From Raleigh...what's the best way to go? What's traffic and construction gonna be like, for those of you in the know or who have driven there?

I would love to say fuck it and fly, but that's not economically feasible with such short notice. That and I need to carry some tools.

12/22/2010 2:14:51 PM

dunno which way to go but go to 4th street live in louisville, KY

12/22/2010 2:20:18 PM

shortest and fastest is 40 to 77 to 64

12/22/2010 2:27:16 PM

with the weather you might wanna take the southern route and go 40 to 75. it'll add about half an hour but it might be a safer drive

12/22/2010 2:35:35 PM

The biggest concerns I have are any construction and/or heavy traffic. Probably leaving either Sunday or Monday morning and coming back either Wednesday or Thursday.

I drive like a bat out of hell; the biggest safety concerns for me are ice and idiot drivers (though I am one from time to time).

12/22/2010 4:33:34 PM

When I used to go to Cincinnati, I would take 40 to 77 to 64. You have to pay tolls for part of that but it was usually pretty quick.

12/22/2010 4:36:04 PM

^ is how i usually get home to Cincinnati, but I take 40 to 75 when visiting family in somerset (south of lexington). 40 to 75 may be the best bet if winter weather is forecast because you know west virginia is not doing shit to prepare their roads.

12/22/2010 4:48:30 PM

paging Omar...

12/22/2010 5:06:18 PM

We took 40 to 75 to 64 a few months ago.

No tolls (unlike the 77 through West Va route), and basically all of 75 has a speed limit of 70, so we rolled through there rather quickly.

12/22/2010 6:53:46 PM

Quote :

" with the weather you might wanna take the southern route and go 40 to 75. it'll add about half an hour but it might be a safer drive"

I did this drive last weekend. Definitely take the southern route. Plus it doesn't have any tolls.

12/22/2010 10:24:41 PM

the 2 routes i'd recommend have already been posted - i'm heading there to see my parents and do xmas for new years but from ATL

you basically have the option of paying $3.75 in tolls or adding 30 minutes to the trip - assuming traffic is equal both ways

12/22/2010 11:13:50 PM

i live in Louisville and drive back and forth to raleigh every so often.

40-77-64 is certainly the fastest. Driving through West Virginia/Eastern KY is absolutely boring and there aren't many places to stop.

Someone suggested 4th St. live....do not go there. It is a shit hole and a tourist trap all the bars are crap and unoriginal. Where you want to go is out to Bardstown Rd. There are ~15 bars down that way. All the irish bars are okay but I prefer the Outlook. All the good restaurants and coffee shops and just other locally owned businesses are on Bardstown rd as well. But if you do decided to go to 4th St. Live, don't say I didn't warn you.

12/23/2010 1:10:36 PM

w. va has been getting a lot of snow recently

i would also google some traffic cams .... i do this every week before my commute home from DC just to see what im going to get in Richmond

12/23/2010 1:13:09 PM

good luck

12/23/2010 1:16:34 PM

Funny, I did this yesterday morning. Went 40-77-64 route, actually made it in the best time I've ever done it, 8.5 hours. I don't speed much, but there was no bad weather & little slow-down of traffic. Tolls in WV are up to $2 each, so its $6 total, which kind of sucks. Also, don't buy gas in WV, its like $3.30/gal when its about 50 cents cheaper/gal in VA & 30 cents cheaper in KY. The key I've found is to leave Raleigh no later than 7AM, that way you miss some rush hour traffic in the morning & you'll get into Louisville (as long as you don't encounter problems) right before rush hour.

Bardstown Rd. is where its at for the most part. I'm currently sitting at my sister's place in St. Matthews near Seneca park, also a good area for decent bars that have good, young (mid 20's-30's) crowds. Highly recommend Cafe Lou Lou's, Cliffton's Pizza for some good & relatively cheap eats, not that that's what you're asking for.

Safe travels, enjoy the city.

12/23/2010 4:22:07 PM

I went 40 to 52 to 77 to 64 to go through Louisville just on Tuesday, on the way to my boyfriend's family in Milwaukee. We hit it in about 8 hours, but got stuck in a traffic jam outside Louisville because of a semi breaking down.

And yeah, the tolls on the WV Turnpike went up to $2 per toll, but that is nothing like when we hit the Chicago area. We lost about $10 in an hour there, but then again I wasn't interested in tacking on more time to an already 16 hour trip with 2 dogs.

12/24/2010 7:29:57 AM

haven't done that drive since i moved to atlanta 3.5 years ago - had no idea that the tolls went up

surprisingly there are a lot of great local pizza places in louisville - try wick's

i don't mind 4th street but i only go when i go home to visit my parents - it wasn't open when i used to live there - i do prefer bardstown road and seem to always end up at o'shea's

12/24/2010 9:33:50 AM