Need help- Tampa to New England

[baslert]

So we will be leaving Tampa in the beginning of June, with hopes of making it to New England. We are a family of four with a small dog. We don't really care to hit any big cities. We would like to give ourselves some time to get up there but also want to spend a solid week and a half when we are there. This is the part that is tricky.... I'm not sure how to plan for our trip up and back. What parks do I stay at? How long should I stay in each place? Should we hit certain areas?
I wish there was an RV travel agent who could just take care of all the details for me.

[Saltydog44]

Some ideas - Not comprehensive by any means. We go the southern part of this route regularly. These are places we use:

Brunswick, GA: Coastal Georgia RV Park
or
Savannah South KOA in Richmond Hill

Williamsburg has a number of good spots

Cherry Hill on the north side of DC

We use RV Park Reviews after laying out our route on Delorme

Enjoy the ride!

[Cousin Ed]

How many hours do you want to drive each day. We could do the trip in two hard days but we now take four days at about eight hours a day.

[Ksatter]

If you come up I-75 out of Tampa. I would recommend stopping off and seeing GSMNP. Especially, if you have never seen it. Then you can hit I-81. That takes you through several National Forests in Virginia.

Safe Travels!

[Winemaker2]

Pretty broad question... you don't mention whete in NE and if you just want to get there or see things along the way.

If you go I75 to I81 Chattanoga is a nice town... 2 aquariums worth a day one salt water one fresh.
Good to avoid I95 around DC and NYC.
You could stay on I81 to Binghamton NY or slight diversion to hit Gettysburg PA... then go I88 to Albany. You pass Cooperstown and baseball hall of fame that way.

A lot depends on interests and dedtination.

[mrv8outboard]

We have gone from Cape Cod to Key West every November. We start 95 south to NJ. Then cut over to the Cape May Ferry. Then 13 south to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and then over to 95 south. Last year continued from the CBBT to the OuterBanks and ran down the end of them then to 95. You could do it in reverse.

[baslert]

Originally Posted by Cousin Ed

How many hours do you want to drive each day. We could do the trip in two hard days but we now take four days at about eight hours a day.

Defiantly not two days. Thinking of four to five hours per day.

[JFXG]

Originally Posted by baslert

So we will be leaving Tampa in the beginning of June, with hopes of making it to New England.........We don't really care to hit any big cities..........We would like to give ourselves some time to get up there but also want to spend a solid week and a half when we are there.........How long should I stay in each place?.....

baslert...... if you ask for help, you've got to give some detail so we know what to figure.
1. What's your total time frame? 2 weeks? 8 weeks?
2. Where in New England? Western CT? Northern ME? There's a 600 mile difference.
3. How old are the kids? How well do you think they'll travel?

You mention 4-5 hours/day of travel. With necessary stops that equates to about 250 miles/day. With two small kids and a dog- and pushing hard- that's an absolute minimum of four days each way, and you'll likely be pretty exhausted when you get there. But I'm shooting in the dark here because I don't know where you're going, how long you've got, how old the kids are, whether you want to stop along the way to see things or just get to NE, etc., etc.

Give us a few hints... otherwise we're wasting time!

[KT4Wextra]

You don't say what kind of RV you have, let us know because it might make a difference on the route.

[baslert]

OK, Sorry for the vagueness. We have a Class A, 35 ft. My wife's family is up in New England. We want to get up there, spend a week near Boston, then head to Maine for a few days. What I really want to know are the routes that I should take and where I should stay. Like I said, I was thinking a few hours per day but if that isn't realistic, then I would be willing to take more time to get up to New England. We are flexible. Not necessarily looking to tour cities or do big excursions. This will be our first big trip so I don't really know what to expect.

[PanJH]

We travel from Tampa to Maine pretty much every summer. The route below is pretty much what we do, but with some variations each year. For example,this year we stopped in Asheville for a week, then over to Gattlinburg for a week before moving northward. I generally try to stop in Gaffney Freightliner for my yearly service on the way up. Our days are usually about 5-6 hrs on the road ( 300 +/- miles) as we have a couple of dogs that get anxious when traveling longer periods of time.

I-75 to SH326 east
SH326 to 301 north
301 to Callahan... Take SH200 to I-95N

I-95North to I-26West in SC

I-26West to Columbia, SC and I-77North

I-77N to I-81West



I-81EAST to Scranton Pa and then I-84 East.

I-84East to I-90East (Mass. Tpke)
I-90East to I-495North beltline

I-495N to I-95N

[baslert]

Originally Posted by PanJH

We travel from Tampa to Maine pretty much every summer. The route below is pretty much what we do, but with some variations each year. For example,this year we stopped in Asheville for a week, then over to Gattlinburg for a week before moving northward. I generally try to stop in Gaffney Freightliner for my yearly service on the way up. Our days are usually about 5-6 hrs on the road ( 300 +/- miles) as we have a couple of dogs that get anxious when traveling longer periods of time.

I-75 to SH326 east
SH326 to 301 north
301 to Callahan... Take SH200 to I-95N

I-95North to I-26West in SC

I-26West to Columbia, SC and I-77North

I-77N to I-81West



I-81EAST to Scranton Pa and then I-84 East.

I-84East to I-90East (Mass. Tpke)
I-90East to I-495North beltline

I-495N to I-95N

This is great! Thank you. Do you have suggestions at which campgrounds to stop at? How far in advance so you book?

[PanJH]

I'll get a list together for you when I get a few minutes to dig out the old reservations

[baslert]

Originally Posted by PanJH

I'll get a list together for you when I get a few minutes to dig out the old reservations

Thank you so much. That would be very helpful.