# Toronto to Florida Drive I75 or I95??



## LukesMum

Hi, leaving for St.Pete's Aug. 6 and am just wondering...we've always driven I75 to Florida but have been told I95 is shorter...just wondering other than the shorter distance what about the scenery and places to stay and stop at? any info would be appreciated.Thanks


----------



## dancin Disney style

It depends where you are starting from as to which route is shorter.  If you are in the GTA to Niagara area then yes the I-79/77/95 is shorter.  If you are closer to London/Windsor then the I-75 is the best route.

As far as where to stay that really depends on how much driving per day that you do.  Scenery....just not into it so I can't comment.


----------



## CR Resort Fan 4 Life

My family and I always take Interstate 75 when driving down because we think it's the fastest route, so that's what I would recommend.


----------



## hockey mom

We take 75 down during winter months but 95 any other time. It is a far more beautiful drive. 

I can't help with hotels because we always drive straight through.


----------



## CR Resort Fan 4 Life

When it comes to places to stay at I would say no matter which route you take that you should try and stay at Hampton Inn's. Everyone I have stayed at has always been very clean and each of their locations offer a complimentary continental breakfast with hot and cold items.


----------



## cslittle999

We've found the I79/77 route to be about 3 hours quicker than I75 from the GTA. Some of it was the number of cities that you drive through on the I75 route. The speed limit goes up and down and there is a lot more traffic. How much the traffic impacts you depends on time of day.

If you want to leave late in the evening and drive through the night then I would take the I75 route because the exits are a lot more regular and there will be gas stations open.

Weather can be a deciding factor too. You really don't want to be in a winter storm in the mountains in West Virginia and Virginia. That said the stretch of 401 between London and Windsor can be nasty too.

The mountains on the I79/77 route only make up about four hours out of a total driving time of 21 hours (actually it less than that since the 21 hours includes all stops except for the overnight hotel stay).


----------



## stefanospops

According to Triptiks from the caa site leaving from near Toronto airport is about 150 kms shorter to go I79/77/95 versus I75.


----------



## 4boyz

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.

We make the drive part of the trip and start shopping in Grove City and Washington, PA because of no tax on clothes. We stay in Cranberry, PA night one and drive to Charlotte, NC for night two and hit Orlando day three.
By day three we have a good idea of what we want to buy and the best place to get it.


----------



## Mortlives

Another vote for the I-77 route. Driving through the mountains is stunning. We normally stop in Summersville/Beckley. Obey the speed limit and you won't have a problem.


----------



## cslittle999

Mortlives said:


> Another vote for the I-77 route. Driving through the mountains is stunning. We normally stop in Summersville/Beckley. Obey the speed limit and you won't have a problem.


I refuse to spend any money in Summerville as a personal protest for their preying on non-locals with their speed traps.


----------



## Frameboy

We've done I-77 / I-79 about 8 or 9 times now and we prefer that route.

We did I-75 once, but we went through so many cities, and the traffic was NUTS, plus we waited HOURS at the Detroit border crossing.

I DID get a speeding ticket on State Hwy 19 once (Summerville)...  $165 for 10 mph over, so beware that.   Other than that, no problems.

We normally stop about an hour or so into North Carolina, so we can zip through Charlotte early in the morning.

Really the only cities you pass through are Charlotte and Jacksonville, which is GREAT!

I'm leaving tomorrow for Disney... and I'll be on I-77/79!  Honk if you see me


----------



## bdoyledimou

Frameboy said:


> We've done I-77 / I-79 about 8 or 9 times now and we prefer that route.
> 
> We did I-75 once, but we went through so many cities, and the traffic was NUTS, plus we waited HOURS at the Detroit border crossing.
> 
> I DID get a speeding ticket on State Hwy 19 once (Summerville)...  $165 for 10 mph over, so beware that.   Other than that, no problems.
> 
> We normally stop about an hour or so into North Carolina, so we can zip through Charlotte early in the morning.
> 
> Really the only cities you pass through are Charlotte and Jacksonville, which is GREAT!
> 
> I'm leaving tomorrow for Disney... and I'll be on I-77/79!  Honk if you see me



We will also be doing i-79 route.. done it many times before, and prefer the country atmosphere.. we also have always departed Toronto at 5 PM, and ended up driving through the mountains at night every time (both directions!). This time, we are leaving at 9 am, so we will get to actually see the mountains this trip.. i hear they are beautiful!!


