DC to Savannah roadtrip

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you've actually gotten worthwhile advice from everyone in this thread.

The drive straight down on I-95 is boring. Places like Florence and Santee are not very nice and not worth stopping in. We have stopped at places people have recommended on this direct route and always been underwhelmed.

If you want to make a fun road trip out of it, I would at least detour to Raleigh-Durham-Cary. There are a lot of interesting things there.

Or consider a longer detour by either driving across to Skyline Drive and down to Charlotte, and/or down to Wilimington and stopping at places along the coast (the bigger ones being Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head and Charleston), on your way to Savannah.

Hilton Head and Charleston in the offseason are quite nice.

We have done this drive enough that 8-9 hours direct to/from Savannah is not a big deal. It's an easy drive, as long as we time it to not hit traffic around Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania.

Charlotte isn’t anywhere close to 95, AT ALL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Raleigh and especially Greensboro are hours out of the way and not worth the detour.

There’s nothing good on the way and except for Richmond the hotels will all be crappy cheap chains

Again, depends on your travel style. She's asking to potentially take days to get somewhere that's drivable in a day, which allows time for detours. We purposely went to Greensboro "on the way to" Wilmington, so I'm speaking from an actual experience that I enjoyed.

Greensboro or Raleigh split driving time roughly in half. Given traffic, going to Savannah via Greensboro even comes up as an option in Google maps, depending on when you leave. Plus, to some of us, it's way less fun to take the same route there and back.

OP here. We're into slow travel. Long stretches of non-stop driving aren't optimal because of back problems.

There's some good tips here thanks. Honestly, we're the type of people who can find interesting things in places that don't hit the top ten tourist lists. I don't want to write off three whole states as "nothing good". We also like to take hikes along the way and look at obscure historical markers and graveyards even.

It's not far from Savannah, but based on this I would recommend a stop in Beaufort. Lots of obscure historical markers and graveyards. Beaufort was captured by the North very early in the Civil War because of its strategic importance, so the historic buildings were protected. Beautiful historic district. For example, I think you'd like the St. Helena Anglican Church & Cemetery. The ruins of the St. Helena "Chapel of Ease," is on the way into Beaufort on a very scenic road lined with live oaks. Some nice restaurants along the Waterfront Park downtown. The beach at Hunting Island State Park is wild and beautiful. Fascinating Reconstruction history with the Penn Center and Robert Smalls (the first African American Congressman). There is a Reconstruction Era National Park there: https://www.nps.gov/reer/index.htm.

I'd recommend staying a day or two. There are several nice B&B's, but the Cuthbert House is lovely and is right down town with beautiful waterfront views. https://cuthberthouse.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=GBP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve done I-40 to Wilmington then 17 onto Charleston then 17/95 to Savannah. Would probably skip Wilmington unless you’re a fan of something that was filmed there. We liked Charleston a lot more than Savannah.

+1. Charleston is way better than Savannah IMHO too.

-1

Savannah has much better nightlife, and friendlier locals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Raleigh and especially Greensboro are hours out of the way and not worth the detour.

There’s nothing good on the way and except for Richmond the hotels will all be crappy cheap chains

Again, depends on your travel style. She's asking to potentially take days to get somewhere that's drivable in a day, which allows time for detours. We purposely went to Greensboro "on the way to" Wilmington, so I'm speaking from an actual experience that I enjoyed.

Greensboro or Raleigh split driving time roughly in half. Given traffic, going to Savannah via Greensboro even comes up as an option in Google maps, depending on when you leave. Plus, to some of us, it's way less fun to take the same route there and back.

OP here. We're into slow travel. Long stretches of non-stop driving aren't optimal because of back problems.

There's some good tips here thanks. Honestly, we're the type of people who can find interesting things in places that don't hit the top ten tourist lists. I don't want to write off three whole states as "nothing good". We also like to take hikes along the way and look at obscure historical markers and graveyards even.

My MIL makes this argument. So you would rather do more driving and stay at mostly uncomfortable hotels than just suck it up, take more breaks and get to your destination? Just fly to Savannah or HHI if it is that big of a deal.

Flying is a completely different experience from a road trip. Why can't people accept this is what OP wants to do?

Because we have brains and their isn’t a road trip to be had outside of the close in vicinity of their destination.

“I want to go Savannah but I am going spend more time getting there and back because it is easier on my back.”

OP has some grand delusion and people are giving her a reality check.

Why are you fighting about something so minor?

Not fighting. People who clearly suck at traveling/planning feel the need to chime in when they have no concept of reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Raleigh and especially Greensboro are hours out of the way and not worth the detour.

There’s nothing good on the way and except for Richmond the hotels will all be crappy cheap chains

Again, depends on your travel style. She's asking to potentially take days to get somewhere that's drivable in a day, which allows time for detours. We purposely went to Greensboro "on the way to" Wilmington, so I'm speaking from an actual experience that I enjoyed.

