Originally Posted by
octr202
Worth noting for ecgz88 that it's pretty hard to avoid tolls in the northeast. In addition to all (or nearly all) Hudson River Crossings, there's also few or no ways across the Delaware River/Bay or the major waterways in Maryland (Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore Harbor, Susquehanna River) without a toll in at least one direction.
So I agree on the Hudson, no way to avoid a toll crossing there.
But it seems it's not all that difficult between EWR and DC, per Google Maps. You take Route 1 down to 95 before Trenton; no Delaware crossing toll, no NJ Turnpike toll. Seems pretty easy to avoid the DE Turnpike toll by exiting 95 and rejoining an exit or two further south. No toll for the Susquehanna crossing that I'm aware of (or Google Maps is aware of). And then you can take 695 counter-clockwise around Baltimore to avoid the harbor tunnel tolls. As I mentioned, it only adds about 20 miles (mostly the long way around Baltimore), and what looks like 45-60 minutes of time (in addition to Baltimore, probably mainly the Delaware Tpk detour and taking Route 1 through NJ due to traffic lights).