Q's on driving from Charlotte NC to Greeneville TN

[SaphirimalMei]

We're flying to meet family for Thanksgiving and the only non-stop flight I could find into that area (cuz I didnt want a hellacious layover) was into Charlotte which is about 200 miles away from our ultimate destination of Greeneville, TN. I figured a non-stop flight would be best with a 9 month old since we can always stop the car if she gets cranky, but the plane waits for no one!

Anyways, I was just trying to get an idea of what kind of terrain we'll be covering on our drive. DH said the terrain was mountains & hills that would be tough to climb in a 4-cyl rental car. I wanted to double check with you ladies :) Is a 3-3.5 hour care ride an unreasonable expectation?

Also, what kind of weather can we expect during that time of year? Rain? How cold?

I think I'll also post this in the travel section :)

Thanks for any tips!

-Marisa

[zannli]

I live in Johnson City, TN so you will pass right by here on your way from Charlotte. Weather is a tricky thing to predict around Thanksgiving in this area. Usually it is around 40-50 degrees, sometimes rainy, sometimes bright and sunny and occasionally it will snow.. but Thanksgiving time it is rare for snow. You will be driving through the mountains pretty much the whole way. Just hop on I-26 and follow it. I wouldn't stray from the interstate. 4 cyl. rentals will make it just fine in my opinion. I would recommend renting one with Front Wheel drive. The inclines aren't incredibly steep but you will feel a good pull especially when crossing the TN/NC border. It's a beautiful drive though.

Are there no direct flights into Knoxville? That would probably be a shorter drive at least.

[SaphirimalMei]

Are there no direct flights into Knoxville?Not a single flipping one! I looked and looked and looked...nothing! Also, a lot of the 1-stop flights had estimated travel times of about 7 hours. Plus, once we got into Knoxville, we would have had another 70 mile drive to my great-grandmas house in Greeneville. So, that's why I chose Charlotte...It was the only airport within a reasonable driving distance I could find a non-stop flight to.

Thanks for the info Zann!

[elladee]

I have no experience with the weather at Thanksgiving, but have driven through the mountains on the NC/TN border numerous times in my little 4 cylinder car. It does struggle (has to shift way down) to get up some of the steeper inclines, but I can keep up with traffic ok. I think if I lived in the area I'd upgrade, but for occasional visits, I'm just fine with my car.

[Sandie78]

I've driven in that in area in both a Honda Civic and a Saturn SL2. We certainly felt the cars working harder on the inclines than they have to where we live in flat Florida, but we made it just fine. So I agree with Zannli.

[SaphirimalMei]

Hooray! More responses :) Thanks for the input! I'm glad the rental car will probably make it just fine. I chose the compact because the rental place website said the car got 26-33mpg...much better than the full size and every little bit counts with gas prices the way they are :rolleyes:


Anybody know if a driving time of 3-3.5 hours between cities seems reasonable?

[Phen]

We drove from Durham to Knoxville on our way home last Christmas and, I dunno if a compact is gonna do the trick. We were driving our small-size SUV (Mazda Tribute) and some of those hills at the edge of the Smokies in the westernmost part of NC were a bit rough on the car. For some reason there were a lot of tractor-trailers on the road that day and it was scary at times when we'd be surrounded by them with the mountainside right next to us, and we didn't have the power to get away from the trucks.

~ Phen

[SaphirimalMei]

Hmmmm. I'm a bit worried now...
Cant really change our flight itinerary at this point, so I guess I'll see what deals i can find for a full sized rental car. Anyone know any coupon codes for Budget? :p