----------



## Alderbrook

When I was a kid we used to go down the 75 until they started doing triptiks from CAA, then we found out that the 77/79/95 was a shorter way from CAA & from then on we've always gone down 95.  I love their triptiks at CAA & how they take you away from the cities & show you short cuts.

Just missing Atlanta is a huge timesaver because of traffic.  My mom used to have a panic attack everytime we got near Atlanta.  It's very rare to hit large amounts of traffic going down the 95 route & it is much more scenic.  & we've never got lost going that way.

& do watch the speed limits near Beckley on that whole stretch of highway, there are speed traps & are they are undetectable at dark.  I always do the speed limit & most of it is 70, but I have seen the police sitting waiting for people.


----------



## bdoyledimou

Question for those with smart phones.. 

has anyone used the Trapster app?  it's a free navigation app that apparently alerts and warns about known speed traps in real time as you travel.

Just wondering if anyone uses it.


----------



## slalanc01

Mortlives said:


> Another vote for the I-77 route. Driving through the mountains is stunning. We normally stop in Summersville/Beckley. Obey the speed limit and you won't have a problem.



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)


----------



## Mortlives

slalanc01 said:


> 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)



For most of the US yes, but not in Summersville/Becksley. They advertise that the speed limit is strictly enforced and it is. If you're going 70 there, you can, and probably will, get a ticket.


----------



## Frameboy

slalanc01 said:


> 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)



Yea... I don't cheat on 19.   They got me doing 75 in a 65 and it was $163.  It's a flat rate ticket, and they don't even tell you how much on the spot.

"Call this number and they'll tell you the fine."  When I called it, they didn't ask me for my ticket number, name or anything.  She just grumbled "$163 on a postal money order" and hung up.

Of course... the only reason I paid it is because I drive through there just about every year.

It's only a couple of hours through 19, so I drive it at the posted limit the whole way... and you have to watch because it changes!


ALSO... watch out for the storms!  We came home in May once, and it rained the WHOLE first day, HARD.  They don't have good drainage on their highways so you can hydroplane if you are not careful.  We once saw a tornado forming in the clouds near Charlotte.


----------



## Tower

cslittle999 said:


> I refuse to spend any money in Summerville as a personal protest for their preying on non-locals with their speed traps.


I agree 110%!


----------



## NancyK

slalanc01 said:


> 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)



Agree with everyone else.  Okay in most areas.  Don't speed on Highway 19.


----------



## Thumper_ehhhhh

If you leave 9am you will hit traffic at the border buffalo and pittsbourgh. We always leave 5am from oakville. Border by 630 am and you will clear bufalo before the morning rush, pittsbourgh just after 930 beckley by 1pm. Thats with one fuel stop just south of pitts and food. With the odd bathroom stop. We made it to orangeburg holiday inn express by 730 pm. Then a short 5 hrs to daytona. Oh and i agree do not speed on us-19 they pray on out of state plates and love canadian plates big time. We had one guy from ontario follow us until about 10 miles from the end and decided ot was safe to speed again. Well we passed him 5 miles down the road while he was getting a ticket.


----------



## 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

lee-annl said:


> 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

cslittle999 said:


> 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

dancin Disney style said:


> 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

cslittle999 said:


> 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

dancin Disney style said:


> 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

Ken_Breadbox said:


> 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

cslittle999 said:


> 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

Thumper_ehhhhh said:


> 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

4boyz said:


> 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.  



slalanc01 said:


> 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

Csaks said:


> 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

Joe Dirt 1972 said:


> 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

Csaks said:


> 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.


