Driving to Myrtle Beach from St. Louis ~ any advice?

We are planning on coming to MB the first week in June. We are driving from St. Louis. Is there any advise you can give me on where to stop along the way. What placed to avoid. Right now we are thinking of stopping and staying the night in Knoxville. Then finish the drive the next day.

Cheryl

Driving to Myrtle Beach from St. Louis ~ any advice?

Welcome, I am from St. Louis, Lindbergh HS. Anyway, I have lived in SC since 1986. Knoxville probably is a good bet to spend the night, I recommend you coming down the IL side to Paducah, then to Nashville to Knxoville, I am guessing about 6-7 hr drive, actually if you can stand it the next hour and half out of Knoxville thru the mountains is a hard drive, probably to me hardest part of the trip. Once you get outside Asheville on I-26 to SC, then road flattens. If you don%26#39;t stay in Knoxville, drive little further stay in Newport TN or go on to Asheville, not many accomodations between Newport and Asheville, that I would recommend. Once on I-26, go to Columbia, take I-20 to Florence, at Florence take I-95 North (Fayetteville) go about 10 miles to exit 170 (I believe that is the number) it says Myrtle Beach, take that exit, it will change road numbers couple of times but you will end up on Hwy 501 to Conway. WHERE ARE YOU STAYING, that will depend what road outside AYNOR you take. IF you are staying anywhere North or even in Myrtle Beach, I STRONGLY recommend you take I-22 out of Aynor to Myrtle Beach. You can get on Hwy 31 off of 22 and it will take you North and South. UNLESS you are a total glutton for punishment, do not take Hwy 501 thru Conway to beach!. Let me know if I can help further

Driving to Myrtle Beach from St. Louis ~ any advice?

We are actually renting a house in Garden City. The map I have says to take 501! So please let me know is there an easier route to take. We are bringing a teenager and a small toddler with us. So stopping in Knoxville is what we are planning as we want to go through the mountains during the day.

Thanks for the info!

I understand small children, and all, besides seeing the mountains during the day is nicer and safer.

Garden City. My suggestion is to stil take I-22 outside of Aynor, to Hwy 31 S, stay on 31. (MBConceirge what exit to Garden City) I hardly ever go south anymore. Anyway, there are few exits off of 31, (Hwy 544 has exit and that might be your best choice) do not exit 501 off of 31 . It may look longer on the map, but trust me you DO NOT UNDER ANY circumstances want to drive thru Conway unless you are coming early in the morning. It will be bumper to bumper for hours in the summer. The first week in June is Senior Week. But staying in Garden City will not be an issue.

One more thing, East side of Knoxville is Strawberry Plains exit, nice Hampton Inn there. I want to say exit 398 but not sure on that one, only Strawberry Plains Pike exit off 40. I also lived in East TN for year half, outside of Knoxville. I suggest you try to get thru Knoxville, lots of road construction and morning traffic can be bad, at least if you are on East side you won%26#39;t have a problem, you will have smooth sailing for long time, you exit before you get into Asheville, although at 5pm Asheville will have alot of traffic on I-40 and I-26. I have put many miles on my car driving I-40 and I-26.

Thanks! We are staying at a Super 8 in West Knoxville because we are bringing our dog with us. Hampton Inn won%26#39;t allow the dog in the room. That is another reason why we are staying in Garden City because MB won%26#39;t let the dog on the beach till after 5. So we will do the beach in Garden City and play in MB.

Gotcha! It will be a long drive for sure, but you will enjoy yourself when you get here. Garden City is a nice area, we use to stay down there.

I agree with Kat on stopping somewhere before you get to the mountains in and around Asheville...especially if you arent used to driving in that area. Plus it is such a pretty area to see during the daytime! There are a number of places just south of Knoxville...near the factory outlets there...not sure of the exit number tho (sorry)....

As for coming into the beach...in June...I%26#39;d come in on Rt 501 to Aynor...then take Rt 22 to Rt 31 South....you will stay on that until it ends and dumps onto Rt 544....take Rt544 towards Surfside. You have a few options here.....you can stay on Rt 544 until you reach Rt 17 Bypass (this will put you on the Bypass near an area that we call the ';Backgate'; -- old Air Force Base). Depending on the time of day...this area can be really congested.....you can take Rt 544 to Rt 707 which winds around and is 2 lane alot of the way, but still kinda pretty....this will dump onto Rt 17 almost at Garden City.

Have a safe trip and alot of fun!

:)