3 English Guys travelling from D.C to Miami

[EnglishSteve]

Hello there everyone, i've just found this great site and was wondering if anyone could assist.

Me and a couple of friends are flying in to NYC on June 12. We have already arranged to travel to Philadelphia then on to Washington DC by train. After that we will pick up a car in DC on 19th June and head towards Miami to be there for 29th June.

Can anyone advise of some good routes to take, i've looked at a few maps, but details on fly drives down the East Coast are not as avaliable here in the UK as the West Coast drives.

Just looking for some pointers on towns to visit too whether they be lively or fairly quiet hidden gems off the beaten track but with a good local vibe and I suppose as we are three single guys, anywhere to meets some girls!!!!

I look forward to your response, Regards.

[lhuff]

That's plently of time to try several routes and do a bit of exploring off the road you plan on taking. I'd suggest looking up the tourism websites for the individual states that you will be passing through. Find stuff that interests you and then plot a course. I'd look up Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and I'd also add Kentucky and Tennessee in the mix since you'll have so much time. After you find a general area within a state that interests you - the individual cities/towns will often have tourism sites of their own to help you explore further.

I haven't really traveled in that part of the country so can't really help on details other than the Natural Bridge in Virginia - it was very pretty. And it's also close to the Blue Ridge Parkway. I haven't driven it - but it's on my "must do before I die" list.

Laura

[RoadDog]

I'd suggest going to NC's Outer Banks and on down to Charleston, SC.

In North Carolina, make sure to try some bbq pork, slaw, hushpuppies, and sweet tea.

Wilmington is a historic town with the Battleship North Carolina. Go to Carolina Beach and get some Britt's Donuts and visit the Civil War Fort Fisher. Take the ferry across the Cape Fear River to Southport.

Definitely stop at Calabash on the NC-SC border and get some of their famous shrimp.

Next, do some Beach Music at Harold's or Duck's in North Myrtle Beach. Then, there's Myrtle Beach.

[jlmickel]

Depending on your interests you have a wonderful opportunity to see some great moments in American (and thusly British) history! Virginia is loaded with historic towns--Jamestown, (one of the original settlements in the New World) just celebrated it's 400th anniversary last year, stop in at Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home) and Mount Vernon (George Washington's home) is up that way.

Outside of Virginia, the Outer Banks of North Carolina were mention and are a good choice but may not be practical (the Outer Banks are expensive and may require you to backtrack on your route), I would suggest a stop in Raleigh instead, that keeps you on I-95 and provides you with a larger city (the capital of NC), great restaurants and good hotel choices.

Past that, there is Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. It's a tourist trap but it's one of those places it seems like everyone has been to at least once. The Canadians love it and every time I visit (I live about 3 hours away) there are tons of car from Ontario. I would recommend staying on the SC coast and visiting Charleston and then heading on to Savannah Georgia. The heart of South Carolina has no real attractions, so if you stay on I-95 you will see nothing essentially from Raleigh until you get to Columbia SC (2-3 hours).

Once you leave Savannah you will almost be in Florida. At this point my knowledge is limited (I haven't been to Florida since I was a kid) but Jacksonville FL is a HUGE city and I'm sure there are plenty of fun things to do there. Of course you will be passing Disney World, and even as an adult it's another place you need to visit at least once. Tickets are fairly expensive, as are hotels so you may need to do some research before making a stop.

After that you're almost in Miami. Remember that Florida is a very long state, its a good two hours from Jacksonville to Orlando (Daytona beach is along that route too). From Orlando to Miami is another 4-5.

With 10 days I think you could spend a day in each state and as long as you stay near the highway you have the advantage of seeing a whole heck of a lot of history and interesting sites. As someone else said get out your maps and visit the tourism websites for each state/area you will be visiting. Good Luck!