East or West route?

Hey guys,

I%26#39;m a Brit studying in NC, got some friends coming over for a week or 2 in March. We%26#39;re definitely going to spend a few days at a friend%26#39;s cabin in western NC (near Asheville), then drive up to DC.

Got 3 options:

-blast through Virginia as fast as possible to get to DC and spend time there.

- take an eastern route up through VA, stopping at Williamsburg etc.

Advantages: williamsburg sounds cool, if a bit kitsch.

less driving time.

Disadvantages: boring drive.

- take western route up to Roanoke and Charlottesville

Advantages: beautiful drive through the mountains

Disadvantages: roanoke and charlottesville don%26#39;t sound as cool as williamsburg

Long drive (and I%26#39;ll be the only driver, though that might change)

What do you think? Super-grateful for any advice!

East or West route?

Where are you leaving from to go to DC, Ashville?

As that would make a difference on the route I would suggest you take.

East or West route?

Sorry, I wasn%26#39;t clear.

I%26#39;m based in Chapel Hill, but the cabin I%26#39;m going to be staying in is near Asheville.

So we can either go back to Chapel Hill and then take the eastern route, or just head north up the western route?

I lived in Williamsburg for 5 years, and I loved it. But to a Brit such as yourself, you%26#39;re right, it will probably seem kitsch to you. My husband always marvels at the truly ancient sites we visit in Europe and compares them to the merely old places we have here. I%26#39;m imagining Williamsburg will seem similar to visiting Zaanse Schans near Amsterdam if you%26#39;ve ever been there.

My mother used to live outside of Asheville and the route I used from northern VA to get to her (in reverse) would be I-77 N to I-81 N to I-66 E. It%26#39;s about 7 hours or so of driving (negligable difference in time as if you took I-40E to I-85N to I-95N). The mountains are nice, but they also get monotonous. However, I would recommend this route simply for the fact that you%26#39;d be avoiding 95. Traffic often slows down going through Fredericksburg and it stays that way up to DC. It irritates us to no end when we%26#39;re on our way back from the inlaws in VaBch.

For a little more scenic and little bit longer route, you could leave 81 and head over to Charlottesville on I-64 E and then go up US29. This all depends on if you want to poke around and take breaks and see stuff or just zoom through and make the drive as fast as you can. When I%26#39;m driving solo, I just want it over with as soon as possible. If I had a travelling buddy, I would probably take the little stops.

I agree with the previous poster, I would probably take the mountain route. I really hate driving on 95.

It sounds like you are planning to make little stops along the way. Suggestions for the mountains are: to stop at some of the caverns such as Endless or Luray, a bit touristy, but still really interesting to see. Stop by Natural Bridge. Wonder around the small town of Wytheville, or the larger town of Winchester. If you don%26#39;t mind a bit of a longer drive you could drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway for a bit or take Sky Line Drive. Beautiful overlooks on both. Depending on the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway you take you can find some neat little towns off the parkway along with a couple decent wineries, such as Chateau Morrisette.

Here are a few websites that may help you plan:

www.visitshenandoah.org/plan/index.html

http://www.shenandoahvalleyweb.com/

http://www.nps.gov/shen/

www.virginia.org/site/features.asp…

Hope this helps.

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