has anyone driven from around Georgia to Alabama?

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

im sorry if this is a strange question but, here is my sorta problem. me and dh can fly from Boston to Atl.Ga for around 200.00 is plus tax, rent a car at the atlanta , airport and drive to Alabama , which i believe is around 4 hours or more. OR we can fly from Boston, to Ga. with a 1 or 2 hour layover and then fly into part of Ala. but its almost double the money, its like 479.00plus tax. im trying to save money, but my husband thinks by the time you rent a car,$$, and spend time driving , we should just do all flying and no driving. by the way we would like to go see our daughter ,baby grandson and son in law,who is in the army . sorry if this was long, but i was wondering if anyone knows about the areas . thank you very much.

 

[Sethsmom]

Where would you be driving to in Alabama?

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

we would be driving to Dothan,Ala. its near the army base. thanks.my husband is not to fond of driving on vacations, but im trying to explain that its like 1/2 the cost.

 

[mylightshines]

im sorry if this is a strange question but, here is my sorta problem. me and dh can fly from Boston to Atl.Ga for around 200.00 is plus tax, rent a car at the atlanta , airport and drive to Alabama , which i believe is around 4 hours or more. OR we can fly from Boston, to Ga. with a 1 or 2 hour layover and then fly into part of Ala. but its almost double the money, its like 479.00plus tax. im trying to save money, but my husband thinks by the time you rent a car,$$, and spend time driving , we should just do all flying and no driving. by the way we would like to go see our daughter ,baby grandson and son in law,who is in the army . sorry if this was long, but i was wondering if anyone knows about the areas . thank you very much.

From Atlanta to Birmingham is about two hours. It just depends on where in Alabama you're going. Are you going to need to rent a car when you get there?

Four hours driving is probably at least a tank and a half of gas. 1.5 x 40 a tank is $60.00 x 2 (each way), it's costing you $120 just in gas. So add the price of the rental car to that.

 

[team weasel]

I am 90 miles south of ATL, and it takes me 6.5 hours driving to get to WDW.

In ATL though, you can hop right on 75 and make it an almost straight shot down.

Dothan is pretty out of your way as far as going to WDW.

 

[blueangel]

I don't think they are trying to get to WDW...just to Dothan from Boston. And they won't be going all the way to Birmingham. They'll go toward Montgomery instead, then turn south (where you won't be on interstate anymore...welcome to outback Alabama).

Fly. I hate Atlanta's airport. And traffic can be terrible. It took us forever to get from Atlanta to Montgomery last Thanksgiving. I would guess you'd be flying into Mobile in your scenario, but have you tried Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, or even Panama City? They're all closer to Dothan than Mobile.

 

[Sethsmom]

On Mapquest, it looks like a straight shot down there. It says it is about 206 miles and 3 hours 35 minutes. I quess you could calculate the cost based on what type of vehicle you would rent and whether you want to waste that much drive time.

 

[minkydog]

Dothan,AL, is roughly 4hrs south of the Atlanta airport. you can rent a car and get on the interstate. Take I-185 to Columbus, cross over into the adjoining town, Phenix city, then head south for about 3hrs on pretty good divided highway. It's not a bad drive. I can almost guarantee you it will be cheaper to fly into Atlanta than any of the smaller airports(Mobile, Pensacola, Ft. Walton Beach)

 

[team weasel]

I don't think they are trying to get to WDW...just to Dothan from Boston. And they won't be going all the way to Birmingham. They'll go toward Montgomery instead, then turn south (where you won't be on interstate anymore...welcome to outback Alabama).

Fly. I hate Atlanta's airport. And traffic can be terrible. It took us forever to get from Atlanta to Montgomery last Thanksgiving. I would guess you'd be flying into Mobile in your scenario, but have you tried Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, or even Panama City? They're all closer to Dothan than Mobile.

Guess I missed the part that they weren't going to WDW.

I agree, flying in to Panama City would probably be the best bet. It's only about 2 hrs away from Dothan.

I am with you too on the ATL airport. I was there last weekend and it was a MADHOUSE!

 

[ave&audsmom]

If you do decide to fly into Atlanta & it's on a weekday, make sure your flight arrives no later than 1pm or after 6pm. That way it will give you time to get out of the city before 3:30pm (when traffic starts) or after 7pm when traffic has died down a bit.

As long as you do that, traffic "shouldn't" be a problem. Keep in mind that there are a lot of bad drivers, out-of-town drivers, & lots of semi-trucks, so that is why I put shouldn't in parentheses.

 

[Carole]

I fly into Dothan frequently. Always expensive. The more nights you stay the cheaper the airfiare. Cute airport with only one gate. We tried Birmingham once, great price on Southwest tickets and the drive wasn't bad. Probably alot less traffic than Atlanta. My DH drove once from Atlanta to meet me and said it was a long drive, he wants to try flying from Pensacola if he makes the trip again. If you're staying around the area and want great fried chicken then google McClinns. Yummy and inexpensive.

 

[crusoe2]

OP, others may know a better route but we live about 55 miles north of Dothan (my DH works there actually) and I can tell you that the road you would take from Montgomery to Dothan, while not a major interstate, is not exactly a "backroad" either. If you take I-85 from Atlanta to Montgomery, you will exit at Taylor Road and follow it all the way to Hwy. 231. Both of these roads (Taylor & 231) are 4 lane, divided highways. Taylor Rd. is actually in Montgomery and you will pass shopping centers, restaurants, gas stations and such. At the end of Taylor Rd. you'll turn left onto 231 and head south. It's a straight shot to Dothan from there and will take you through Troy and Ozark where there are lots of restaurants and gas stations that don't require finding the right exit - they are right on the highway. It will take you about 4 hours or so from Atlanta to Dothan but I don't think the Montgomery to Dothan part is a terrible drive. (Of course, I'm used to it - we go to Montgomery and Dothan quite a bit.) Can't say about the Atlanta to Montgomery portion as we don't go that route often. Hope this helps and if you have more questions I'll be glad to help if I can.

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

i would like to thank you all so much for your answers . my husband was still not to keen on the drive from Atl. to Dothan. so i booked from Boston to Atl. with a 1 hr. layover, then we will fly into Dothan. the airport is about 30 mins. from where my daughter and family are at. they are at Ft. Rucker. again , i thank everyone for their info, maybe next time we will def. look into panama city. that sounds like the best idea. oh yeah, price to fly very $$$$.