Driving to Florida from Boston First Time

steveownby wrote:


The most stress free route would be to route down to the Tappenzee Bridge and then to I81. If you are headed to the east coast then take I77 to I26 to I95. If the west coast then stay on i81 to I40 to I75 and then south to Florida. That does take you through Atlanta. If you want to dodge Atlanta then take the other route and take I10 east to I75.

What he said!

Tom/ merleandbabe, I did this route many times from mass and i prefer mass pike to 84 to 81 Scranton pa) south to 77 to jacksonville. I am on the west coast now but did the east coast route then over here to the sarasota area. Our morderator Johnny T, has good info as this forum has a lot of good info so welcome and enjoy florida and there are many rv parks and flying J'S along the way and wal marts also and nice parks . go to rvpark reviews .com and check them out. paul

We have 2 routes to going south for the winter. First,quickest is to bite the bullet and take 95, cross the George Washington Bridge in NYC;take NJ Trpke -I-95 and In Maryland take 695 outer loop back to I-95. At DC, we would stay at Cherry Hill Park,College Park,MD. Mileage from RI,about 400 miles.Lots of stress but a good chunk out of the way...
Now, if we take route #2 we would take the Mass pike in Worcester to I-84. I-84 to I-87 to I-287 to NJ Trpke to Timberlane Campground in Clarksboro,NJ, about 385 miles. Not nearly as stressful but this is still the busiest roads in US.
We use Microsoft Streets & Trips, there are other programs that are just as good; my advice is find one and do some preplanning. We always have contingency plans. This is winter camping and not many cgs open till you get down below DC.
Next night is either NC or SC, somewhere along the I-95 corridor. It's usually pleasant traveling after the first 2 nights. We get to Florida on the fourth day usually,say Lake City area. Watch the forecasts for you route. Enjoy!

I like going down 81. Much smoother ride with less traffic and you dont have the tunnel issues to deal with in Baltimore if you have propane. Best campground I think there is on 81 is Endless Caverns in New Market. They put a lot of money into the place over the past 5 years and the caverns are on site. If your going to the east coast of FL you will have to get back to 95 by taking Rt. 77. My next stop after that would be either Charleston or Savannah. Savannah has RV parks, Charleston has a great state park if you can get in. Also there is a brand new park at exit 8 in SC called Camp Lake Jasper. Its pretty nice and 20 miles from Hilton Head and Savannah. Lots of options open up when you get into FL.
As far as how long it should take is up to you. In my opinion the kids are in school now and all the parks should be easy to get in. Take you time, I would try to do it in 2 to 3 weeks, but most folks thing you should drive 14 hours a day.

merleandbabe wrote:
Hello RV Pros

We are driving to Florida from the Boston Area, on December 26th, for the first time.

We have a 35" Class A that we have had for two years.

Any hints?

*where to stay?
*ways around NY City?
*When can we de winterize?
* how long should we plan?

Any hints or help is apprecisted

Merle and/or Babe,

You have asked four very different questions. I will try to clarify them and make a way for answers to be meaningful.

Where to stay?
Do you mean stops enroute or in Florida?
If in Florida, you will have to get opinions based on locations.
If enroute stops, that very much depends on how long you want to drive on any given day.

Ways around NYC, you got good answers there - stay away. Tappan Zee is good, but time of day still matters. That comes back to your driving schedule.

Can we dewinterize? Most likely yes, but without knowing anything about the coach or where you plan to stop, that simply cannot be answered at all. If you are worried, don't, just carry jugs of water and use as little as possible.

How long should we plan?
Do you mean for the travel or the stay?
If you mean for the travel, that all depends on how many miles you want to make in a day and what stops you want to make. There are many that never try to go more then 200 miles in a day. Well, Chelsea to Key Biscayne is 1500+ miles so at 200 miles a day that is a week right there.

Well, have I confused you enough? Well, I didn't intend to, but you can get better information if you ask clearer questions.

Matt

WE are headed to Florida on Dec 26th as well... The route we prefer is 84 to 81to 26 then 95 on south Its a longer route by about an hour or two but its pretty much stress free and totally avoids the NYC area congestion.

Picking place to stop is a function of how far you want to travel each day.

An alternate route we take depending on weather is 84 to 87 to 287 to 95... We usually will opt to go down thru Delaware and pick up 95 west of Norfolk to avoid the DC area...

JohnnyT

merleandbabe wrote:
Hello RV Pros

We are driving to Florida from the Boston Area, on December 26th, for the first time.

We have a 35" Class A that we have had for two years.

Any hints?

*where to stay?
*ways around NY City?
*When can we de winterize?
* how long should we plan?

Any hints or help is apprecisted

The most stress free route would be to route down to the Tappenzee Bridge and then to I81. If you are headed to the east coast then take I77 to I26 to I95. If the west coast then stay on i81 to I40 to I75 and then south to Florida. That does take you through Atlanta. If you want to dodge Atlanta then take the other route and take I10 east to I75.