you...we come from orlando..and seen all the major parks and georgia aquarium..so it would have to better those.

Thank you.
Borivlikar.

tomfuller

About 2.5 hours from Centreville to Hershey Park. (132 miles).
Stay in Hershey or head on up I-81, Your choice.
Next day, 2 hours 114 miles from Hershey to Montage Mountain just south of Scranton PA. They have a great snow tubing hill with a "magic carpet" to get you back to the top of the hill.
$25/pp for 3 hours which is probably enough.
There may be other places for snow tubing but I am not aware of them. The Philadelphia Flower show is going on right now but will be over before your trip.
The new section of the Air and Space Museum is right next to the Dulles Airport.

spirobulldog

you mention snow, so is the trip for right now or when? Have you been to Shenandoah National Park?

ronkala

Snow tubing? Check out the Bryce Resort in Bayse, VA, www.bryceresort.com . About 1:45 from Centerville. Take I-66 west to I-81 south and you would get off at the Mt Jackson exit to get over to the resort.

It's located in the foothills of the Allegheny mountains.
Interstate driving to Mt Jackson is about 1:15.

borivlikar1

trip is from march 22nd to march 26th.

ronkala

Nights are still cold here in the Valley, they may still be making snow then.

borivlikar1

does anyone have any recos in places in west virginia that might be a day trip? also if you had to choose between hershey park and dutch wonderland for a 5 yr old kid what would it be? looks like we will still have to go to an amusement park even though we live in mickeyland,fl.

what are the best times to travel so that we experience less traffic? Also is it necessary to always have your tank more than half full...to weather any traffic snarls or do they break up sooner than later?

thanks.

tomfuller

You will find gas is a bit cheaper in PA than MD or Virginia.
Fill up between the state line and York on the way to Hershey.
Unless it has changed for the better in the last 10 years, dutch wonderland is not as good as Hershey Park.
Sorry I can't help with West Virginia.

artstuff

We still have snow up here in Pennsylvania, so I don't believe Dutch Wonderland or Hershey Park are open in March. They probably open in April, just for the weekends, and then full-time some time in May. However, you could still visit the Hershey Factory/Museum, but there won't be any amusement park to enjoy.

Robyn

Steelersfan

Good point, most amusement parks this way don't open till late in May.
Hersheypark is open weekends in early May, and daily from Memorial Day