SWFL Trip to NH
 

So my wife and I have done this trip before but this time we are bringing her family to NH for a week long trip. We are also bringing all our kids this time (5 of them)! We want to stop in DC for a few hours and Times Square for a few hours as well. I am trying to plan this trip for 3 days / 2 nights.
many suggestions on which route to take. I would prefer to stay off 95 but I know I will probably be on it a lot.
I know DC gets super busy with tourists and traffic any times are better than others.

Thank you and hope to hear some good suggestions. Any neat stops on the way?
we have 2 people that have never been outside Florida and the kids range 12,11,10,7 &. 2

Doing this trip in three days means about 9 hours a day seats in the car if you take the fastest route: 95 most of the way. I feel for the kids as this will get old very fast. That assumes no traffic tie ups.

If possible, plan to do the stop in DC on a Sunday to avoid some traffic. Try to avoid going through cities at rush hour. Get an app like WAZE. To route you around problems on the road.

Best wishes for a happy trip.

You can certainly drive into Manhattan for a few hours at Times Square.. A couple of things to be wary of...

The best route is I95/NJ Turnpike to the Lincoln Tunnel. That route can be very busy - morning rush hour inbound and even evening rush hour, when more tunnel lanes are outbound, but there may still be a lot of traffic going into the city - including a LOT of buses making return trips to pick up commuters. Into Manhattan on a weekend will be a lot easier, as will getting out..... except if there is a Yankee game around the time you are leaving.... so check the schedule and plan accordingly.

Make a plan for parking before you get there.... and plan with the intent of getting out of the city. If you're going to take the Henry Hudson Parkway (along the Hudson, then past the GWB), then plan to park somewhere at an Ave higher than 7th or 8th. & north of 42nd St. You don't want to be stuck in or near Lincoln tunnel traffic which can snarl local streets to a gridlock. If you plan to take the FDR north, along the East & Harlem rivers, or 495 to 678 across the Throgs Neck bridge, it may be a different plan. I never go that way so I can't say what's optimum.

I'm having trouble understanding your plan. From SW FL to NH is at least 24 hours of driving, not counting traffics, stopping for gas/pee breaks/meals, etc. So how long do you plan to be going each day. Both DC and NYC stops would add at least 4 hours and even at that I don't think it would be 'worth the trouble'. Have you considered adding another day to the trip (and maybe one less in NH).

I once drove from Melbourne Florida to central PA in 17 hours but I don't recommend it. The route I took was I-95 north to I-26 in South Carolina, I-26 all the way to I-81 in TN and I-81 to Harrisburg PA where I got on US 11/15 north. In your case you would continue north on I-81 at least as far as Binghamton NY before heading east to New Hampshire. Go to NH first and then come back by way of New York and Washington DC.

Am I missing something? Is this a weeklong trip? or a 3 days trip?

How can you drive from Florida to New Hampshire, and back again, stopping in Wash DC and NYC in that amount of time? When the road time alone takes 2 full days??

They are planning the drive north taking 3 days/ 2 nights.

Something like this

Day 1: Drive SWFL to Florence, SC, about 10 hrs without stops
Day 2: Depart Florence, SC around 7am, arrive DC 5-6 hrs later, or 1pm ish. Spend a few hours in DC, then drive somewhere north of Baltimore for the night, say WIlmington DE.
Day 3: Sleep late and leave Wilmongton DE 8am, arrive Times Square by noon. Spend 2-3 hours in Times Sq, leaving by 3pm. That'd get you to Manchester NH by 8 or 9pm. Assuming no long meal breaks, grab food when you stop for gas and eat in the car.

Technically, quite possible...

ps and oh suze, you are welcome to reply on this thread....

Thanks for the explanation J62. So 9 people (4 adults anda 5 kids) on an intensive/extensive road trip. If the point is to visit family in New Hampshire, why not drive there, and enjoy that. The DC and NYC city detours are going to be stressful and expensive and time consuming. Seems like this would work better with at least one stop each direction in a nice lodge where everyone could relax.

But of course only they know what their own family would enjoy most and how much the kids can tolerate.

Agree with Suze on everything.

Personally, it seems like a trip to insure that relatives and kids never travel with you again.🙀

A few hours to just walk around in DC, not really seeing anything, is not fun and Times Square is a big “skip it” IMHO.

Too bad you can’t figure a way to drive about half way and spend a night and day someplace to really sightsee. I would recommend Williamsburg, just an hour or so from Richmond, but the first day’s drive would be a killer for kids strapped and trapped in a car seat. When our GD was a toddler, we had to do pretty long play or walking around breaks every two hours and still the longest she could go without being absolutely miserable was four or five hours in the car in one day.

Do you have family to visit in NH? Otherwise, there are so many exciting, beautiful places to go without the torture of so many hours in a car.

Actually DC is a wonderful place for families to visit, with a ton of things nearby, more than enough for several days.
Asheville, NC, lovely in Summer.

When is this trip? Heat of Summer? Later in Fall when it is cooler, or next year?

The advice to see these sights on the way BACK from NH was the best advice--and even let's Sassafrass's snark make sense for travel time.
I would unfortunately agree with him/her that Times Square is really not worth the hassle of driving in traffic in NYC. BUT it is your trip..
Drive to DC from NH and spand a day.