The Best Southern Road Trip to Take in the US
The southern part of the USA has a lot of opinions and conceptions about it. Having been to many southern east coast states, I can say some of the ideas are true and others are not. I will agree everything is done slower in the south and southern hospitality (for the most part) is a real thing. It is extremely hot and humid, especially in the summer time. Otherwise, the south has a lot of beautiful cities, mountains (yes mountains), and beaches to visit. Which is why I wrote this article, to let you know about the best southern road trip to take in the US.
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This article is all about a southern road trip.
Southern Road Trip :
1. First Stop : Richmond, Virginia
Okay, so for this southern road trip itinerary, we will start in Richmond, Virginia. I would begin with Richmond, Virginia because to me, this truly, starts the south. I believe, technically, the south starts below the Mason-Dixon Line that runs through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia. For more of a reference, it cuts right above Philadelphia. Phillie could also be a great place to start this road trip (and truly starts the “south”), if you want more southern road trip ideas.
If you want to start in Phillie, some really cool things to do are visiting the Philadelphia museum of art (also here you can climb the infamous Rocky steps), the Franklin Institute (great for kids, very hands on), Otherworld Timed (museum), see the Liberty Bell, see a baseball game at Citizens Bank Park and or go to the Reading Terminal Market. In addition, you could go on a ghost tour of Phillie, Dark Phillie Adult Night Tour (no kids), food tour, bar crawl, and different historic walking tours. Phillie is about a four hour drive from Richmond.
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Things to Do in Richmond, Virginia
Okay, if you decide to start in Richmond, then the first place I recommend visiting is, Colonial Williamsburg. Williamsburg, is a historic town, where all the people dress and talk, as if they were in the 1700s. It is really neat, and at the end of the town, you will find William and Mary College, one of America’s oldest and most prestigious colleges. I would also suggest taking a visit to the University of Virginia (a little over an hour drive), it is much bigger, and SOO beautiful.
Next, I suggest taking some time to visit Virginia’s national parks. A great one, that is about two hours from Richmond is, Sky Meadows State Park (they have great hiking and horse back riding). Next, I would see George Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon, and visit the Edgar Allen Poe Museum. Lastly, if you’re looking for some fun, you should take a trip to Virginia’s amusement parks, specifically, Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion.
And that completes all our sites to see in Virginia. I would say to stay here for at least 4 nights and then leave on the fifth to our next stop, which is the Outer Banks, North Carolina.
2. Second Stop : Outer Banks, North Carolina
The Outer Banks make up a decent portion of North Carolina (about 200 miles). Thus, first, I recommend going to Cape Hatteras National Seashore Frisco Campgrounds in the Outer Banks, which is about 4 hours away from Richmond, VA. You can camp here. You can also check out Roanoke Island , which is about a hour away from Cape Hatteras. Another great place to stay along the Outer Banks is Emerald Isle which is about 3 hours from Roanoke, about 4 hours from Cape Hatteras, and about 4 hours from Richmond, VA.
If you want to stay only on the coast then you can do that, but if you want to see more cities in North Carolina, Charlotte and Raleigh are great. Charlotte, North Carolina is almost five and a half hours away from Cape Hatteras (361 miles away). You could also stay in Raleigh, North Carolina as well, but I feel there’s a little more to see in Charlotte. But Raleigh is slightly closer to the coast than Charlotte (about an hour, depending on where you are going on the coast). Anyways, you can find a list of accommodations for Raleigh, here.
Once you have a place to stay, in Charlotte, some fun things to do in Charlotte are different walking tours, historical tours, distilleries to see, comedy tours, and ghost tours. Some fun day trips from Charlotte are Pisgah National Forest and Linville Gorge Wilderness, both are about two hours away. Some more nature spots to visit, that are also about 2 hours from Charlotte, are Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock, both located in Brevard, NC. I recommend staying in North Carolina for at least four days.
3. Third Stop : Charleston, South Carolina
Alright, moving right along, the next state to see is South Carolina. I would stay in Charleston instead of Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach has gotten so built up, it’s not pretty anymore, in my opinion. Another nice beach town near Myrtle Beach is Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island, and Folly Beach (much closer to Charleston). Charleston, SC is about three hours away from Charlotte, NC (209 miles) and just over 4 hours from Raleigh, NC (280 miles). You can find accommodations to stay in Charleston, from this list.
Once you are in Charleston, I highly recommend you walk down to Battery Park (a historic monument park) and Rainbow Road, to walk, as well as take in the amazing architecture. Also, you can visit the Charleston Tea Gardens, Waterfront Park, Charleston City Market, and Folly Beach. In addition, I would go on one of the many mansion tours and see the different historical sites and buildings in town. Charleston is known for their antebellum styled architecture which is really pretty. Lastly, I would take a trip to Fripp Island, and that wraps up our Carolinas portion of this travel guide. I suggest staying here for at least three days, and then on your fourth, drive to our next stop, Atlanta, Georgia.
4. Fourth Stop : Atlanta, Georgia or Nashville, Tennessee
Next stop on our list is, Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is just over four and a half hours away (319 miles) from Charleston. Here is a link for some places to stay in Atlanta, Georgia. There are a lot of fun things to do in Atlanta. Some fun ones are Ponce City Market, Stone Mountain Park, ghost tours, Martin Luther King Historical Park, World of Coca-Cola, Olympic Park, seeing an Atlanta Braves baseball game or Atlanta Falcon football game, Fernbank Museum (3D Theater), and 6 Flags Amusement Park.
