Trip advice

[milanfo]

Hi,

I am planning to move from North Augusta, SC to Iowa City, IA in a couple of weeks. I will be driving a 12-ft Penske truck alone.
How many hours does it?
I can go either over the weekend or weekdays. Which one do you recommend?
Which interstates to take and any specific tips (cities to avoid, where to rest, etc)?

Thank you very much for your help!
MilanFo

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

A trip like this is close to 1000 miles, which really means it needs to be measured in days not hours. It will be 2 pretty full days on the road.

Your fastest route looks to be I-20 to Atlanta, then I-24/I-57/I-64 through Nashville to St. Louis, then straight north on US-61/US-218 to Iowa City. The last section is not interstate, but is 4 lanes for the vast majority of the route (also nicknamed the avenue of the Saints, as it connects St. Louis and St. Paul) and should work quite well.

Paducah Kentucky would likely be about your halfway point and would make a good stopping point, but you could get as far as Mt. Vernon, IL if you get an early start on day one and want short second day. If you get a late start on day one, you could still make it to Iowa City on day 2 as long as you get as far as Nashville.

Weekend vs weekday doesn't make a big difference. Weekdays may see slightly cheaper hotels, but you're less likely to see traffic problems on a weekend.

[milanfo]

Hi Midwest Michael!

Thanks a lot for your answers. I am thinking about making it a 3-day trip - I plan to leave the last 100-200 miles of the trip for the 3rd day so that I can reach Iowa City early and start unloading the truck. If I am going to rest twice, which cities can fit my plans and have cheap hotels?

Thanks again!

[Midwest Michael]

Breaking the trip into 3 days gives you a ton of options.

You might look at Nashville the first night, and then the Northwest Suburbs of St. Louis (ie O'Fallon). It's hard to specifically say where you might find cheap hotels, as that is always going to depend upon exact dates and demand, but usually you can do pretty good staying on the outskirts of a major city or in a medium sized town. St. Louis' suburbs are one spot I have found great deals in the past.

If St. Louis isn't close enough for your tastes for that final day, I'd guess Hannibal, MO/Quincy IL will be your best bet. There are plenty of other places where you'll be able to find a hotel along US-61, but otherwise you're generally looking at smaller towns with only a couple of hotels, which generally means higher rates.

[Southwest Dave]

You can check out Hotel rates using the RTA travel service to the right of each page. If you stop near a major City it's best to stay out the other side of it [north] so that when you start out in the morning you are heading away from the majority of the morning work rush.

[Charlie H]

I think North Augusta to Nashville to Hannibal would work nicely and leave you only about 150 miles to Iowa City on Day 3. However, if you want to avoid the hassle of Nashville, you might press on to Clarksville, TN which is only about 40 miles further. There are a number of motels right at Exit 4.

Hannibal is something of a tourist town and you might find rates would be cheaper during the week than on a weekend.

[milanfo]

Thank you very much guys! You're very helpful!

[DonnaR57]

Hannibal and Quincy both have a wide variety of motels/hotels available, under one condition: watch out for weekends. There are three or four small colleges in that area, and if it's a "parent weekend", "homecoming" or special weekend at any of them, it could have an effect on the availability of motels. If you're planning to travel on a weekend and stay in Hannibal or Quincy, call ahead and get a reservation.


Donna