Greensboro or Raleigh split driving time roughly in half. Given traffic, going to Savannah via Greensboro even comes up as an option in Google maps, depending on when you leave. Plus, to some of us, it's way less fun to take the same route there and back.

OP here. We're into slow travel. Long stretches of non-stop driving aren't optimal because of back problems.

There's some good tips here thanks. Honestly, we're the type of people who can find interesting things in places that don't hit the top ten tourist lists. I don't want to write off three whole states as "nothing good". We also like to take hikes along the way and look at obscure historical markers and graveyards even.

My MIL makes this argument. So you would rather do more driving and stay at mostly uncomfortable hotels than just suck it up, take more breaks and get to your destination? Just fly to Savannah or HHI if it is that big of a deal.

Flying is a completely different experience from a road trip. Why can't people accept this is what OP wants to do?

Because we have brains and their isn’t a road trip to be had outside of the close in vicinity of their destination.

“I want to go Savannah but I am going spend more time getting there and back because it is easier on my back.”

OP has some grand delusion and people are giving her a reality check.

Why are you fighting about something so minor?

Not fighting. People who clearly suck at traveling/planning feel the need to chime in when they have no concept of reality.

Why can't people on DCUM accept that other people are different from them? I don't even have back problems and often prefer traveling OP's way. I offered suggestions in that vein, which OP is free to take or leave.

She probably thinks some of the suggestions are boring or too far out of the way, but she's also capable of taking all the advice in this thread and running it through her own filters without insulting anyone.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. We've traveled to the Savannah a lot and there really isn't much by way of hikes, historical sites, etc. that won't take you way out of your way (not great for your back, I assume) - we've looked. The one thing I've found but haven't tried yet is this Audubon swamp; it looks amazing: https://beidler.audubon.org/visit.

Otherwise, I'm sure Richmond has some cool things to see, and then find a good BBQ place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. We've traveled to the Savannah a lot and there really isn't much by way of hikes, historical sites, etc. that won't take you way out of your way (not great for your back, I assume) - we've looked. The one thing I've found but haven't tried yet is this Audubon swamp; it looks amazing: https://beidler.audubon.org/visit.

Otherwise, I'm sure Richmond has some cool things to see, and then find a good BBQ place.

I see the link doesn't work - it is Beidler Forest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pedro says stop at South of the Boarder

Agree, except he spells it Border.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pedro says stop at South of the Boarder

Agree, except he spells it Border.

Touché. Maybe also remind Apple since I suspect that’s an autocorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Raleigh and especially Greensboro are hours out of the way and not worth the detour.

There’s nothing good on the way and except for Richmond the hotels will all be crappy cheap chains

Again, depends on your travel style. She's asking to potentially take days to get somewhere that's drivable in a day, which allows time for detours. We purposely went to Greensboro "on the way to" Wilmington, so I'm speaking from an actual experience that I enjoyed.

Greensboro or Raleigh split driving time roughly in half. Given traffic, going to Savannah via Greensboro even comes up as an option in Google maps, depending on when you leave. Plus, to some of us, it's way less fun to take the same route there and back.

OP here. We're into slow travel. Long stretches of non-stop driving aren't optimal because of back problems.

There's some good tips here thanks. Honestly, we're the type of people who can find interesting things in places that don't hit the top ten tourist lists. I don't want to write off three whole states as "nothing good". We also like to take hikes along the way and look at obscure historical markers and graveyards even.

My MIL makes this argument. So you would rather do more driving and stay at mostly uncomfortable hotels than just suck it up, take more breaks and get to your destination? Just fly to Savannah or HHI if it is that big of a deal.

Flying is a completely different experience from a road trip. Why can't people accept this is what OP wants to do?

Because we have brains and their isn’t a road trip to be had outside of the close in vicinity of their destination.

“I want to go Savannah but I am going spend more time getting there and back because it is easier on my back.”

OP has some grand delusion and people are giving her a reality check.

Why are you fighting about something so minor?

Not fighting. People who clearly suck at traveling/planning feel the need to chime in when they have no concept of reality.

Why can't people on DCUM accept that other people are different from them? I don't even have back problems and often prefer traveling OP's way. I offered suggestions in that vein, which OP is free to take or leave.

She probably thinks some of the suggestions are boring or too far out of the way, but she's also capable of taking all the advice in this thread and running it through her own filters without insulting anyone.

OP here. I appreciated the suggestions and will look into them. I was perplexed by people saying I should just fly and that I'm deluded. I imagine we have traveled more extensively than some of these critics.

We have been doing a lot of long haul international travel recently facing jetlag, flight delays and cancellations. I thought it would be fun to meander somewhere at our own pace in our own car, which is nicer than anything we'd rent.

One long term ambition is to drive across the US and back, even though I realize there are planes. I even bought a book on this topic.