Driving to Halifax

[Mass_nerder]

So late this summer I'm moving to Halifax, which obviously requires me to drive.
I was thinking about heading south to Butte Montana, and east through North Dakota and Minnesota, down through Wisconsin, Illinois, and up back into Canada through Michigan, along lake Ontario and up the St. Lawrence.

Anyone done this drive?
I did something similar with my family when I was a kid, and I remember my dad going this route to Toronto, because the highways in the states shortened the trip, even though it was a longer distance.

[Old Yeller]

Yeah the interstates are a beautiful thing. You don't want to bother with the Trans-Canada through Manitoba and Northern Ontario.

[WilsonFourTwo]

Two reasons to use the US as much as possible........interstates and cheaper gas.

I think you're missing out by not seeing your country, but that's obviously not what the trip is about.

[billybob123]

I would go even further; rather than coming back into Ontario in Michigan, I'd go across Ohio, PA, and NY, then up I87 to Highway 2, follow 2 across through Vermont, NH, and Maine, onto I-95, then into Canada in NB and to Halifax from there. Will save a fair bit of time over going through QC (and holy crap is gas expensive in QC) and it's nice scenery through New England.

I used to drive to PEI from Ontario that way. Much nicer drive than through QC. You can "visit" the stuff on the way any time. I drove across Canada when I moved to Calgary, it's honestly not that great - long long stretches of boredom.

[InSutterWeTrust]

I drove from Halifax to Calgary back in 2007 and went through the states as well. Pretty much went the same way billybob was just stating.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

If you're driving through Maine, it's a better drive to go to Houtlon ME/Woodstock NB crossing than the Calais ME/St. Stephen NB crossing. It's also a better drive from Woodstock NB to Moncton NB than St. Stephen NB to Moncton NB.

That said, welcome to the East Coast. It's flippin' awesome out here, it'll be great to have the amount of Flames Fans reach an all-time high of 7 out here

[Ashartus]

I did the drive several years ago. On the way out I took a fairly direct route, crossing the Saskatchewan border into North Dakota, going through Minnesota and Wisconsin, then back into Canada at Sault Ste Marie. Took about 4.5 days (but some of those were pretty long driving days). I think that's the fastest way - your way may be faster to Toronto, but going to Halifax there's no need to go anywhere near Toronto and its insane rush-hour traffic. The only major city you have to pass through on my route is Montreal.

On the way back I took the Trans-Canada the entire way. It maybe takes a little bit longer (but not a huge amount), and you aren't driving on giant interstate highways, but there's something to be said for driving across the entire country.

[Flames89]

I did the PEI to Calgary roadtrip. Went through Canada the whole way, as I figured when else would I get the chance to see all of my country like that?

[Mass_nerder]

I've heard the highway between Winnipeg and Toronto can be pretty bad.
I know a lot of people will be commuting to and from cottage country around that time too.

[Rjcsjc62]

I have also driven to PEI and I did it through Canada.

If you go through Canada and want to get there faster you must skip Toronto and take the #17 straight to Ottawa.

It was 5002 kms door to door and it took us about 3 and a half days, with minimal stopping. There is NO WAY that this should be attempted with children.

[driveway]

Used to drive Calgary - Toronto every summer. The way to do that is take US #2 highway. You get to visit Christmas, Michigan!

[Mass_nerder]

Thankfully I don't have kids, so I can drive long days...
My girlfriend will probably want to stop after 13-14 hours.

[ken0042]

Question; you say you are moving.... so does that mean some/all of your stuff with you? I'm not sure I'd want two border crossings involved if I was moving.

Yes, the US interstates can be good; just watch out for the secondary highways. I made that mistake when going to Grand Forks a few years back. The map I had didn't show all the "population 500" towns that require you to slow down to 25 mph.

[Mass_nerder]

Sold a lot of stuff, shipping the rest.
Basically we'll have all our clothes, some kitchen stuff, and a TV.
I don't think that should be much of an issue going across borders.