silotwo

I'm planning on taking a road trip with my wife (will be the first one without kids in 25 years) to visit her sister and niece in Richmond. I am looking for route suggestions that are a little more specific than "avoid route 95". We'll be leaving from Allentown Pa on the 12th of June.

This is intended to be a relaxed pleasure trip while the wife can still travel, so how long it takes is of no concern. I am more interested in a scenic drive with some Porsche friendly roads. And a good entry point to a bit of the Blue Ridge Parkway would be nice too.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

ducbil

I generally go through/near Leesburg VA and the horse farm country south of there. Gorgeous rolling hills.

washington dc porsche

GW Parkway is a nice route along the Potomac.

VA951

15 south out of Harrisburg, go west on Rt 7 at Leesberg, Va, south on Rt 340 at Berryville to I66, go west to Front Royal and pick up the Skyline Drive south.
At that point you can go east to Richmond on various roads, Rt 33 is pretty good.

johnkuz

An option as well is once in leesburg continue on 15south to 29 south to 17. This will drop you on. 95 but at Fredericksburg. Traffic should be light on. 95 from there.

silotwo

Thank you! Good info that will allow me to plan a good route.

sjfehr

I make the Harrisburg-VA Beach trip routinely, and so long as you're not hitting DC on a holiday weekend, there is no faster way to Richmond than 95. 15 to 270 to 495 to 95 will likely be the fastest. You will likely lose 15 minutes in DC no matter which what time of day it is, but during rush hour, the alternate routes are all bad, too. Plan your trip to avoid hitting DC in rush hour and you'll be fine; I like to leave Harrisburg between 10-11am, which would get you to Richmond before 3. Do bear in mind that 95 is designed for rush-hour traffic which peters out with distance; holiday traffic OTOH snarls when the lanes reduce and turns 95 between DC and Richmond into a 90 mile parking lot and you need to do whatever you can to avoid it.

Another good option is 15 through Leesburg and Manassas; I can't stand it because it's a lot of 2 lane roads with no passing zones and you will invariably be travelling at or below speed limit. (My parents prefer it, but they're usually the ones travelling below speed limit holding everyone else up.) You can either cut back to 95 via 17 if traffic looks good, or wind your way south through the other secondary highways and come in via 64. There are several nice civil war battlefields along this route which are worth stopping and checking out; if you just hit one, see Manassas/Bull Run.

Skyline drive is well out of your way, but as it's a destination unto itself, it may be worth it. It's a really really nice drive. Very low speed limits, though, and a lot of slow tourists. (The mountains west are nicer from a pure driver's perspective if you're looking for more "fun" roads.)