Originally Posted by
Analise
My concern about the ferry is that we'll end up having to wait for something like 1-2 hours for the next boat assuming, of course, that the lake is not frozen. How cheap is it, by the way?
We're expecting about a 6 -6 1/2 hour drive.
Here's the link:
http://www.ferries.com/north_schedule.asp
The ferries run every 15-20 minutes all day, and I've never had to wait for more than 30 minutes outside of peak commuting times. One-way is $9.50, cash only. The Grand Isle ferry runs 365 days per year thanks to USCG icebreakers. The other 2 (Burlington and Charlotte) shut down when the ice gets too thick.
6 to 6.5 hours may be a bit optimistic, as weather is obviously fairly tricky at times, and the mainly 2-lane roads are twisty and have lots of small towns and low speed limits. I would figure on 3.5-4 getting to Burlington, another 30 from there to the ferry in Grand Isle. The crossing is only 15-20 minutes, depending on wait times. From the other side, it's probably 90 minutes or so to LP. I'd budget 8 hours from experience.