Short road trip - New Orleans to Savannah in 3 days

[jimmyrimmy]

Hi all,

I'm planning on doing a road-trip in three days between New Orleans and Savannah in September. Does anyone here have experience of a similar trip, and did they think it was worthwhile with interesting sights? Also, route suggestions would be helpful.

I'm a bit worried that it'll be too far - on Interstate it's almost 700 miles, so taking scenic routes would presumably add quite a bit onto that distance.

My other option was New Orleans to Memphis, which although shorter, is not my favoured option as it apparently runs through many industrial areas and I'm not so keen on seeing Memphis as I am New Orleans.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

James

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm planning on doing a road-trip in three days between New Orleans and Savannah in September. Does anyone here have experience of a similar trip, and did they think it was worthwhile with interesting sights? Also, route suggestions would be helpful. I'm a bit worried that it'll be too far - on Interstate it's almost 700 miles, so taking scenic routes would presumably add quite a bit onto that distance.

James,
Welcome to the Forum -- What are your goals for this roadtrip? That area is chock-full of places with history, music and cultural happenings. It is hard to know what you would consider "worth the journey" without a little more insight into what you are looking for.

But the short answer: of course it is worth doing, unless you need to return to New Orleans at the end of the three days? If so, I would urge you to consider traveling a portion of US-61, or the Great River Road and limit your travel to only the southern sections of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Mark

[jimmyrimmy]

Thanks Mark!

The reason I chose that route is primarily because I want to see New Orleans and Savannah, and my brother, who's never been to the States before (we're both British) is also coming, so I thought a road-trip to get off the beaten path and see a bit of the "true" deep south would be great fun, and a good contrast to the rest of the trip, which will be DC, New York, Boston and possibly Philadelphia. We want to do a few days driving through small-town america, so we can drive anywhere on the east coast between New Orleans and Boston - since we only have three weeks, we're going to mostly fly between cities apart from the three days set aside for driving - if you have any suggestions as to better places in which to spend three days driving, I'd much appreciate them. The primary aim is to get an interesting cross-section of "authentic" america, without feeling too rushed.

What I'd most like to know is, does anyone know the actual distance involved in going from New Orleans - Savannah on scenic routes (the best I can come up with is about 700 miles on Interstate roads) and is doing it in three days going to feel fairly relaxed, or rushed?

By "interesting sights" I mean, will there be varied and interesting scenery on the way, with small towns to stop at - my brother hasn't been to the US before, so most things will be interesting to him, and the thing I'd like to avoid most is going through endless industrial zones.

I don't have to return to New Orleans at the end, we're either going to hire a car one-way to Savannah, or if that turns out to be too expensive (which having got various quotes, it looks like it will be) I'll go down to Savannah a day early, pick up a hire-car and hurtle the 700 miles to New Orleans before my brother arrives, and then turn around and come back with him.