<p>Sorry if this has been covered previously, but my search didn’t come up with anything. My daughter will be making her first real road trip to move into George Washington University summer housing in conjunction with an internship. She will be flying to Newark to pick up her belongings left at friends’, then will be driving from Haworth, NJ to DC this coming weekend on either Saturday or Sunday morning . We have mapquest directions, but are unsure if they give easiest directions. Any advice? It seems to me that I had read on some previous thread to avoid I-95 at any cost, but is there an alternative?
I appreciate any advice.</p>
<p>I’m not sure where Haworth, NJ is, but we’ve always taken 95 when driving to DC, and we have made that trip many, many times. As long as there’s no construction, she avoids rush hour(s), and it isn’t a holiday, your D should be fine on 95.</p>
<p>We live in West Orange, NJ and go to Baltimore quite a bit. We take the GSP to the Turnpike and continue on I95. I95 is the fastest way on to DC, but folks in Baltimore recently told me (on a business visit in April) that traffic around DC can be very slow even during “off-peak” hours. I personally like Mapquest over Yahoo! maps. Do you belong to AAA? If so, stop by and get DC and MD maps from them.</p>
<p>DC is horrendous any time of the day, just add in more time than mapquest states. Also remember NJ is a bumper to bumper parking lot going southbound Friday night through Sunday (Beach traffic) it is no better in Delaware. My mom lives in NJ and we live in VA. If she is not on the road by 6 in the Newark area, she will be in a dead stop from Exit 8A through exit 7. Then a slow crawl after that until she hits Delaware, where she’ll hit a stop for everyone exiting to Reheboth Beach. From Newark to DC on a good day is 4 hours pure drive, no stopping, I would give it at least 5-6 hrs on a Sat or Sunday…remember alot of people are traveling south for beach homes…I mean alot</p>
<p>turnpike is definitely the way to go, even though, as said above, it can get crowded.</p>
<p>One caveat–Be sure you stay on the Turnpike all the way to Delaware. I95 actually splits off at one point, meanders toward Penn and thru, and then the Turnpike empties into it again in Delaware. I always worry about non-natives seeing the I95 sign point off to PA, when staying on the Turnpike is seems more direct.</p>
<p>(Don’t know if that ever happens to folk, but it seems like it could.)</p>
<p>I do 95 south to Baltimore, then the Harbor Tunnel Thruway (I895, I think) through Baltimore. This connects directly to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (295) which is the old parkway down to DC (no trucks). This crosses over the Washington Beltway and continues down through Washington. This route is better than the beltways at any time of day or night, in my experience. It’s well marked with signage for the Harbor Tunnel Thruway and the Baltimore Washington Parkway.</p>
<p>She’s on her own with a DC map to get from there over to Georgetown (New York Ave or Penn Ave to the SE Freeway in downtown DC look promising).</p>
<p>My daughter is moving into her first rental house and starting her post-college job in Washington this week, but with the IKEA trips complete, she’s sending her car home with mom and relying on the subway system, which is quite extensive.</p>
<p>ID, you like that better than across the bridge? Just asking.</p>
<p>msjhop: Have made this trip many times from MA (D’s a rising senior at GW, and is there for the summer). We take the Garden State Turnpike (no trucks) to the New Jersey Turnpike, I295 over the Delaware Memorial Bridge to I95S- and through Baltimore and Ft. McHenry tunnel, to 495W. We get off 495 (the beltway) at exit 30 (US29S, Silver Spring, Colesville Rd). Colesville Rd. to 16th St. to New Hampshire Ave. to Washington Circle round-about. This will put her right onto the GW campus. As stated above she will probably hit congestion around exit 7-8 on the NJ turnpike, (always) and likely at the toll/Delaware Mem. bridge. Lots of tolls on these roads, make sure she has cash if she doesn’t have EZ Pass. I would leave early in the am,…my child wouldn’t, lol. At least she won’t hit commuter traffic in the DC area. We find the DC traffic comparable to Boston traffic. PM if you want more detailed directions or have questions. Best wishes to your daughter and her summer internship.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the trick is to leave before the crows get up. You will now have the Jersey shore traffic, which is just awful (I am sure you know). You don’t want her tired while driving, so I would suggest having her go to sleep extremely early (she needs her sleep) and get out by 5 am (in our house we would think about 4 am, but it would never happen). She will pay for sleeping in, while on the road if she leaves at a normal hour. Oh, EZ pass is a blessing!</p>
<p>My parents live in South Jersey and we don’t go to visit them, and they don’t come up here from Fridays to Mondays starting around memorial day through labor day. We all hate I-95 on that section from the Philadelphia airport through Delaware. Yes, leaving very, very early solves alot of the problem. We live an hour from the problem area so that’s hard to do. BUT, it’s certainly the most direct way to get to DC from NJ.</p>
<p>My new favorite internet map site is google maps. You just google the destination address and then it asks you if you want directions, and if so then from where. The best part is you can wiggle the route around if it has you going a way you don’t want to go. I think you can even download it to a cell phone somehow.</p>
<p>Thanks so much to all who replied. As is so often the case with teenagers, plans have now changed. The car which they planned on using has had some problems, so they are now travelling by train. Given all the comments on traffic issues, I am quite happy to fund the train tickets and avoid the driving, which sounds pretty challenging. I only wish change had come about a couple of days earlier so I could snag a discount fare. Again, thanks for the help - this is always the place to come for advice on some many issues.</p>
<p>For summertime I would stay away from the GSP…most people use that for the beach. As a former NJ resident, we left for the beach by 8 in the a.m. and we are Central Jersey.</p>