Community Forums

Trvltrash · 03-01-2021, 03:57 PM

Hi all
Looking for the best route from Minneapolis to Fort Myers, I won't be pulling 5r just taking a car, but I've never driven this part of the country at all. Going to try it in 2 day's stopping in Nashville, everyone say's to stay away from Atlanta, any help there would be appreciated.
Thanks

rk911 · 03-01-2021, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trvltrash

Hi all
Looking for the best route from Minneapolis to Fort Myers, I won't be pulling 5r just taking a car, but I've never driven this part of the country at all. Going to try it in 2 day's stopping in Nashville, everyone say's to stay away from Atlanta, any help there would be appreciated.
Thanks

this is how we go to SW florida from chicago...

From Nashville...

- I-65 south to I-85 east at Montgomery
- I-85 east to Exit 9 which should be marked US271/TO US231. turn right at the top of the exit ramp.
- Follow US271 south for 5-6 miles. It will dead end at US231. turn left.
- Follow US231 to I-10. 231 is a good 4-lane road but you will go thru a few towns...Troy, Ozark and Dothan. Dothan is the largest. Stay on US231 through town. The drive from US231 to Dothan is about 2-hrs. figure 20-30 min thru Dothan and another 45-min to I-10.
- Follow I-10 east to I-75 south.

no hot-lanta. much saner drive and the traffic at Birmingham and Montgomery can be rough but usually isn't especially at mid-day but even then, IMO, it's much much easier than hot-lanta. and on paper it's just about 45-min longer than following I-75.

rk911 · 03-01-2021, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trvltrash

Hi all
Looking for the best route from Minneapolis to Fort Myers, I won't be pulling 5r just taking a car, but I've never driven this part of the country at all. Going to try it in 2 day's stopping in Nashville, everyone say's to stay away from Atlanta, any help there would be appreciated.
Thanks

or...when you get to Tallahassee on I-10 you can cut the corner off and do this:

• East on I-10 to Exit 225 onto Route 19, take 19 south to Capps. At Capps Rte 19 turns left and joins Rte 27 heading SE, In Chiefland take Rte 27 where it separates from Rte 19 and follow Rte 27 to the entrance to I-70 at Ocala.

my buddy uses this route to get to Ft. Myers every winter. saves a bit of time.

Trvltrash · 03-02-2021, 02:59 PM

I'm going to be pulling out of Nashville around 5:00 AM on a Saturday, do you think going thru Atlanta at that time would be ok ?

rk911 · 03-02-2021, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trvltrash

I'm going to be pulling out of Nashville around 5:00 AM on a Saturday, do you think going thru Atlanta at that time would be ok ?

nashville ===> atlanta is about a 4-5 hr ride +/- which should put you there between 9-10am. people local to the area would be more helpful but in general i would think that would be an ok time to hit a big city....absent weather or a wreck. if if were me i'd still use the alternate route i posted but i really dislike atlanta.

NXR · 03-02-2021, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trvltrash

I'm going to be pulling out of Nashville around 5:00 AM on a Saturday, do you think going thru Atlanta at that time would be ok ?

When we go to SW FL from northern Ohio we pick up I-75 near Cincinnati, OH and take it straight through, including going through Fort Myers. I-75 runs through Knoxville instead of Nashville, though.

We always go through Atlanta (we're 58' total length) both ways. The commercial truck traffic is only allowed on I-75 if it's stopping in Atlanta otherwise they cannot go straight through, which reduces the truck traffic. We always hit Atlanta mid-day, sometimes on a weekday and sometimes on a weekend. We've gotten down to 25 MPH in a few places but never outright stopped for an hour, yet...

Stay out of the right-hand lane because it frequently turns into an "Exit Only" lane, plus the entry/exiting traffic. So stay a lane or two to the left.

Ray

F4Gary · 03-02-2021, 09:00 PM

Just plug it in to Waze or Google maps and go. It will take into account any traffic and pick a better route.

Trvltrash · 03-21-2021, 04:07 PM

Hey all
Just got back from my Minneapolis to Fort Myers trip, I did go the route of going thru Atlanta on the way down, then through Alabama skipping Atlanta on the way back. All I can say is WOW I have never driven in the south before there sure is a LOT of traffic compared to up here in the north. The trip down was 27hrs and back was 30hrs, no less than 10 slow downs / crashes ranging from 10 minutes to 2HRS yes 2hr closure.
First major slow down was going south just outside of Nashville on a Friday night, my destination for the night was Murfreesboro, next got thru Atlanta ok because it was early Saturday morning then south of there another major slowdown, 3 others the rest of the way down. On the way back VERY slow going through Alabama all the towns lots of traffic again a Friday, 15hrs to Clarksville TN, Saturday morning complete stop at like 8 am on I24 2hrs before finally having to turn around and rerouting, another 15hr day. I have never seen so many accidents on interstates. Now I know why we usually just fly down every year. I wanted to see this part of the country, really didn't get to see anything, either it was raining, dark, or white knuckle driving.
Bad experience for me, if I try it again I will make sure and take more time.