Toronto to Florida Drive I75 or I95??

[mrtr62]

We drove last year and went to Florida through the night down I79/77 and came home up I75. We just thought we would change it up a bit and we found it wasn't a huge difference in time from the Brantford area.

We are going to drive it again next year and go down I75 and go through the night and see how it goes. We are going to come back through the mountains and hopefully see them this time because it was dark last year...

Both ways were good with lots to see along the way... We also bought the I75 book for the next drive down it has lots of really interesting facts and maps and off the beaten track idea's.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Check the weather before you travel. It may be in your interest to cross the mountains in the North rather than the South. I-81 through Binghampton NY - Scranton PA - Harrisburg PA is a beautiful mountain route, and I trust the NY and PA road crews to handle snow better than those in Tennessee and the Carolinas. Washington DC is the only nuisance on the route. DC's beltway (I-495) is painfully slow on weekdays. Once past that, there are no more driving challenges, other than staying awake on I-95.

A quick detour to Hershey PA isn't all bad either.

 

[bankr63]

A couple of neat books for either route. Look for "Drive I-95" and "Drive I-75" in the travel section of your favorite bookseller (or online from Chapters or Amazon). It covers each highway from end to end in a pictorial format with an exit by exit guide to food/fuel/lodging/attractions. It even includes speed limits for each section, so your navigator can warn you of the speed changes. It is spiral bound, and you flip front to back going South, and reverse it going North.

Good fun and information for the long drive down!

 

[lee-annl]

So we are heading to DW in November, is I75 the best route for that time? We are planning to drive through the night & heading out of the GTA at about 5pm.

 

[cslittle999]

So we are heading to DW in November, is I75 the best route for that time? We are planning to drive through the night & heading out of the GTA at about 5pm.

Both routes should be fine weather wise but if you're driving straight through I think it is the best route because the exits are closer together and there are more things open late. It is about 3 hours longer than then I79/I77 route.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Both routes should be fine weather wise but if you're driving straight through I think it is the best route because the exits are closer together and there are more things open late. It is about 3 hours longer than then I79/I77 route.

I sort of agree....you can check the weather before you depart to see if there is any snow along the 77/79 route and then avoid it if you want to. On the side of driving through the night there is a whole lot of nothing along 77/79. I still prefer that route because it does save 3 hours. When we drive down we leave home at 2am. DH can go to bed at 9pm and then have a solid 5 hours of sleep before we leave. I continute to pack and load the car then sleep after we leave. It works very well. If you go with a plan like that you don't need to worry about anything being open along the route....you won't need gas for a few hours and by then everything will be open.

 

[cslittle999]

I sort of agree....you can check the weather before you depart to see if there is any snow along the 77/79 route and then avoid it if you want to. On the side of driving through the night there is a whole lot of nothing along 77/79. I still prefer that route because it does save 3 hours. When we drive down we leave home at 2am. DH can go to bed at 9pm and then have a solid 5 hours of sleep before we leave. I continute to pack and load the car then sleep after we leave. It works very well. If you go with a plan like that you don't need to worry about anything being open along the route....you won't need gas for a few hours and by then everything will be open.

I agree. It's the 5 PM departure time that made me recommend I75. I75 can be nightmarish if your timing is off and you hit one of the big cities during rush hour.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I agree. It's the 5 PM departure time that made me recommend I75. I75 can be nightmarish if your timing is off and you hit one of the big cities during rush hour.

Yes...I now what you mean. We've been held up in traffic a couple of times. It is a pain but I don't really worry about it too much. I find it a little hard to plan that out unless it's within the first few hours of the trip. Plus, we are pretty much commando drivers. We drive 18 hours on day one and usually make it to Savannah or a little beyond. I don't know how my DH does it....he can drive from one gas stop to the next without needing to take a break. Then he fills the gas tank and goes again. We drove to Myrtle Beach in July and I drove 3 hours going down and he drove it all coming home.

 

[cslittle999]

Yes...I now what you mean. We've been held up in traffic a couple of times. It is a pain but I don't really worry about it too much. I find it a little hard to plan that out unless it's within the first few hours of the trip. Plus, we are pretty much commando drivers. We drive 18 hours on day one and usually make it to Savannah or a little beyond. I don't know how my DH does it....he can drive from one gas stop to the next without needing to take a break. Then he fills the gas tank and goes again. We drove to Myrtle Beach in July and I drove 3 hours going down and he drove it all coming home.

We're not quite that commando. I do all of the driving (I'm simply a terrible passenger) but do about a 13 hour day (gets us to somewhere around Charlotte) and then an 8 hour day. We usually get to WDW around 4 PM.

With the 77/79 route the cities are simply smaller. The only bad traffic we've been in was in Pittsburgh last trip and that was because they were reconstructing a bridge. The one time we drove I75 we spent hours in stop and go traffic around Atlanta.

