Southern Indiana to Outer Banks in June

We did vacay last year in the Outer Banks. Stayed at Camp Hatteras. It was great, but a long way from "anywhere".

If I were going, I would head down I-64 to I-77 through Mt. Airy then on to Winston Salem. That is actually the way we went. Yes, traffic in Winston-Salem and even in Raleigh can be rough, but nothing like the traffic in/around the Norfolk area.

On your way back home, you might want to check on road closures because when we were in Winston-Salem a week or two ago, I-40 was closed for some roadwork. It was about 10 miles of it, but that can bottleneck traffic trying to go around it. Hopefully, they will have finished whatever they are doing by June.

Unless you go WAY out of your way, you are going to have to go through/over some mountains. You will be on an interstate highway, so all sorts of LARGE vehicles utilize them all the time. Just slow down and obey traffic signs/signals and speeds. If the speed limit is 65 and there are flashing lights and it says 45 mph curve, take it at 45, not at 65 OR 75!!

Our daughter was in Chapel Hill for several years, so we made a similar drive many times. I work for the Navy, so I've made the Norfolk drive many times as well.

I'd probably prefer the Mt. Airy route if I was just driving. The potential negative there is the area around Charleston, WV. Pretty rugged terrain, so if there is any kind of traffic issue, you don't have an optional route. Several good campgrounds just after Huntington right on the route, so if there are issues, stop for the night and wait it out. Nothing to make me not go that way, just something to watch for.

Winston-Salem is kind of a bottleneck during rush hour. Short ramps, narrow roads and not enough lanes. Timing it right will make it much easier.

Right before you cross into NC from VA while still on the downgrade, the Love's is about the cheapest fuel you'll see for a while. At least that was our experience.

If you have early notice of issues at Charleston, you can go down to Knoxville and across on 40 from there. It's about 20 minutes longer in a car, but the mountain driving is a little worse. Not terrible, just narrower interstate and more traffic IMO. Lexington, KY is a little more than 3 hours from us, so we always stopped there and did a traffic check before committing to the route.

If you go through Charlottesville, Shenandoah National Park is on your route and you may get sidetracked. I always hated the last leg of 64 because gas stations all seem like they are 3 and 4 miles off the interstate.