Driving from Vt to Ft. Myers Fl. I81 or I95?

[Vt_Rv]

I'm leaving Wednesday from Vermont headed to Fort Myers, Fl. I plan to cut over to NY and take 87 over to 88 and 81 down to Scranton Pa. This way I avoid NY City and all the tolls of the Garden State Parkway. From there I'm debating staying on 81 south past Charlotte before pick up 95 to Florida or dropping down from Scranton to 95 just south of DC.

According to Google Maps the time is only 20 minutes more but I'm thinking 95 would be more congested.

Is anyone familiar with 81? We'll be taking our motorhome with toad so being that 81 runs along the edge of the Shenandoah Valley will I be pulling hills the whole trip? As I recall 95 if fairly level.

Any route advise would be appreciated:)

[jplante4]

Vt Rv wrote:
Thank you all for the great advise. We're headed out this afternoon. Hoping for smooth roads and good weather!

There's a meandering cold front along the Mass pike that will spawn a few showers and will probably become stationary. Once south of the front, temps will increase and the sun should break out. Go safely.

[Vt_Rv]

Thank you all for the great advise. We're headed out this afternoon. Hoping for smooth roads and good weather!

[BillMFl]

I81 between Harrisburg and Scranton is a rough mess with lots of construction. This month I used 91 from Brattleboro to 90 to 87 south. Got off 87 at the Kingston Exit and took 209 all the way to 33 then 78 to 81. 209 is slow but scenic. You sound like you need to push hard so when I am in a hurry I use 87/287/78 to 81. I like 66 to 17 to 95. I81 has extremely heavy truck traffic and is only 2 lanes most of the way. I95 is 3 lanes thru Georgia and Florida to I10, then 301 south to 75. Lots of different opinions but 81 takes you to 75 and Atlanta. 77/26 takes you over the Blue Ridge Mtns and weather can be an issue if a cold front comes thru. I have tried just about every route from Fla to Maine and back for the past 20 years and none is perfect. If you don't mind mountains 77 is very scenic. I Used to prefer 81 all the way to Knoxville but the truck traffic gets worse every year. 95 thru S Carolina used to be rough as hell but they have ground off the concrete smooth now and also added new black top portions this year. You will hear lots of different opinions but I think every route has issues.

[jplante4]

We did I88 from Albany out to Elmira last month. The middle 1/3 is miserable. Lots of construction in Binghampton.

I'd continue down I87 to I287 to either I80 or I78 to hook up with I81 south. We like to pick up US50 in Winchester VA which leads to US17 which hooks back up with I95 north of Fredricksburg.

[DrewE]

I've done I-81 to or from Florida from (or to) Vermont a number of times, and much prefer it over I-95. I've usually done I-81 to I-77 to I-26 to I-95. I think I may also have done I-81 to I-75 at Knoxville and then I-75 south once or twice, but perhaps my memory is getting crossed up.

There are hills, but nothing extreme—mostly rolling hills, with one long downhill grade (downhill going south) as I recall. It's a fairly scenic road.

Somehow I-88 has never struck me as especially rough. There are certainly worse roads by far in Vermont. It does have sections that are concrete with the usual periodic expansion joints that, if you're unlucky, can set up an annoying resonance in your suspension, but that's hardly unique to I-88 specifically. I spent a long weekend in Pennsylvania a couple of months ago and the only really annoying bits I recall were construction around Binghamton with a couple short stretches of relatively narrow roadway between Jersey barriers, a combination that tends to give me the heebie-jeebies a bit in my motorhome.

[gbopp]

You were given good advice. 🙂
I avoid 95 when possible.
Mohegan Sun is an excellent overnight spot.

Enjoy your quick trip.

[AdirondackJack]

jdavidsmi wrote:
When we lived in Cambridge, VT we took 15 thru Essex Jct. to 89, 89 to 189 to 7 south down to Vergennes picked up 22A south to 4 and into New York. 22 south out of Whitehall to Ft. Ann and then 149 to 87 south to 90 west to 88. with out doing some back roads around Albany, i never did find a way to avoid the tolls completely. 88 to Binghamton then 81 south to 77 and into Charlotte and on down to Columbia then 26 to 95 south.