Like North Carolina, Georgia, has some fun day trips to visit great nature spots. I recommend visiting Rock City Gardens (about a 3 hour drive), Lookout Mountain (about 3 hours away), Cloudland Canyon State Park (about 3 hours away), Amicalola Falls State Park (about 2 hours away), North Georgia Mountains (about 2 hours away), Providence Canyon State Park (about 2 and a half hours away), and Stone Mountain Park (about 30 minutes away).
Okay, getting to Nashville is kind of out of the way, however, if you are a country music fan and like to drink/party, it will be WELL worth the trip. I went for the first time with my friends and had SOO much fun. However, from Charleston, Nashville is about 8 and a half hours. And from Atlanta, Nashville is just under four hours away (going north instead of south). Also, the next stop would be a long haul from Nashville.
5. Fifth Stop : Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia is about three and a half hours from Atlanta, Georgia (248 miles away, Nashville is about 7 hours and 15 fifteen minutes away). Here is a list of places to stay in Savannah. Anyhow, while you are in Savannah, some great places to see are, the Savannah Historic District, East River Street, the Wormsloe Historic Site, American Prohibition Museum, true crime pub crawl, Savannah riverboat cruise, haunted bar crawl, a movie locations tour, city market, and much more that you can find here.
Because Savannah is on the coast, I recommend going to Tybee beach and Cumberland National Seashore. I recommend spending at least a week in Georgia, to accomplish most if not all of these sites.
6. Sixth Stop : Tallahassee, Florida (Optional)
This stop is totally optional, I mention this stop, because if you wish to drive to New Orleans and end your southern road trip there, Tallahassee is the closest drive. You could just drive to New Orleans and do a tour of Louisiana instead of Florida. However, I do like Florida, which is why I put it on this list. And if you haven’t spent much time in Florida then I recommend going to Tallahassee. However, if you have kids, then I recommend skipping Tallahassee and driving straight to Orlando. But, if you just want to party then I highly recommend going to New Orleans.
So, some great beaches to go to near Tallahassee are Mashes Sand Beach (about an hour away), Wakulla Beach (about 45 minutes away), Shell Point Beach (about 45 minutes away), St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (about 30 minutes away), St. George Island (a little over an hour and a half away), Carrabelle Beach (about an hour and fifteen minutes away), Cape San Blas (about 2 hours away) and Panama City Beach (2 hours away).
Now, from Tallahassee you have a couple options, you could drive to New Orleans (about 5 and a half hours away), party, and then have more fun in Baton Rouge (about an hour and a half from New Orleans). Or you could drive to Tampa (about 4 hours and twenty minutes from Tallahassee) and see the mermaids at Weeki Wachee State Park (about an hour from Tampa), go to Siesta Key beach (about an hour and 15 minutes from Tampa), and or Sanibel Island (about 2 and a half hours from Tampa). If you decide to drive to Tampa, then I would continue to see the rest of Florida and have Orlando be your next stop.
7. Seventh Stop : Orlando, Florida
Orlando is about two hours from Tampa and about four hours from Tallahassee, FL. Here is a list of places to stay in Orlando. I highly recommend going to Disney World and all four parks and their two waterparks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. Also, I highly recommend going to Universal parks as well, specifically, Universal Studios Park, to see Harry Potter World.
Some other fun things to in Orlando are night glowing kayaking, glass bottom kayaking, paddle-boarding, Everglades tour, SeaWorld, Disney Springs, Wizard of Oz Museum, swimming with different animals, many different animal safaris and many more things that you can find here. Coco beach is a great spot for some salt life that is about an hour away from Orlando.
8. Eighth Stop : Vero Beach
Okay, from Orlando there again are some options as to where to go next. Vero Beach and Jupiter, which are about an hour and 40 minutes to 2 hours away. After this stop, I do suggest going to Miami or Fort Lauderdale areas, whichever sounds more interesting to you. I’ve been to Miami and I think it is worth seeing but one trip is enough.
The Vero beach and Jupiter area have a lot of great outdoor things to do such as kayaking, paddle-boarding, snorkeling, jet-skiing, baseball games, pickle ball leagues, and much more. These areas are much more quiet and have a lot of retirees that live here. Where Miami is much more of a party town, so again, based on what you’re looking for, you could stay at either other. I would only stop in Miami if you want to party, otherwise, you probably won’t enjoy yourself. Also, I suggest partying in Wynwood instead of South Beach area.
9. Ninth Stop : Key Largo & Key West
The last and final stop for this southern road trip is Key West, Florida! I really love Key West and I highly recommend making the drive ALL the way to Key West. Key Largo is fine but nothing like Key West. Key West has a great downtown area, chickens roaming the streets, cool houses, great bars, and so much to do. Duval is the famous Street to explore and where you’ve find many cool restaurants and bars. Smuthers Beach is also a very popular beach to relax out. This article will tell you much more about the best places and things to do in southern Florida.
Key West also offers tons of snorkeling, kayaking, paddle boarding, jet-skiing, Hemingway’s House, the southern most point, and more stuff that you can find here. To see and achieve all the things to do in Florida I recommend spending at least a week or just doing one big road trip in Florida.
And that ends our southern road trip, you can alter this trip anyway you would like, but I wanted to provide you with the backbones/structure of a southern USA road trip. I hope you found some cool new cities and sites to see. Thank you so much for reading and I hope this article was helpful to you.
