New York to Nashville to Miami

[Mow]

Hi everybody,

We are actually planning a road trip for the end of the summer (7 to 19 September). I already found some great infos on the forum but I thought I'd try to get some more ideas from you guys, if you don't mind!

We are 2 people from Europe, we like hiking, nature and beautiful sceneries. We are not big fans of towns, even thought we feel like there are few along the trip that we need to stop to (NY, Nashville, Miami).

What we had in mind is a nice road trip, more countryside a quiet than seeking nightlife.

I was planning to go from NY to Nashville via I-81 then I-40, as it seems to be quicker and with less big towns on the road. I'm not too bother about missing Washington, but at the same time if the road north isn't too great I heard there's great breweries there, and I'm always in for a good beer! Do any of you have great input on small nice towns to stop along the I-81? Or is there anything we absolutely shouldn't miss? we are from the Alps and we love mountains....

Then from Nashville to Miami, we thought about Nashville ->Atlanta -> Jacksonville then all the way down the east coast because we already know Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers etc. Same thing here, we are looking for nice and quiet stops along the road, real US lifestyle and not too many tourists.

When we did a 2 month trip on the west we loved getting lost and decide about the next move on the go, as this is a very short trip we'd like to get more or less organised before leaving, but this is a lot more difficult to do from here. Last time we could just ask people we met and they always had great input on local spot to see that are not on the tourist map!

Thank you for reading me :)

[Lifemagician]

Welcome to the Great American roadtrip Forum.

Did you bring home some maps or a road atlas from your last rtrip. This would be a great help to you right now. If you do not have anything like that you could order a Rand McNally road atlas from the RTA store at the bottom of this page. It only takes a couple of weeks to get to Europe. You will see much more than you will see on your screen. Besides it is wise to carry maps when out on the open road.

September is actually a good time to take a road trip, as school is back and the crowds will be smaller.

On your way from NY to Nashville think about taking the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is a much nicer drive than I-81, although it is of course much slower. There are places along the way from which there are short hikes and great views. The southern terminus of the drive is near the Smokey Mountains NP, which is also suited to hiking. You might even see a bear or two..

Even though you have travelled down the east coast of FL, did you get to see The Arcade Building on highway US-1 in Fort Pierce. The building and the murals upon it are qjuite something. Besides The Arcade there are other murals in the townl. Whenever I have travelled from Jacksonville to Miami, I have preferred to travel US-1, as it gives access to highway A1A and the Atlantic Ocean. You can alternate between US-1 and A1A most of the way for a very scenic drive.

Lifey

[AZBuck]

Bienvenue sur les forums de RoadTrip Amérique. Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

It is certainly possible to make a drive down the east coast that is "more countryside ... than seeking nightlife" (although nightlife is what New York, Nashville and Miami are all known for). You can just as certainly find great small towns that aren't the usual tourist traps. And certainly you can find great hiking in the Appalachian Mountains. But the Interstates aren't necessarily the best option to get to those types of sites and given the amount of time you have for this journey you don't need to use them.

Instead of using I-81/I-40 to Nashville, consider instead using I-78 to get out of NYC, but then switching over to US-15 around Harrisburg PA and using it down past Gettysburg PA, Frederick MD (and nearby Catoctin Mountain National Park), and Leesburg VA. Then head west on I-66 to Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, Asheville NC , and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can then use US-70, which run parallel to I-40, to get to Nashville while seeing more of the countryside. A few 'quaint' towns you might want to check out on this leg include Emmitsburg MD, Lexington VA, Asheville NC, and Sevierville TN.

The drive between Nashville and Miami is a bit more of a problem simply because Atlanta gets in the way and the Atlantic Coast of Florida is built-up and tourist-packed for much of its length. So you might want to look at some alternatives to I-24/I-75/I-10/I-95/FL-A1A. Personally, I'd probably arch this leg a bit eastward, using US-41 to Chattanooga (I just drove this segment last week and I-24 was experiencing significant construction delays while US-41 was quite pleasant) then US-64/US-441/US-129 east and south through Athens and Macon GA, Visit the west side of Okefenokee Swamp and then use US-301/US-27 down the center of Florida missing the bulk of the tourists while entering the Miami area through the Everglades Wildlife Management Area. While not as full of major attractions as your first leg, this stretch does pass through or near Cherokee, Nantahala, Chattahoochee, Oconee, Osceola, and Ocala National Forests, and the town of Eatonton GA, home of Uncle Remus.

AZBuck

[Mow]

Thank you guys,

Really helpful tips! We actually looked at all the parks and tips for the road, and to be able to appreciate the trip more we're going to concentrate on NY->Nashville without visiting NY (it will be for another trip) and taking the smaller roads. And then we'll flight from Nashville to Daytona beach and make our way to Miami taking our time. This save us an 8 hour drive (a long day just driving) and we found some cheap and early flight to Daytona beach!

Thanks again for your input and for taking the time to help us with so many options.

Who knows, might see you on the road!