We just drove this same route last month, except we stayed on 81 to 40 and into Nashville.

The roads in VT are about the same as they always were. We were going through Ft. Ann area during the weekend and that add about 2 hrs to the travel time because of the traffic.

CG are hard to find between Albany and Binghamton and 88 is very rough in places the further west you get and 81 is not much better. so plan on taking your time. We found that once you are past Harrisburg, PA the roads really improved.

If you are just travilng through SC be ready for some long delays, even though 95 is back opened still a lot of repairs going on from the flooding.

if you stayed on 81 to 75 then south you will have to deal with the traffic around Atlanta.

We just came down in Sept. No toll on the Thruway (I-90) when going from I-87 (Northway) to I-88 I do agree that I-88 is really rough in spots but they are resurfacing little by little. Susquehanna Trail CG in Oneonta is a good stopover on I-88 between Albany and Binghamton but closes around Columbus Day. Next best off-season stopover would be the truck stop at Exit 12 off I-88.

[AdirondackJack]

petendoll wrote:
We live in Florida and have relatives in NY. We travel your proposed route all the time. I hate I 95 with a passion. It is flat but too many busy sections. Your proposed route is hilly but nothing serious. Maybe you will use a bit more gas.

(By the way, great pics on your Blogspot Pete and Darlie.)

[jdavidsmi]

When we lived in Cambridge, VT we took 15 thru Essex Jct. to 89, 89 to 189 to 7 south down to Vergennes picked up 22A south to 4 and into New York. 22 south out of Whitehall to Ft. Ann and then 149 to 87 south to 90 west to 88. with out doing some back roads around Albany, i never did find a way to avoid the tolls completely. 88 to Binghamton then 81 south to 77 and into Charlotte and on down to Columbia then 26 to 95 south.

We just drove this same route last month, except we stayed on 81 to 40 and into Nashville.

The roads in VT are about the same as they always were. We were going through Ft. Ann area during the weekend and that add about 2 hrs to the travel time because of the traffic.

CG are hard to find between Albany and Binghamton and 88 is very rough in places the further west you get and 81 is not much better. so plan on taking your time. We found that once you are past Harrisburg, PA the roads really improved.

If you are just travilng through SC be ready for some long delays, even though 95 is back opened still a lot of repairs going on from the flooding.

if you stayed on 81 to 75 then south you will have to deal with the traffic around Atlanta.

[Vt_Rv]

Thank you both for the great advise. I should add to my post that this is a quick trip down and back. I plan to leave Wednesday afternoon. Hoping to make it to Wilkes-Barre PA where I'll overnight at the Mohegan Sun Casino. Then I'll make it as far south as I can on Thursday as according to google it's 18 - 20 hours from there to Ft. Myers. I plan to arrive in Fort Myers in the late morning to early afternoon on Friday. Then I'll be headed back the following Wednesday.

[petendoll]

We live in Florida and have relatives in NY. We travel your proposed route all the time. I hate I 95 with a passion. It is flat but too many busy sections. Your proposed route is hilly but nothing serious. Maybe you will use a bit more gas.

[AdirondackJack]

We have taken many different routes to Tampa from Upstate NY over the years and have settled on one that is best for us and also used by many other Snowbirds. It misses all of the big cities and most of the hassle of I-95. We plotted it on our website at http://www.snowbirdrvtrails.com/besteastcoastrvroutesouth.htm. Safe travels and enjoy your journey - Jack & Niki

[agwill]

I have taken 81 to 77 to 26 to 95 for years but I also crossed over on 64. I go west to 87 as I am in the northern part of Vermont and then hit 84 to 209 a slow but nice route to 33 to 22 and hit 78 to 81 all good routes. Have fun explore.