RV road trip from New York to New Orleans

Hi all,

Ok, background, 4/5 friends from the UK will be flying in to New York on October 27th this year. 2 nights in New York before picking up an RV on the 29th to head down South to New Orleans. 1 of the party is flying back home to the UK on Saturday 10th November from New Orleans (she wants at least 3 nights in New Orleans and possibly 2 nights in Memphis). We've also noticed that it's difficult to drop off an RV in New Orleans so any tips for that would also be welcomed.

Any thoughts on what route might be best? An idea is to visit Philly, then on to Washington before heading across to Louisville and then down South from there......is that realistic with the time we have?

Also, where would be cool to stop for Halloween?

Feedback would be much appreciated and please feel free to ask any questions if I haven't included enough.

Many thanks

Michael

Welcome to RTA!

Dropping off an RV anywhere except where you picked it up is going to either be costly or difficult to do. It would be easier (though not cheaper) if you use a national rental company such as Cruise America, El Monte, or Camping World Rents. Is there any way that you can do a loop trip?


Donna

Hi Donna,

Thanks for the welcome and for the quick response!

Unfortunately, there's no way of doing a loop as 4 of us are heading to Las Vegas and then on to the West Coast after New Orleans.

We've looked in to various RV companies and have yet to find one where we can drop off in New Orleans. The closest drop off cities are Atlanta, Houston or Dallas which aren't ideal!

Michael

Do you have enough time to keep the RV till you get to Las Vegas?

I've got to say I was a little surprised, but it looks like you are right that none of the major RV rental companies have locations in NOLA.

Having said that, heading to Houston might not be as bad as you think. New Orleans isn't much of an airport hub, so you'd likely have a connection or two on your flight to Vegas. If you make the half day drive to Houston, getting a direct flight should be much easier.

But I'd also think strongly about driving the RV whole way. I think you'd find the RV more useful out west than in the east if you are spending a lot of time in cities.

Hello Michael,

My 25 year-old nephew reports a raucous time had on Halloween 2011 in the bar district in Nashville, TN, near the US Army base he was then serving at.

I wonder how your plans came to include Louisville. From DC headed towards NOLA, Louisville is well-nigh out of the way. Probably cost you a day just to get there and back on track. Then again, it'd be difficult to reach Nashville by 31 October regardless of Louisville plans, provided stopping in Philly and DC are set in stone.

Foy

Wow, thanks for all the feedback!

It now looks like we will do this route instead: http://g.co/maps/rh3n4

Our plan is to drive an RV from New York and drop off in Memphis. From there we will hire a car to drive to New Orleans, stay there a few nights and then drop off in Houston at the airport before flying on.

We're hoping to be in Nashville for Halloween, Philly and DC at the moment will be brief stops so hopefully we can do it!

Thanks again everyone and please, any tips, places to see, things to do would be much appreciated.

Michael

Doing multiple one way car/RV rentals is going to get very expensive, very quickly. You're likely going to have several hundred dollars in additional fees with each drop.

Based on your plan to mostly see cities in the East, I actually don't think that an RV would be a very wise choice at all for this portion of your trip. Its going to be much tougher to get around, very hard to find parking, and will cost you far more than just renting a car.

Hi Midwest Michael, many thanks for the reply, it is appreciated.

We were aware of the one way drop off fees but felt that split between 5 it would be reasonable. Our preference for the RV instead of a car was because that it would be a home for 2 weeks and we wouldn't have to worry about finding hotels/motels. We could happily park up in an RV park with security and travel in to cities.

Basically the RV gives us the freedom to come and go as we please, travel but also rest inbetween. We like the idea of being on the road but also having comfort which we would find difficult with a car.

As we are new to this I was wondering if you could explain a bit more about it being much tougher to get around, do you mean that route specifically or just in general?

Thanks again

Michael

In general, an RV is a much larger vehicle than a car and thus its more challenging to get around. The biggest issue is in cities and urban areas, where you're dealing with more traffic, and less space. Again, you'll really have to think about where to park, as there will be a lot of places in major cities that just don't have room for a large RV. It can be done, but it will be challenging.

