anyone ever drive from the northeast to new orleans?

[nageov3t]

leaving from the nyc-area.

just wondering how the drive is... I'm planning a trip for mardis gras with some friends, and we're debating between driving and flying. we can rent a large passenger van for free, but then it just becomes an issue of whether or not it's a bad drive or not and how long it takes.

 

[Tu13erhead]

I drove from New Hampshire to Georgia, took about 19 hours, stopping only for gas and food.

 

[vailr]

Amtrak's current "Weekly Specials" includes:
A fare of $41.40 (One way) (80% Off) for the time period of mid-August thru mid-October.
Departing: Washington - Union Station, DC (WAS) To New Orleans, LA (NOL)
http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/WeeklySpecials
Same fare for return trip.

 

[cavemanmoron]

I have driven from Albany to/from Midland Tx

more than once.

When the legal speed limit was 55 max it sucked.

go about half way,and stop overnight is my best suggestion.

 

[nageov3t]

thanks, all

there'd be about 6-7 drivers in the van, so the plan would be to take turns and drive straight through.

 

[woodie1]

With that many to drive you should be fine driving non-stop....the big headache is hitting a big city during rush hour.

 

[loup garou]

I did the reverse, NO to NYC, but we took our time, overnight stop in Atlanta, 3 days at Myrtle Beach, 2 days in DC...a direct drive should be about 12 hours I believe.

 

[jlee]

I drove from northern NH to FL, but I took 3 days (7hr, 10hr, 6hr). That was just me in my MR2 -- you should easily go straight-through with that many people..I probably could've done it in two days, but it was much more comfortable to take 3..

 

[Farbio]

werk u definitely took your tame there...and prolly alot longer than 12 hours...took me about 19 hours from fl to central mass w/ 2 drivers

i've done most of the roads you'd be traveling on, nothing too bad, although i would reccommend staying away from mount eagle if u don't have a van w/ a good amount of power as its the only mountain pass on the eastern side of the country to my knowledge and as such, alot of people don't know how to drive on it either.

 

[jlee]

Definitely more than 12 hours -- from north FL to the NC/SC border is six hours, and eastern PA is about 10 more...

 

[loup garou]

Sorry, I guess I'm totally off.
Yeah, we took a week to come up after graduation from Tulane.

 

[kami333]

I've done it with 2 cars and 6 people from PA to Baton Rouge, stayed at one of the driver's places for a few days, then went down to New Orleans. Easily doable in about 18hours if you have 3 drivers per car, my car we had 2 but it still wasn't bad (I used to drive from Utah to PA by myself twice a year).

Driving through Tenesse is the worst part, it just seemed to go on forever.