Im taking the family to Ocean City,MD for vacation next week. I looked up direction on Google map and GPS both give me 3 routes. But Dont know which route is best in term of traffic. Anyone drove there before can gives me some pointers would be greatly appreciated. TIA!
I’d go with google since they use crowd data to determine the fastest.
Did it a few years ago, think it took me about 9hrs to give you an idea. I just used google’s suggested route
Driving down 15 and through Harrisburg (just went there a few weekends ago) will be shorter distance and slightly more scenic, but has some stop lights and other crap to slow you down making it a longer drive. (I’d go this way down)
390 to 86 (17) to 81 will probably be the fastest. (I’d go this way up)
Ocean City is a little too party for family IMO, check out Rehoboth Beach for something quieter.
I want to check out 220 to 6 sometime, looks like it might be a fun road to drive on, but not the fastest route.
As far a I remember you really don’t have too many options other than whether or not to go through Syracuse. With a family I would probably do that rather than heading down 20A (although I personally would take the 20A/390 route).
Other than that the drive through Delaware absolutely blows. Its not a highway really just a divided 4 lane road with traffic lights. If there was a way to avoid that it would be worth a littel extra driving time IMO.
Thank you for the all the suggestions! We are staying further north of the city to avoid the crowd. But also want the kids to experienced the boardwalk and junk foods on the boardwalk 
If you want to do the 15 route and break up the drive into two legs these are some halfway stops that are OK:
We always do 86 down past Philly, in to Delaware and then depending on how antsy we are we will take 1 all the way down into OC, otherwise we take the highway route and come in through Salisbury
I’ve heard about this place a few times, what makes it so special (not being critical, just curious)?
I’ve done the drive to Outer Banks through Newport News twice and last time tried taking 15 down to avoid all the towns on the 219. I was not impressed. Still way too many speed zones and slowdowns. Looking at the 2 routes google maps suggested for a trip from WNY to Ocean City the route that suggests 15 is exactly the same as my OBX route all the way to Harrisburg. I’d definitely recommend going to Syracuse then down 81 for you.
The last thing you want to deal with on a 9 hour family drive is rednecks in PA going 30 in a 40 with no way to pass. Stick to the highway as much as possible and see as little of PA as possible is my general rule for that state.
+1 on google maps on a smartphone though as you get close to Philly. It might save you a major headache by spotting construction or an accident from the crowd sourced google maps data and suggest a re-route. It saved me once this winter coming back from Holiday Valley when an accident caused a horrible backup on the 90 and google suggested I get off at Milestrip and take 277 all the way home. Found out the next day from a friend who tried to take the 90 that it took him 45 minutes that night to go 2 miles. Now I usually have google maps running on my phone even when I know where I’m going.
H2Oi is held there every year which is mainly what I picture when I hear people talk about Ocean City. Other than that event, it’s a decent beach town with some attractions. Not a bad place to vacation but there are plenty of other places I’d go first.
If you take 15, be prepared to get way more accustomed than you thought with a little bumfuck town called Selinsgrove. It seems like every turn-off for 200 miles goes there.
Thank you guys! I will take the highway route then
Rt 15 isn’t a bad drive, but I haven’t taken it in a year. Is a little odd closer to harrisburg.
If you go 390->17/86->81->481 etc, which is how I always went, it’s not too bad. I just did Binghamton-> Rochester portion of that this weekend, and construction is minimal along that, with the exception of right in Binghamton. They are changing up the 17/86 and 81 interchange there, so there is a bit of traffic, but not really bad at all. and it’s only like 5 miles worth, so you should be clear of it quickly. Not sure how the rest is from there down, but usually not too bad.
Thank you very much for your infos. With little kids and baby, i will take the major highways as suggested by the guys above. Cant wait til next week 