I guess I'd say the biggest thing is your idea that you will be able to come and go as you please, and rest in between. That's not really true. For the reasons listed above, it will be harder to come and go as you please, and if you are planning to leave it at an RV park while you explore an area, then you'll have to deal with cabs or bus/train schedules. You can't really "rest in between" either, since when the RV is in motion, you still need to be seated/buckled in, so its not much different than a car in that regard.

Its not to say that you can't have a great trip here in an RV, I just get the impression that your expectations of what you can do in an RV are a little optimistic, and you might not have given much thought to the downsides. If after weighing the pros/cons, you decide an RV is still the best choice, that's great too.

.....it can lead one to do some very silly things. Taking US 60 west of Richmond, VA, followed by a series of slightly glorified goat trails to US 460, thence US 460 through Roanoke to I-81 is one of those silly things Google Maps would have us believe is a good route. I've no doubt it's the SHORTEST route, but it's an awful choice, especially in an RV.

And of course I don't know if you actually contemplate following those directions exactly, Michael, but if you're looking for the fastest route between Washington, DC and Nashville, TN, this isn't it, and it's not even close.

I would assume you're planning to overnight near DC on the 30th and drive all the way to Nashville on the 31st in order to celebrate Halloween there. Mapquest says DC-Nashville is 665 miles, somewhat in excess of a recommended day's drive distance from the general consensus here in the RTA Forums. Be that as it may, getting over to I-81 in NORTHERN Virginia is your best bet, unless your RV Park on the 30th is on the south side of DC. If it is, rather than fighting your way to and around the city, headed in with the morning traffic to catch the Beltway around to I-66, continue south on I-95 to VA 3 at Fredericksburg, west to VA 20, south to Orange, VA to pick up US 15. Ignore the temptation to take either VA 20, VA 231, or VA 22 towards Charlottesville, and stay on US 15 south to I-64 at Zion Crossroads. I-64 will take you past Charlottesville, over the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, to I-81 at Staunton, VA.

A few words about RV-ing around the cities: You may be assuming public transportation will spirit you from RV parks into the cities, but that may not be the case. I know little about urban mass transit, but I'd be a little surprised to learn there is many choices from an RV park into Philly, DC, or Nashville. You'll probably have to cab in and back out again. The DC area has the "Metro" light rail system and perhaps you can find an RV park somewhere in the Maryland or DC suburbs which is on the Metro line. At Nashville, I recall seeing an RV Park along the Briley Parkway, adjacent to the Opryland complex, and with +3,000 rooms at the Opryland hotel, surely there are bus lines/shuttle services from there to "Lower Broad", where the bars and live music venues are, and where presumably the celebration of Halloween is focused. The point is this: You might want to look into the specifics/mechanics of accessing the cities you plan to visit from RV parks before you assume access will be simple, or cheap. RV parks themselves aren't cheap, for that matter. I would expect by the time you pay for the additional cost of renting an RV, overnighting in commercial RV parks for a few nights, buying extra fuel, and paying for several nights' transit into the cities and back out again, you'll end up spending considerably more than you'd spend, for example, renting a minivan for the road travel and finding/piling in to inexpensive motels close to mass transit lines or within a short cab ride of the urban areas you wish to visit.

The "on the highway" aspect of RV travel is a lot of fun. The logistics, sometimes, not so much. Oh, and by all means, plan on purchasing a US Highway Atlas (Rand-McNally makes a fine one and they retail for around $25) either before your trip or immediately upon arrival. There is no complete substitute for a good map and the ability to use it. The atlas will be worth the price paid if for no other reason than to see the odd and often humorous place-names across the South. Right here in central NC, for example, we have the crossroads communities of Frog Level and Lizard Lick.

Foy

Thanks again for all the replies to this (especially Midwest Michael and Foy), it is much appreciated and has given us a lot to think about!

Once we've agreed a mode of transport and route I might be back in touch for further tips/advice.

:O)

Michael