Anyone drive to VA/DC for work from Charlotte? (Raleigh: relocating, rent)

[thirdmovein2years]

My family and I are relocating from Long Island to Charlotte. My job will consist of a pretty large territory, including DC. I mapquested it and it appeared to be a 6 hour drive. But I have heard different thoughts.

Anyone do this every once in a while. How is it? Horrible? Traffic?

[normie]

Oh my, the thought of commuting from Charlotte to D.C. makes me cringe. You would have an easier time commuting from Charlotte to Miami! We split the trip into two days of driving both ways, and we'r in the outlying suburbs in Virginia.

Mapquest is wrong, it is not a 6 hour drive. It is not an easy drive. The last 15 miles into D.C. will take almost an hour by itself. Driving around the D.C. metropolitan area is very stressful and difficult. There are flights from Charlotte to Dulles--get your company to pay for them, it's worth it.

[NCmom]

Originally Posted by thirdmovein2years

My family and I are relocating from Long Island to Charlotte. My job will consist of a pretty large territory, including DC. I mapquested it and it appeared to be a 6 hour drive. But I have heard different thoughts.

Anyone do this every once in a while. How is it? Horrible? Traffic?

Thirdmove

We moved to Charlotte from the DC area. My husband still does business in DC so he takes that trip about once a month. Our families are also in the DC area so we also make the trip to visit them. Depending on traffic I would say definitely plan on 6 hours - 77 to 81 to 66 is usually a better route. 485 to 85 to 95 is a bit shorter for us but you can almost guarantee that 95 will be heavy or even stopped just north of Richmond into DC.
I hope this info helps. When are you moving to Charlotte and where in Charlotte?

[thirdmovein2years]

I will actually need to be in Vienna, VA. I would need to go about 2 days every other week. I thought driving would make more sense?

[Washingtonian]

It's little more than a 45 minute trip on JetBlue from Dulles to Charlotte. If you plan ahead, you can get very cheap flights. You'll definately get tired of the drive. I had a friend that made the drive here every week after 9/11. Then it was easier to drive then to fly.

[Miker2069]

I would agree with the general consensus so far, it will get old pretty fast. However, if you can drive a nice car that's extremely comfortable, with power, that's not yours (maybe a company car), it might be doable. You could do it under 8 hours (probably 7 hours) on average, accounting for stops and some traffic.

[CharlotteAgent]

I agree with the rest. I used to commute bac kand forth to Newark weekly and I would never do that trip again. DC is terrible to drive to.

[Tarheelhombre]

From Raleigh, DC can be done in 3.5 hours, but from Charlotte, it will take at least 5.5 hours. DC traffic starts crawling now at Fredericksburg, 50 miles south of DC! ANd it is getting worse. Soon, DC traffic will start in Richmond.

[Tarheelhombre]

Many, many people in North Carolina go every/every week or monthly to DC for entertainment purposes, but they tend to live in the Triad, Triangle, or eastern NC, which is closer to DC. BUt still, there are plenty of people in Charlotte that go to DC about once a month on average, or more often, by car.

[Moniiib]

The drive to DC from Charlotte is 6 hours, and it is really not a bad drive depending on the time that you leave. Traffic does get heavy around the Fredericksburg area.