Anyone drove Florida to New York

[CandCRock]

Evening All..
We fly out to Tampa in 20 days time.. 2 weeks in Orlando then a 3rd week driving up to New York and flying back from there to Gatwick

Has anyone done the drive...how did you find it? There will be 7 of us.. 2 adults, 5 kids 14, 13, 10, 9 and 4 months
We have hired a 12 seater for the journey

We've broke it up a little over a few days...

Thursday Afternoon... leave Orlando drive to Savannah GA

Friday Savanah to Mrtyle Beach South Carolina

Saturday Mrtyle Beach to Virginia Beach, Virginia

Sunday Virginia Beach to Atlantic City . New Jersey

Monday Atlantic City to New York

Fly back to UK Thursday Evening


Anyone got any tips.. place to see, eat ECT.. on the way?

[Weddingnyc]

I have no real advice but I’m very jealous
I’m sure I’ve read a trip report of a lady doing this journey with older children, but NY to Orlando.
Our kids loved NY, are you spending time there?

[CandCRock]

Yeah we have 3 full days there.. we done 2 days last year on the way to Orlando as out flight connected there and they changed the 2nd flight time so we go a 2 day gap... but was a bit of a rush and the kids were pretty tired from the flight. So we thought we'd take them back 👍👍

[Ridersmom]

You have a lot of beach resorts. Why are you skipping Washington Dc-lots to do and most of it is free.

I have never done Florida from the northeast but have done lots of trips from Northern New England to DC when the kids were young, We decided flying was a much better option.

If you are only overnighting and not doing any touring, consider going straight up 95, From Orlando to DC. a few days in DC and then DC to New York. Not sure how much you'll see of the beaches with 4-5 hours driving a day and going on the coast adds milage and time.

[Guest]

I've toured NC, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Washington region a fair bit by car.

You do realise your journey could easily be a 3 week holiday by itself if you wish to actually see what is along the way?

On the coastal route: Savannah, OUter Banks, Kitty Hawk, Richmond, Williamsburg Washington, Philadelphia are all worth a visit.

An even more interesting route that is a driving-only experience goes through Atlanta and then for the NC/Virg segment would be the Blue Ridge Parkway inland - one of the world's most beautiful roads. This finishes at the north end near a lot of historic civil war sites if that's your thing. See their website

Washington itself is stuffed with world class museums never mind the rest. You could easily spend several days here alone. Atlantic City on the other hand is a bit dumpy. Only go here if you're really into casino gambling - many better choices. Do not expect Las Vegas.

As a general comment, is there any possibility of more time for this journey? It is at risk of becoming just a driving slog up the interstate (a bit like trying to see the UK by driving along the M1!), in which case why bother? You'd be better off with just a short hop flight to Washington, and another to NY. More days would reduce the daily mileage and turn it from a trek to a holiday - can you pinch days from either Florida or NY?

[chippyminton]

Not driven, but we are flying the opposite way with Southwest, after considering the overnight train - might do that another time.

I would second the suggestion of stopping in DC, even if it’s just for a day to see the main sites and monuments and cherry pick the Smithsonion museums using the hop on hop off bus.

[DonnaD]

I did NY to Florida twice as a child. However it was because we lived in NY, were camping in our VW in Florida and couldn't have flown. The distances involved are vast and I really can't see the appeal of your itinerary with so many stops along the coast but no time to actually see anything. We did stop in DC one time when we took a whole week to drive down. We drove back in 3 days once, all I can remember is hours in the car. Not something I would want to do with a 4 month old. When my DD was 6 months old we had to get her out if the car every 2 hours on a long trip or she was inconsolable.

[Guest]

Yes, the more I read the OP, the more I think they haven't grasped the distances involved.

[Custancia]

I've not done this, and have no real useful contribution except that the distance seems similar to driving Manchester to Venice, which I did with my parents and a caravan. I'm not sure personally that I would do it again, but I appreciate everyone is different.

[stardoman]

That sounds like a long journey with 5 children. Would you consider booking an internal flight instead? We looked at driving from San Francisco and ending up flyingn instead. This meant we handed the hire car back in a few days early. With the saving on car hire and fuel it cost a similar amount to fly.

We once had a couple of weeks in Orlando and then drove to the Keys. It felt a bit of a come down after the fantastic time we'd had at the theme parks.