Toronto to Houston and back

[milvan]

Hi Everyone,

We intend to take a trip from Toronto to Houston in mid October.Would like advice on best route going south and stops worth taking considering that we plan 2- 3 days going South.Same coming back ,this time from New Orleans also 2-3 days aloud for driving.Thanks in advance.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

One thing you'll find as you look around this forum is that there is never a single, generic "best" option for a roadtrip route. It will always depend upon your specific goals.

Having said that, based on what you've said, it appears you want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Under no circumstances should you attempt to drive from Toronto to Houston in 2 days. It's a trip that is more than 1500 miles, and while it can be done 3 days, two overnight stops are really required for a safe trip.

What I would probably do heading to Houston is cross into the US at Sarnia, then take I-69 to Indianapolis, I-70/I-57/I-55 to Memphis, I-40/I-30 to Texarkana, and US-59 into Houston.

That isn't quite the shortest route, but it does set you up nicely to take a slightly different route to use coming back from New Orleans. In that case, I would use I-59 (different from US-59)/I-20 to Birmingham, I-65 to Louisville, I-71/I-75 to Detroit, and cross back into Canada there (If you use the bridge, you can fill up on cheap US gas at the duty free shop before crossing). Once again, this is a 1300 mile trip, so 2 overnight stops would be pretty strongly recommended. With multiple drivers you might be able to squeeze it down to 2 days, but that would be pushing the limits of safety and would have you on the road for more than 12 hours each day.