 

[Ken_Breadbox]

A warning about speeding: don't.
We had police cars tailing us at various times along I-75 in Ohio, Tennessee and especially Georgia. For miles at a time. Just waiting to see if we'd do something illegal. Speed limits in the U.S. are not suggestions and certainly not jokes, the way they are along the 401. My American friends, when they come up here, are amazed at the 401 traffic. "That guy's going 80 mph easy! Where are your cops?"
I saw more cops in Ohio in six hours than I see in Ontario in six days.

 

[lee-annl]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'm going to stick with I 75, mostly because of the time of day we are heading & we'll need to make a gas stop around 2am. I also like the idea of staying on one highway & not making the drive more confusing then it needs to be, also rest stops with 3 kids will be easy to find. Our 5 pm leave time I think should work out okay & my hope is that by 9pm the following day we'll be at the townhouse we rented.

 

[cslittle999]

A warning about speeding: don't.
We had police cars tailing us at various times along I-75 in Ohio, Tennessee and especially Georgia. For miles at a time. Just waiting to see if we'd do something illegal. Speed limits in the U.S. are not suggestions and certainly not jokes, the way they are along the 401. My American friends, when they come up here, are amazed at the 401 traffic. "That guy's going 80 mph easy! Where are your cops?"
I saw more cops in Ohio in six hours than I see in Ontario in six days.

The Along I75 book has a lot of information on the regular speed traps that different counties have set up. It sure seems like a lot of counties see I75 as a revenue source that doesn't impact locals all that much.

On the 77/79 route you have to be incredibly careful while driving across US 19. We always set the cruise slightly below the speed limit because the police definitely target out of town plates. Even 1 mph over the limit will get you a ticket.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

On the 77/79 route you have to be incredibly careful while driving across US 19. We always set the cruise slightly below the speed limit because the police definitely target out of town plates. Even 1 mph over the limit will get you a ticket.

yep yep yep

 

[Mortlives]

yep yep yep

Fortunately, though, that's a very pretty stretch. Go slow, take your time, and enjoy the scenery, and all will be well.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

On our last trip i had my wife drive it. us-19 on the way down. I was tired. I woke up and was ready to drive by the time we got to the end of it. She said no way it drove her nutz to drive that slow and she put her foot to the floor lmao. On the way back i asked her if she wanted to drive that stretch. I got the look lmao. I must say though us-19 is a bit faster than before the max used to be 55 now there are 65's along it. Was nice

 

[Csaks]

We always take the I-79/77 route and it can save 2-3hrs over I-75.
Depending on time of year the drive through the mountains and the tunnels can be really spectacular.

If you are planning to drive in the winter I-75 is the better route.

As others have said it all depends on how many hours a day you plan to drive and do you make this an enjoyable part of your trip or just want to get to Florida as fast as possible.

I second this. Both trips back in Dec '07 & '08 we hit snow, freezing rain and good old rain. They definitely are cheap on their snow plow budgets in the Virginia's.

Regarding speed limit I supposed we can 'cheat' a little bit in USA? (ex: if speed limit is 65Mph, driving until 70-72Mph should be ok)

Not on US19, putt along like your grandma or it will cost you.

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Not on US19, putt along like your grandma or it will cost you.

I couldn't agree more. We do a couple mph slower than the speed limit. 2 trips ago we were about 30 miles from the end of US19 and another fellow ontarian was behind me for most of it. Well he decided close enough and passed me. 10 miles up the road he was pulled over. Going with the flow everywhere else seems to be fine just not US19.

 

[Joe Dirt 1972]

Old topic but a good one

We leave on Dec 12 from Bowmanville Ontario (east of Toronto) WE are going down 175 because of time of year and because we went 77/79/19/95 last year during the summer and I hated the drive. I never found it really any quicker than i75. Best way to drive i75 is to do your drive on weekends to avoid the largest cities rush hour traffic

Also something at every stop. I hated driving the mountians in WV and V. It took to long to get through them

 

[Csaks]

Old topic but a good one

We leave on Dec 12 from Bowmanville Ontario (east of Toronto) WE are going down 175 because of time of year and because we went 77/79/19/95 last year during the summer and I hated the drive. I never found it really any quicker than i75. Best way to drive i75 is to do your drive on weekends to avoid the largest cities rush hour traffic

Also something at every stop. I hated driving the mountians in WV and V. It took to long to get through them

I would love to try it one day but I can't wrap my head around going west for 4 hrs before turning south.

 

[bankr63]

I would love to try it one day but I can't wrap my head around going west for 4 hrs before turning south.

You know this has been a head scratcher for me. My local Chapters store (Ottawa) has about 10 copies of the Along I-75 book, and I have to ask myself who in their right mind would buy this in Ottawa? Detroit is like 8 hours away from here in the wrong direction before you catch the route. I haven't seen a single copy of the Drive I-95 book in that same store for years, and that is the route that 99.9% of Eastern Ontarians would take for at least part of the way (although we prefer I-81 most of the way, picking up I-95 in S Carolina).

I have to think that there is some merchandiser in Toronto who picks which books the stores stock who has no idea about geography.