Nashville to Washington DC

ellie055

Hi,
Have three nights to get from Nashville to Washington DC in August and would like to see some of the Blue Ridge Mountains/Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you.

ProudDUB

This should give you some good info to plan your trip. It's the National Parks Service/Great Smokies official website.

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm

ellie055

Hi,
Thanks for reply. Yea, I have seen that website along with lots of others but am just finding it all a bit overwhelming. I guess I am looking for someone with knowledge of the area to suggest a plan for the three days, e.g. where to stay and how best to incorporate some interesting/spectacular sights and scenic drives. We are also interested in doing white water rafting.
Thank you.

Ponster

ellie055 wrote: »

I guess I am looking for someone with knowledge of the area to suggest a plan for the three days

You're talking about a distance that is twice the length of Ireland so you're unlikely to find someone to give you very detailed info unless they've also done the trip themselves.

I'd suggest a quick detour north to Louisville and Lexington to visit some Civil War towns.

whitey1

here's a couple of suggestions.....not sure your age or interests or what time of week your traveling

Have never been, but have heard great things about Pigeon Forge TN, for people who have kids

Ashville NC is a hub for the arts and would be a great place to spend the night? I have seen some great write ups about their restraints

Not sure what type of budget your on but there are a couple of classic old 5 Star hotels along your route...Greenbrier in WV and the Biltmore in NC

if you are traveling over the weekend but if you could pick up one of the big college football games, that would be a once in a lifetime experience. eg Tennessee play in a 102,000 capacity stadium that sells out every game

spideog7

North of Nashville is Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, it's likely a little out of your way but it's very impressive.

South of Nashville in Lynchburg is the Jack Daniel's Distillery if you're into that, I've never been so can't speak of it, I'm sure you can get tours. Again it's out of your way.

I drove from Nashville across to Asheville, personally I hated Pigeon Forge, it's very East Coast beach town type area (it's got a "Ripley's Believe It or Not" for example!) the quickest way to Gatlinburg is right through it so you'll see it yourself, if I was going back I'd go south and go around it!

Smokey Mountains National Park is very nice but it's nothing compared to the National Parks out west. The drive right through it from Gatlinburg to Asheville on part of the Blue Ridge Parkway is a fun and beautiful drive. There are not a lot of other roads through the park but there are plenty of hiking trails and stuff.

I highly recommend the New River Gorge Bridge in WV, driving across it is pretty crazy, and there's a little viewing area where you can pull off and get great views of it, it's on the way North but might a bit far off your route. You'd have to go north on I77 to get to Route 19, which is the road the bridge is on. From there you'd go to Hico, WV and take Route 60 all the way back to I64 (I just planned this trip from Google maps but route 60 actually looks like a fantastic drive, especially if it happened to be Autumn) then come back onto I64 to get to I81. That definitely looks like a more exciting route than taking I81 all the way but according to Google Maps it makes the trip from Wytheville, VA to Lexington, VA 4hrs (not counting stops) vs taking I81 which would do it in under 2hrs.

Between there and DC you're driving through the heart of the Appalachians and even the Interstates have some really nice vista's. If you're driving a half decent car and have some time try picking out a state Route to drive on (see above), they're always fun through those hills and valleys. I usually like to find one that parallels the Interstate so if it turns out to be a bad idea I can jump back on, in that area looks like that might be a challenge.

After you've done all that be prepared for DC traffic, cause it is really terrible, the rush hour times are long with only brief breaks in between. So try your best to avoid them if you can at all, an hour spent in the mountains is better than a half an hour in traffic!