Best Driving Route to Baltimore

[swissmiss]

Just wondering if anyone has driven to Baltimore from Buffalo, and if so, what is the best route to take. I had heard that it was only 6 1/2 hrs. from Buffalo, but my Mapquest said it was over 10 hrs. There must be another way.

Thanks......

[mking8288]

Haven't driven on this route since I'm from NY but I remember reading about similar questions before, and, I plotted this using Garmin mapping apps on my desktop and this is what's coming up - distance of about 375 miles and 7 hours driving time, not counting restroom, food & fuel stops - for probably 8 1/2 hours under normal traffic conditions at/near posted speed limits. Google Maps showing a shorter routing via secondary roads coming out of Buffalo for a 2 lane country road, which often have county sheriff or local police out doing radar speed enforcement as posted limits do changed going thru town/city - residential - school zones, etc. - familiar to locals but a surprise to the travelers in transit.

 

Garmin suggesting taking NY State Thruway out of Buffalo eastbound toward Rochester, then taking Rt 390 South toward Rt 86 South toward Corning, NY, then continuing onto Rt 15 South (thru Harrisburg, PA to York, PA) - staying on/to I-83 South in Maryland toward Towson that lead into Baltimore, MD as the final destination.

 

This routing will skip coming down from Rochester thru Binghamton, down thru Scranton, PA in the Poconos, etc. - which is longer both in distance and driving time - and likely take as much as 10 hours of driving.

 

With 2 or more drivers taking turn behind the wheels, and well-planned stops for fuel, restrooms & meal breaks under fair weather & good road conditions - it should be very doable - starting out at 5 am (before sunrise :p ) and reaching Baltimore around 1 pm in the afternoon :cool:

Edited January 22, 2011 by mking8288

[Chesterpeake]

8288's advice: Garmin suggesting taking NY State Thruway out of Buffalo eastbound toward Rochester, then taking Rt 390 South toward Rt 86 South toward Corning, NY, then continuing onto Rt 15 South (thru Harrisburg, PA to York, PA) - staying on/to I-83 South in Maryland toward Towson that lead into Baltimore, MD as the final destination

 

I am a Baltimorean who lived in Toronto for four years and frequently drove between those two cities and it usually took about 9 and a half hours including stops.

I crossed into the USA via St. Catherine's, ON then down to Buffalo on 290 and 190. After that the route I followed is exactly the one stated above. I used to drive all the way across the thruway until I connected with I 81 South near Syracuse (6+ hours north of Baltimore). When I learned about using Interstate 390 down to Corning, I never used I 81 again.

On US 15 you will go through some towns like Williamsport and Lewisburg, but it is a far nicer route without all the trucks and mountains of I 81. You have to be careful to follow the signs to I 83 when you get down near Harrisburg; you'll be on some city streets across the river after the town of Enola, but it is marked.

One further piece of advice. I 83 will come to a split at the Baltimore Beltway I695. I suggest going right. Not long afterwards I 83 South (Jones Falls Expressway) exit will be on you right. This ends downtown at the Inner Harbor at Lombard St.

Hope this is helpful.

Edited January 22, 2011 by Chesterpeake

[swissmiss]

Thanks to both of you for your reply.... I knew there had to be a better route than the one I found. We are leaving 2 days before the cruise in case of weather, but we would like to make it to Baltimore the first day.... and yes, we change drivers every 2 hrs. Those little breaks seem to work very well for us.

[mking8288]

Actual driving time including stops for 9 1/2 hours sounding more realistic to me as those Garmin software (and others like MapQuest & Google, etc.) can be misleading at times - their directions & routes are otherwise, usually quite accurate & better, sometimes helping me discover hidden shortcuts and bypasses in new cities & towns.

 

An inexpensive GPS is a worthwhile investment and we update our maps yearly and as needed, and ours saved the group a small fortune while cruising in Hawaii as we booked our own minivan rentals & arranged our own driving tours - not that we needed precise directions on the Road to Hana :D as one couldn't possibly get lost, unless it's down the mountain side/off the cliff - LOL.

 

Sharing the driving & switching is definitely going make this scenic trip much easier, even with smooth traffic flow (and, yes, I read that much fewer trucks, especially those tandem trailers "flying" on the NYST - winter or not - used this route.)

 

Just be careful going thru the towns & cities, places with traffic lights & posted speed limit signs/school zones as a speeding ticket or unplanned traffic stop by the local "friendly" police will not be value-added to an exciting cruise.

 

Hmmm, reminds me of those soft-shell blue crabs from nearby Chesapeake Bay in the summer months - sold down by the Inner Harbor waterfront, steaming hot & spicy, oh yeah - when I was living further south near Silver Spring/DC metro area & pass thru on trips to NY to see the parents.

