Atlanta to New York

[didcotnumber1]

We have just moved from the UK last August and I am planning to take myself and my three boys boys (13..9..6) on a road trip from Newnan GA to New York next week, we have bought a gmc vandura for the trip..I would appreciate any tips or information for our trip (places to stop on the way/must see places etc).
I don't want to drive into New York I would rather park the van and take a train as we plan on staying for two nights, so I would like some info on where to best to leave our van ......thanks

[UGAphin]

My family goes to New York every couple of years.
We always just take the train up. Kids love the train, and its a very scenic ride. It picks you up in Atlanta around 6:00, you eat dinner, and go to bed. When you wake up in the morning, you are chugging up to Washington DC, through Baltimore, through Philadelphia, and you're in NYC by about 2 PM in time for lunch. I wouldn't do it any other way.

The train is called the Amtrak Crescent.
Sometimes it runs late, and sometimes you catch a rude staff. But it beats driving, in my oppinion, especially as the drive from Atlanta to DC is BORING. If you have any other questions, I have taken this train about six times.

[AZBuck]

A good link to the various commuter train systems that operate into New York City from the surrounding states is HERE. For my own part, I think you'd enjoy the areas north of NYC in Westchester county. It's a bit more rural than most of the others and would offer a quiet retreat and nice change from the city in the evenings.

AZBuck

[didcotnumber1]

my boys are really looking forward to the drive ...I was planning to go up through appalachians and come back down the Atlantic coast, however I will look at the trains ,,,thanks

[Mark Sedenquist]

my boys are really looking forward to the drive ...I was planning to go up through appalachians and come back down the Atlantic coast, however I will look at the trains ,,,thanks

Trains are fun, but there is nothing like roadtripping in the northeast. As far as leaving your vehicle -- it has been a while since I was NYC but you might look at Liberty Harbor, NJ -- there is a remarkable RV park there and I know that post-911 that there are many more boat taxis that take commuters from the docks over to the city. I am not sure, but you may be able to leave your car in the lot. It has security and I have always felt comfortable there.

Mark

[AZBuck]

Sorry if I gave the wrong impression with my reply, I was just giving you a website for the commuter trains in and out of NYC once you got there. By all means make the trip by car. I got hooked on roadtripping when I was about your boys' age and we made summer trips from Delaware to Wisconsin. Yes, indeed, they will love it.

You've got a very good basic plan to see two entirely different aspects of the eastern US by taking separate routes up and back. For the mountain portion, highlights might be: Great Smokey Mountain National Park, a chunk of either the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline Drive (although I-81 is very scenic in its own right if you need to make time), a cave or two in Virginia (Luray Caverns, Skyline Caverns, Endless Caverns, etc.), and either Gettysburg, PA or Washington, DC depending on which way you continue up to NYC.

For the coastal portion, consider keeping it truly coastal and coming down the Garden State Parkway to the tip of New Jersey and taking the Cape May-Lewes Ferry over to Delaware, and then hitting Chincoteague Island (a wildlife refuge on a barrier island with wild ponies), the NASA facility at Wallops Island, VA, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel across the mouth of the Chesapeake, the Outer Banks of North Carolina (Kitty Hawk, Black Beard's haunts in Ocracoke), the Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington, NC, and then 'home' to Atlanta.

AZBuck

[Robert Schaller]

...although I-81 is very scenic in its own right if you need to make time...

Particularly timely that you say that about I-81! I drove it through Virginia 2 weeks ago and I had forgotten a bit just how beautiful that drive is. I also really enjoyed I-40 across eastern Tennessee -- very beautiful. Bob

[didcotnumber1]

thanks ...I think I may follow your suggestions to the letter, I plan to stay in NYC for one night in a nice hotel and park the van outside ...the afore mentioned car park soynds great...thanks

[UGAphin]

If you got a new car, yea definately make the drive I guess. But if you ever go again, the train is an excellent alternative that alot of people overlook. I prefer it to flying. Unfortunately, the only places you can get to by train from Atlanta are New York and New Orleans. My how the world has changed for the worst. I hate flying with a passion.

[didcotnumber1]

at least I can pull into a quiet layby and strangle the kids if I drive..I don't think I could get away with that on the train