Driving from just north of Toronto

[Hockeychic]

Hey all,

So we live just north of Newmarket and have decided to drive on our next trip to Disney.

We will be leaving about 1PM and driving straight through. We won't have any kids so no worries about giving them a break.

We plan on doing the route through Buffalo not the I75 route as it does apparently per(CAA) save us about 3 hours. My question is last time we drive we did I75 and they had this awesome book to follow showed gas stations etc. I can't seem to find one on the route through Buffalo. Anyone know if they have one?

Also those who have taken that route did you find many gas stations along the highways? Not wanting to venue too much off the highway so hoping it is a similar drive as I75

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Kim

 

[starvenger]

Keswick? Bradford? East Gwillemberry? I'm in Markham, and just did the route through Pittsburgh (79-77-95) about 8 weeks ago. Not certain if that is your route or if you're going a different route.

I don't know of any books.

There are plenty of gas stations along the way. Gasbuddy can give you some locations and prices based on your car and fuel efficiency if you're trying to map that out ahead of time.

 

[mort1331]

We are in Aurora and have gone both ways. The book. Travel I75 is out because so many from both countries use that highway. Best thing in it was where the police like to hang out.
We pick the route by the time of year. Winter I75. Spring either depending if we hit Hilton Head. Lots of gas stops either way. Have never had issues. I75 does have a lot more. But that would not be a reason for me to choose. Just has up even if just a quarter down bedore the mountains

 

[Hockeychic]

Thank you both for the info. Will check out the website

 

[Sarah_Rose]

We live in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, and the drive is almost EXACTLY the same for us both ways, provided there is no traffic. In general, we prefer the route through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, etc, but it passes through several mountain areas and so can be treacherous in winter. We have even hit bad snow storms in West Virginia in the mountains in late April. The route also passes through several toll roads and so I recommend ordering an EZPass from the New York State Authority before you go. They mail it to you and you can preload money on it -- saves a lot of hassle, and the tolls are cheaper, as well. Parts of the route are also pretty uninhabited so you have to make sure to fuel up when you can, especially at night. We've had trips where we planned on stopping at a hotel at a certain time, but then had to drive another hour or two longer because there was nothing out there.

As you know, the I75 is flat and straight and boring, and has no tolls other than the border crossing. It's an easier drive, but not as scenic. I think they both have their own benefits -- if I was travelling in good weather, I'd pick the shorter route through Buffalo for sure. It just takes a bit more planning.

 

[bankr63]

Depending on your route, there is a similar book for I-95 as well called Drive I-95, but I don't think it has been updated in a couple of years.

Most people seem to be into apps right now. The Next Exit gets good reviews for iPhone from what I have read, but really bad reviews for Android. If you are worried primarily about gas stops, then just load up gasbuddy on your phone (both platforms). It is my go-to app for finding inexpensive gas along the route and has a large enough user population reporting to always have current prices. If I need a restaurant, I usually use google maps (which is my GPS app through Android Auto) to find a restaurant near me.

Just a tip for the comfort of your co-pilot if you use the apps route, we used a tablet on the long drives instead of a phone, makes reading and searching much more comfortable. Try one of the great mounts from Scosche (available at Walmart) to mount it to the dash. I upgraded to a 9" JVC car audio screen with AA last year and it makes life much easier - just have to say "Hey Google - find me a ..." and its on screen and mapped!

 

[Bowen Family]

The one stretch of the #77 where I find there are fewer gas stations is through the Appalachians. It's not the ends of the earth, but you could easily go 90 minutes here between exits with gas stations. My rule of thumb is to stop and fill up before the tank gets below 1/4 full, and we've always been fine.

Note with a 1pm departure you'll be doing the most scenic part of this drive at night, so if you want to see the mountains I would try for an early morning departure heading home. Enjoy! We love this drive.

 

[Hockeychic]

Thank you all. Not worried about scenic to be honest just as short as possible and safe route as we will be driving right through the night. I guess I will have both maps ready and we see what the weather holds for us on departure day. I am hoping to go through Buffalo but will be prepared for the Detroit route,

 

[pigletto]

Thank you all. Not worried about scenic to be honest just as short as possible and safe route as we will be driving right through the night. I guess I will have both maps ready and we see what the weather holds for us on departure day. I am hoping to go through Buffalo but will be prepared for the Detroit route,

We will be driving for the first time this coming March. We have the same plan. We live very close to the Buffalo border and we hope to take the scenic route. Realistically we will just have to keep an eye on the weather, as bad weather in early March is a real possibility.

 

[hardis5]

Used to drive the I-75 route and in winter driving the 401 and through Ohio is no more fun that NY/PA and the Virginia mountains during a storm driving the "I-95" way.

We prefer the "I-95" route through NY/PA/WV/VA/NC hitting I-95 after SC having driven it 1/2 dozen times the last number of years (we are an hour north of where OP is). Find it a lot more scenic and therefore less tiring than the I-75 route and it does save a few hours off the 20+ hour drive (with bio and fuel breaks).

We've driven straight through numerous time and have done a stop in the Columbia SC area when driving SB (leaving 5 PM, mid-day and 5-7 AM) and find the earlier the better during the winter months SB as NY/PA/WV/VA are better driven during daylight hours. We always make sure to have a full tank SB before hitting Erie PA and refill in Morgantown and do the opposite going NB through this stretch as find outside of the Pittsburgh area, there are a lot fewer stations than any other stretch of the drive.