Edited January 22, 2011 by mking8288

[DanJ]

The only difference to the routes suggested above that we did, was we got off I90 at Batavia and took the 2 lane SR63 down to 390. It shaves about 25 miles off the drive and was a quite pleasant drive. The other thing that I was told about by a truck driver friend of mine (after we got back of course) is when you get to Williamsport, to stay on I-180 past the city and cross the river at I-80 and hook back up with SR 15 there.

 

It was a really easy drive. On the way back, we took the I-70, to Penn Pike, over to Pittsburgh, up to Erie and over to Buffalo. It was also an easy drive, interstate all the way and didn't take any more time, not counting the fact we stopped more on the way home.

[swissmiss]

I love driving through Pennsylvania, and am actually looking forward to driving to Baltimore.... I just hope that the weather co-operates with us - March 19th - April 2nd, but that is why we are leaving 2 days before the cruise, just in case.

[DanJ]

We spent 2 nights in Baltimore before our cruise, and had a great time. Granted, we were there in the summer, so it was nice to walk around the Inner Harbor. But we also went to the Aquarium and saw the dolphin show. A very interesting place to spend several hours. We also toured the baseball stadium, and even my wife's parents enjoyed that and neither one likes baseball. Enjoy the drive and your time down there.

[swissmiss]

Thanks DanJ.... all the guys can enjoy the stadium, etc....... us Gals are going shopping!!!!

Love that Ross Store.

[onyourmark]

Thank you swissmiss for obtaining this info which I'll also use driving out of Toronto. Where did you end up booking your pre-cruise ? Based on the cruise review I booked at the Brookshire suites - got a King room for $109 (plus $10 destination fee), and they agreed to 12 days of parking at no charge.

[mrmj]

Any thoughts about taking US 219 S / I80 / 322 instead of the route mentioned? I think it goes south from around West Seneca instead of going south east and then meets up with route above around Harrisburg.

[DanJ]

Any thoughts about taking US 219 S / I80 / 322 instead of the route mentioned? I think it goes south from around West Seneca instead of going south east and then meets up with route above around Harrisburg.

 

If you feel like doing it and reporting back here how it went, we'll certainly listen LOL. Looks like a much more twisty turning type of drive than 390/US15 to me, with a large stretch of 2 lane through the hills past Ellicottville. Looks like a bit of backtracking to get from 80 to 322 near State College. I suspect there is a reason why this route doesn't show up when you ask for directions on the various mapping sites. It might be a pretty drive in the summer though.

 

I think if you don't want to go east to 390, then going west on 90 to Erie, south on 79 and east on the Penn Turnpike to 70 at Breezewood would be quicker, as it's all interstate, even though it looks out of the way on the map.

 

What we really need is an interstate running directly south from Buffalo to Breezewood (219 can even serve as the starting point). But I don't think the US government is going to listen to a bunch of Canadians wanting to get to Baltimore easier LOL.

[mrmj]

Thanks for your reply. This route shows up as an alternative on the mapping site I used and since I don't know the roads in the US, I was just wondering. We will probably stick with the route already mentioned.

 

Any thoughts on staying in Harrisburg instead of Baltimore the night before the cruise so as to break up the drive a little.

[DanJ]

Thanks for your reply. This route shows up as an alternative on the mapping site I used and since I don't know the roads in the US, I was just wondering. We will probably stick with the route already mentioned.

 

Any thoughts on staying in Harrisburg instead of Baltimore the night before the cruise so as to break up the drive a little.

 

It's only an hour to Baltimore at the point, so I'd personally be inclined to just go all the way. Now, if you manage to find a hotel deal there, it might be worth it as it is only an hour to the port the next morning. Either way works.

[mrmj]

Thanks - we will probably wait until we are on the road to make a decision and so will not make any hotel reservations. All depends on what time we end up leaving and how the road trip is going. Good to know that it's an hour away ... I thought it was more like 1 1/2 hours.

[bus man]

It's only an hour to Baltimore at the point, so I'd personally be inclined to just go all the way. Now, if you manage to find a hotel deal there, it might be worth it as it is only an hour to the port the next morning. Either way works.

 

Harrisburg is between 1-1/2 to 2 hours from Baltimore, depending on the traffic.

[DanJ]

Harrisburg is between 1-1/2 to 2 hours from Baltimore, depending on the traffic.

 

Hour, hour and half, all the same after a long drive. We were in Harrisburg just after 5 in rush hour traffic and parked and unloaded at our BWI area hotel before 630. And I didn't drive like I was back in Ontario LOL.

 

Anyway, another factor to consider whether staying around Baltimore or farther out, is which cruise is a person going on? Carnival Pride arrives back in port later and starts boarding later than what most people are used to in other ports. I beleive the Enchantment arrives back in at a more typical time. So, if I were going on the Pride again, I would feel better about staying further out of Baltimore and driving in that morning, since they don't start boarding until 1-ish or later anyway. The day we got off, we docked just after 9 and there were people dropping their luggage off already. We didn't get off the ship until noon and there were still a few hundred behind us.

