Forum Discussion

alnal326's avatar
alnal326
Explorer
Jun 21, 2014

Virginia to Maine

Husband is wanting advice on road routes from Richmond, Virginia to Bar Harbor, ME and bypassing New York City.
  • Crowe wrote:
    Pulsar is correct except there's no need to take I295 in ME-stay on I95. 295 goes through Portland, 95 avoids any city driving. At rush hour, 295 can be a bit white-knuckle.


    I'm sorry for the late reply.

    We almost start this drive from Foxboro, MA. We really like the Normandy Farms Campground. So, we are not going through Portland during rush hour. We find this route to be more interesting than I-95. Of course the tolls are less.

    Tom
  • slay's avatar
    slay
    Explorer II
    Drive to Norfolk, charter a cargo ship to Portland.
  • Pulsar is correct except there's no need to take I295 in ME-stay on I95. 295 goes through Portland, 95 avoids any city driving. At rush hour, 295 can be a bit white-knuckle.
  • Thank you guys for all the wonderful suggestions. A little nervous heading this far north for the first time.
  • gosh, everybody has you avoiding I-95 N of Fredericksburg and around DC and Baltimore. be still my beating heart.
    bumpy
  • alnal326 wrote:
    Husband is wanting advice on road routes from Richmond, Virginia to Bar Harbor, ME and bypassing New York City.


    i would go 95 to rt 17 thru Warrenton,Va to 66 to 81
    81 to 78 to 287 to Sufferin,NY
    87 north from Sufferin to 84 east at Newburgh,NY...
    84 to Mass state line and take 90 east to 495...
    stay on 495 to 95 north in NH...
    Chuck
  • I would start by getting to I-81. You would be a better judge than I to do that from your area. If you wanted to stay on Interstate highways, you could take I-64.

    After getting to I-81, here is a good route,

    I-81 to I-84
    I84 to I-691 to I-91 to get around Hartford, CT
    There is a connector to get from I-91 back to I-84.
    I think it is Connecticut 15. Regardless, it is marked with as the route to I-84 East.
    I-84 to I-90. (I-90 is the Massachusetts Turnpike.

    It is hard for us to get this close to Boston without spending some time in the area. But, to get around Boston and continue on to Maine

    I-90 to I-290
    I-290 to I-495
    I-495 to I-95
    Take connector to I-295 (toward Freeport)
    I-295 to I-95
    I-95 to I-395 East
    I-395 to US 1A East
    US 1A to US 1 Alt

    You are leaving Bangor, ME. There are a few turns left. Hopefully you will be using a GPS.

    There are other routes that you could be taking. For example, we will usually stop at Boothbay Harbor for a couple of days

    Have a great trip.

    Tom
  • 64 to 81 to 84 to 95 to 495 to 95.
    Or 95 to Fredericksburg,Va to 17 west to Winchester to 81 north to Harrisburg east on 78 to 287 north to 87 north. Tool road to 84 east to 95 north. So many ways to go how fast do you want to travel? Go all the way north on 87 to Champlain,Ny turn east and explore Vermont, New Hampshire. Go east on rt78 to 89 south to 93 to 101 east at Manchester,NH to 95 north to Brunswick,ME and drive the coast on RT1 or go north to Bangor and go south on ALT1 to Bar Harbor.
  • The route we would take is
    I-95 to US-17 at Fredericksburg,
    to I-81 to Wilkes Barre, PA
    then I-84 E, I-495 N, I-95 N,
    I-295 N and I-95 N to US-1A
    to Bar Harbor
    About 900 miles
    We have taken this route as far as Worcester, MA