----------



## Joe Dirt 1972

Csaks said:


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



Its really going south west lol


----------



## wdwgoofydaddy

We have done both routes from Toronto Canada and tend to drive straight through the night. Our friends like the I95 route and we prefer I75.

Here are the 2 different write up on both routes plus a gas calculation too.

Hope this helps

I95 (Video)
http://memoriesofdisney.com/2014/10/planning-the-drive-to-wdw-another-perspective-and-an-i95-video-diary/#.VIYzF1XF8WE

I75 Report
http://memoriesofdisney.com/2014/06/how-we-do-the-24-hour-drive-from-toronto-to-orlando/#.VIYzUFXF8WE

Gas report using I75
http://memoriesofdisney.com/2014/09/the-cost-to-drive-from-toronto-to-orlando/#.VIYzflXF8WE


----------



## djrobinn

Planning on driving down from Brampton, ON to Orlando, FL during March break 2016.  Leaving early Friday morning at 5 AM and thinking of booking a hotel for the night perhaps in Charlotte, NC.  The route we're thinking of taking is the 407, QEW, I-90, I-79, US-19, I-77, I-26, I-95 and the I-4.

I've done the drive to Destin, FL and Hilton Head Island, SC.  It worked out quite well and the financial savings are definitely well worth it.

Hopefully we won't hit bad snow on the way.  I was originally planning on getting Winter Tires this winter for my 2012 Odyssey but thinking of getting a new set of 3 Seasons again this year as I don't want to drive to Florida on Winter Tires or go through the hassle of changing them over in the middle of March.


----------



## hardis5

djrobinn said:


> Planning on driving down from Brampton, ON to Orlando, FL during March break 2016.  Leaving early Friday morning at 5 AM and thinking of booking a hotel for the night perhaps in Charlotte, NC.  The route we're thinking of taking is the 407, QEW, I-90, I-79, US-19, I-77, I-26, I-95 and the I-4.
> 
> I've done the drive to Destin, FL and Hilton Head Island, SC.  It worked out quite well and the financial savings are definitely well worth it.
> 
> Hopefully we won't hit bad snow on the way.  I was originally planning on getting Winter Tires this winter for my 2012 Odyssey but thinking of getting a new set of 3 Seasons again this year as I don't want to drive to Florida on Winter Tires or go through the hassle of changing them over in the middle of March.



We did the same route in our Odyssey this past February from Brampton stopping in Columbia SC (we've done a few time this distance south) without snows.  Down was no issue and was glad down there not having but the drive back in bad snow through PA, they would have come in handy.  We did the same drive March Break 2013 and snow was not an issue at all.


----------



## dsneygirl

djrobinn said:


> Planning on driving down from Brampton, ON to Orlando, FL during March break 2016.  Leaving early Friday morning at 5 AM and thinking of booking a hotel for the night perhaps in Charlotte, NC.  The route we're thinking of taking is the 407, QEW, I-90, I-79, US-19, I-77, I-26, I-95 and the I-4.
> 
> I've done the drive to Destin, FL and Hilton Head Island, SC.  It worked out quite well and the financial savings are definitely well worth it.
> 
> Hopefully we won't hit bad snow on the way.  I was originally planning on getting Winter Tires this winter for my 2012 Odyssey but thinking of getting a new set of 3 Seasons again this year as I don't want to drive to Florida on Winter Tires or go through the hassle of changing them over in the middle of March.




we just did this drive last week.  Charlotte is about 12 hours so depends how far you want to drive on day 1.  We left at 4:45am and stopped at midnight in Jacksonville FL.  Then it was only 3 hours the next morning.  From Charlotte you're another 9-10 hrs depending on traffic.  We also once stayed in Charlotte and the morning rush hour (8am) was terrible)


----------