[DanJ]

Also, it could depend on which cruise someone is taking whether they want to stay an hour or more outside of Baltimore rather than in the city. The Carnival Pride gets in to port somewhat later than ships usually do in other ports, and doesn't start boarding until 1-ish or later. I beleive the Enchantment gets in at an earlier hour and operates on a more typical schedule with boarding starting around noon (or earlier). If I was on the Pride again, and wasn't planning to be in Baltimore for sightseeing like last time, I wouldn't rule out staying outside of the city, since there is no real rush on the morning of the cruise.

[notl342]

We are going to Baltimore from S Ontario this weekend and I have chosen Buffalo-Syracuse-Scranton-Harrisburg-Baltimore as my route so that I can stay on the Interstates in case there is some bad weather. We decided to take an extra half day for the trip as 9+ hours is pushing it for me in winter.

At first I was going to go thru Williamsport to Harrisburg but got talked out of that on another board as the road thru the mountains is not divided.

 

Robert

[swissmiss]

How was your trip down, and how long did it take you????

[JMNC]

8288's advice: Garmin suggesting taking NY State Thruway out of Buffalo eastbound toward Rochester, then taking Rt 390 South toward Rt 86 South toward Corning, NY, then continuing onto Rt 15 South (thru Harrisburg, PA to York, PA) - staying on/to I-83 South in Maryland toward Towson that lead into Baltimore, MD as the final destination

 

I am a Baltimorean who lived in Toronto for four years and frequently drove between those two cities and it usually took about 9 and a half hours including stops.

 

I crossed into the USA via St. Catherine's, ON then down to Buffalo on 290 and 190. After that the route I followed is exactly the one stated above. I used to drive all the way across the thruway until I connected with I 81 South near Syracuse (6+ hours north of Baltimore). When I learned about using Interstate 390 down to Corning, I never used I 81 again.

 

On US 15 you will go through some towns like Williamsport and Lewisburg, but it is a far nicer route without all the trucks and mountains of I 81. You have to be careful to follow the signs to I 83 when you get down near Harrisburg; you'll be on some city streets across the river after the town of Enola, but it is marked.

 

One further piece of advice. I 83 will come to a split at the Baltimore Beltway I695. I suggest going right. Not long afterwards I 83 South (Jones Falls Expressway) exit will be on you right. This ends downtown at the Inner Harbor at Lombard St.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Wow thanks for all that info. In the near future we too plan on driving from (just north of Toronto) to Baltimore to try one of the RC Cruises leaving from there to the Bahamas. Between different map and yahoo driving directions and even GPS can get confusing, so nice to have someone with driving experience giving you the ropes. Thanks Again!!

[rands181]

6.5 hour sunny clear day going to Baltimore from the bridge, and 7.5 coming home because it was snowing lightly the whole way home and then really heavy on the I-90.

Both ways took about 35-40 minutes of food/rest room breaks.

 

I basically followed the directions as posted by others.

Took I-90, got off at Batavia and made my way over to Rt390 South. This save a bit of mileage but I don't know about time. Coming home from the cruise it was snowing pretty good so we stayed on Rt390 all the way to I-90..

 

Rt 15 through Corning, Williamsport, Harrisburg, then 83 into Baltimore.

We let the GPS do all the thinking for us when it came to the interchanges and turn offs etc, but it was really no problem going or coming, and a real nice scenic drive. Not too hilly either, nice and easy on the Nissan Versa (with four good snow tires!). Had an overview printout of google maps to reassure us that we were heading the right way and it was all good (I always like to double check what the GPS wants to do).

 

I had thought about taking the turnpike on the way home but the weather was calling for decent conditions so we opted for the shorter drive going back the way we came. So I can't say if the turnpike would be faster/slower, and also it has a lot of tolls. If it had called for bad weather maybe we would have taken the turnpike. I base this on how lousy the snow plow drivers are in PA along route 15 and also the lack of respect other drivers were giving the snowy roads. Hopefully the turnpike would be properly plowed and drivers could handle the easy drive.

I don't mean to be biased but in Ontario we know how to plow snow, and when I'm driving through the mountains, the last think I would expect a snow plow driver to do is scoop the passing lane shoulder snow, scraping a barely covered passing lane and dump it all into the middle of the slow lane!!! Wow, never saw anything like it really. Like I say, the old snow tires came in handy getting around and away from that yahoo.

 

Summary:

Easy drive, would do it again no problem, even in light snow. Heavy snow conditions maybe take the turnpike.

 

Best Western on ODonnel street it Baltimore had a great park sleep cruise deal and the shuttle was no problem, I would recommend it if you are cruising.