pennsylvania to florida by motorhome

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wouter

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Aug 18, 2013
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Hi All,

I want to collect some of the experiences other people have collected from doing an motorhome trip at the US east coast. We recently moved in from Europe to Pennsylvania and are looking into scheduling our next summer trip. Since we will be only 2 years in US we would like to rent a motorhome to see as much as we can of this erea. What would like to do is rent a motorhome and drive south from Philadelphia to Florida (and back). We will be travelling with 3 children (ages 8, 6, 4) and would like to focus on visiting the state parks, coastal scenes and maybe on an occasion take our kids to one of the child friendly parks (definitely not the main goal like others for visiting Florida). Overall we are looking forward to the freedom of traveling with an RV and stop at unique locations. Time we would take is 3 weeks. My initial searchs on this topic online showed that many people discourage this trip because the east coast and florida is less suited for RV travel and campgrounds. So any tips, comments or experiences for our travel plans are welcome!

thanks.
Wouter.
 
I wouldn't discourage the trip at all. Plenty of campgrounds in the Southeastern USA. We live in Florida and travel north for the summer and find plenty of stops along the way.

Is it just three weeks for the round trip? That's not a lot of time to see or do much. RV travel is best done at only 200-300 miles/day, with stops long enough to see each area you are in. Will you spend several days at Disneyworld & Universal & Sea World in Orlando? And other area attractions? Plenty of fun there for adults and kids.
 
Don't know who gave you the information on the east coast but they haven't traveled it if they think FL is not RV friendly.  We have made the trip many, many time over the last thirty years and often with our kids.  I would consider a stop in DC to at least see some of the Smithsonian's, like Air and Space,.  Maybe even Cape Canaveral when you hit FL.  And of course, Disney/Universal and Wet 'n wild in Orlando.  If you want an incredible RV park for the kids, stop at Fort Wilderness when you are at Disney. Bring money but maybe the ultimate kids park.  Loads to do without leaving the park.  Three weeks will push you severely. 
 
Welcome to the US. My first impression from your statement is "Do not try to do too much". One could spend two weeks in Washington, DC and not see everything to be seen around Washington. The same thing could be said about traveling along the east coast and/or Florida. Again, welcome to the US and I hope that you have a great time.

Frank
 
We did a similar circuit trip many years ago, we just started in Maryland.  We were anxious to get south so just did Rt 95 going down but coming back headed a little farther west and came up the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Dr through Shenandoah National Park- beautiful but slow going if you have the time.  A few off the beaten track things I love in Florida would be some of the springs- float down the Ichetucknee in tubes, swimming in Blue Springs or Ginnie Springs, camp in a lovely but small  O'leno State Park, canoe down Juniper Springs in Ocala National Forest (camping available there also).  St Augustine is a lot of fun- tour the historic town, gatorland and great beaches.  Just south of St Augustine some other beaches that are really nice is crescent beach and Anastasia Island.  I would say don't even try for the Keys, much to far to add on to a 3 week trip but the Gulf coast is really nice and could hit Busch Gardens.  In Georgia I really enjoyed exploring Cumberland Island National Seashore but you can only get there on a ferry, Jekyll Island is interesting too and they do have camping.  Of course, as Frank mentioned, DC but so many things there- we live 30 minutes away and still haven't done every thing there.

Enjoy!
Cheryl
Edit: Removed excessive white space.
 
Thanks all,

Very useful information and this makes us more comfortable with our holiday plans. We realize that there is too much to visit in just 3 weeks... DC is quite nearby where we live so we would visit this over the weekends. The idea is to drive directly to virginia beach or somewhere around and then drive to florida in 200 to 300miles day trips as frank suggested. Any interesting RV stops in north & south carolina or georgia would be helpful but i will also scroll through the massive amount of info on this forum.

Wouter
 
You haven't indicated what you like to do, so suggestions will be all over the map. Virginia Beach and Myrtle Beach (SC) are tourist meccas with nice beaches, but some people avoid them just for that reason - too crowded and too much like city life. Some may like more secluded camping,  others may enjoy swimming pools, while still others like museums and cultural exhibits, of which there are many in the Southeast. Some examples that are popular include the Mighty Eighth Air Force museum near Savannah, Calloway Gardens in Georgia, the Biltmore estate in NC, tours of old Savannah, Stone Mountain, etc. Then there are the lighthouses and barrier reefs of the NC coast, Colonial Williamsburg in VA, South of the Border, and so on. Almost anything you can think ofis there somewhere along the way.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
Virginia Beach and Myrtle Beach (SC) are tourist meccas with nice beaches, but some people avoid them just for that reason - too crowded and too much like city life.

Like Yogi Berra said when asked about a NYC restaurant; "nobody goes there anymore, its too crowded!"  ;D
 
Welcome to the USA and the RV Forum.  When I look at where you want to go (e.g. PA to FL) I wonder if you've looked at the distances involved.  It's about 1,100 miles from Philadelphia PA to Tampa FL as an example.  Just driving that distance and returning will take you about a week.  That's a lot of driving with young children!  I would encourage you to perhaps lower your expectations by shortening the distance and leave more time for sightseeing and playing, especially playing so the kids have fun too.  Florida has a lot to offer but you need time to do it in, especially during the summer when lines to get in places can be pretty long.  Virginia has the Shenandoahs and Luray Caverns, Tennessee has Dollywood, Kentucky has Blanchard Caverns and the Kentucky horse country, Savannah GA has horse-drawn carriage tours, plus all the things other people have mentioned.  There's no shortage of places to visit!  And you will be able to find campgrounds (see Good Sam RV Travel Guide and Camground Directory in all the states.

ArdraF
 
We come from the Scranton, PA area and head south every summer. Did Virginia Beach, but we prefer Myrtle Beach. If you want to camp on the beach, I have not found anything until you hit North Carolina.

Busch Gardens in Williamsburg VA and Colonial Williamsburg
We have been to Kings Dominion on Doswell, VA, campground right next door with shuttles.
Carowinds in Charolette, NC (didn't camp there though, and this is more inland)
State park camping in Myrtle Beach, but we like Myrtle Beach Travel Park.

Stayed at quite a few campgrounds along 95 between PA and Myrtle Beach.

Lots to see and do!
 
One of the most fantastic places for children is Discovery Cove.  Our grandchildren absolutely loved it.  Although pricey, EVERYTHING is included: food (not junk, healthy appetizing food stations set us throughout), suntan lotion, towels, etc.  The experience with the marine life and beautiful beaches is something that will last a lifetime.  The kids could care less about Disney World, prefer Discovery Cove.  They limit how many people are there each day, so there are no lines and over crowding.
 
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