Nice stop half way between Savannah and Washington DC
 

Nice stop half way between Savannah, GA and Washington DC
Expedia states: Total Route 580 mi 9 hrs 33 mins
We may need to to make an overnight-stop in a nice place, town, village.
It should not be more than 30 +/- miles off our route. I can't see any nice spot between this cities!?!

Chapel Hill, NC

Try one of the cities near RDU. Consider driving a lot the first day and have a lazy second day. If so, RIC would qualify.

Good call. ;)

Stay at the Sienna Hotel, a nice European-style hotel (they even allow pets IIRC). The restaurant in the hotel, Il Palio Ristorante, is very good but can be pricey.

Looked on the Internet, very nice hotel. But it's about 50 miles, 1:00 hour more driving..... Nothing near our route?

Up 95 through the Carolinas? Either you can go off the path east and get to the water or get off the path west and do Chapel Hill (which I obviously highly recommend)...but the 95 corridor is pretty awful from the Georgia border to Richmond. And that's giving a lot of credit to Richmond.

Rocky Mount, NC has some okay hotels and restaurants. I stayed at the Hampton Inn there not too long ago for around $74 a night.

I drive to and from the Savannah area once or twice a year---more if the airfare ex-IAD or CHO is too expensive--- and 9 1/2 hours should be about right to DC. It's really not all that bad a drive to do in one day. And this time of year, you can easily do the whole thing during daylight hours.

agree good call...I always stay at the Carolina Inn off of Franklin and Cameron. Like the other hotel mentioned previously on thread..it can be pricey

But Chapel Hill is way out of the way if you're heading up I-95, the most direct route from Savannah to Washington.

It'd be much easier just to get up early and drive the whole way in one day if time is of the essence.

Come to Wilmington, NC....my hometown! It's a beautiful time of year down here.

yep you are correct...I was thinking about it and logged back on to say never mind...well that am I am slightly addicted to this dang site! :)

I think the 95 corridor is pretty awful just about the whole way. When we lived in Baltimore and would drive down to Kiawah, we would just drive until tired, then stay at the first hotel we saw off 95. There's really not much along that stretch unless you want to detour a fair bit off 95, which of course just adds to the travel time as others have noted.

A more scenic route from DC to Savannah, that probably takes an extra 2 hours or so, is:

I-66 west to US 29 south to I-85 south to I-77 south to US 321 south.

This takes you through Charlottesville, Lynchburg, and the Blue Ridge foothills of Virginia; and Greensboro, Charlotte, and Columbia in the Carolinas. The slowest part is US 321 through South Carolina, which is only 2 lanes and goes through many small towns with 30 mph speed limits.

Hotel options on this route are noticeably more upscale than those on 95. Charlotte is a nice stopping point.

Thanks for all the advise. I'll look into it....have still time .. we'll go first week of May.
Thanks again.

With that route, you want to try to avoid Charlotte around rush hour. Also, from I-77 in Columbia, SC, you can take I-26 SE to I-95 and then I-95 to Savannah. You don't totally avoid I-95 this way, and the scenery on I-26 East of Columbia isn't much better than I-95, but I expect this would probably be faster than 321, although I haven't been on that section of 321 in years.