NYC- Nashville - Louisville - NYC over xmas NEW YEAR's

[DPRAID]

Hi,

I am looking to do a Roadtrip from Dec. 21st to Jan 1st so 12 days and 1 nights from NYC to Nasvhille taking a detour one night through Washington D.C. then 81 all the way to Nashville. then go on to Louisville Via 65 then back to NYC taking I-71 N, I-70 E, I-76 E, I-81 N.

We would love to stop a few places along the way so say out of 12 nights 1 night in D.C. 3 nights each in Louisville and Nashville that leaves us 5 more nights along the way to make the trip more doable. I was thinking of a detour in Asheville NC on the way there? Any other ideas? Need at least 1 stop on way back between Louisville and NY if not 2.

Anything I shouldn't miss along the way or alt routes with better stopovers?

I love nature and don't need these stops to be city based, could go hiking somewhere which is what I thought we'd do in Asheville.

Thanks so much in advance!

Dan

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

There are, of course, several great hiking/walking venues more or less along your route. And the fact that you have some time and are looking for other places to spend a night or two only increases the number of them within your reach. Here are few for you to consider. As part of your visit to Washington, a day trip to Annapolis might be in order. The capital of Maryland is a great walking town with historical buildings, an attractive waterfront, and the U.S. Naval Academy. Also perhaps worth a night is Charlottesville VA with the University of Virginia campus (designed by Thomas Jefferson), Jefferson's Monticello, and the southern end of Shenandoah National Park. The next leg of your trip would give you the opportunity to visit Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, spend a night in Kingsport or Asheville, and then see Great Smoky Mountains National Park. North of Nashville on your way to Louisville, there's Mammoth Cave National Park. Then as you work your way back to New York, you might want to consider another bit of a detour. From I-70 at Washington in southwestern Pennsylvania, take US-40, the old National Road down past Fort Necessity National Battlefield, historic (and scenic) US-40 as it runs parallel to I-68, Fort Frederick State Park, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. That would put you in good shape to end your trip with visits to one or more of a few great walking towns, Gettysburg (Civil War), Strasburg (Amish) and Lititz (a picturesque town that does Christmas right).

AZBuck

[Charlie H]

If you do decide on Asheville, I would highly recommend a drive through Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park on US 441. US 19 through Maggie Valley to Cherokee is also a very nice drive. After crossing the Smokys, Gatlinburg would be a fun place to spend a night.

I can't help but wonder why you want to detour to D. C. for only one night and what in Louisville deserves three nights.