Moving to The Villages
 

We are moving from michigan and question on route to take, We will be on 75 all the way however the map show's it going thru Atlanta. Is that the best route or better to take the beltway around atlanta (285) Thank you. less then 2 weeks we arrive at our new home :)

Our experience has been that it depends on the time of day. Avoid rush hour. We sometimes made the determination last minute by checking traffic reports. Sometimes we have gone thru Atlanta while the bypass was backed up and sometimes the bypass. BTW....where are you from? We’re Michiganders.

These days with most people working from home traffic should not be an issue.

285 is a zoo! Avoid it! Hit Atlanta around noon or so, get in the HOV lane for 75 (if 2 or more in car). It takes me about 25 minutes from where 285 leaves 75 to where it rejoins.

Go thru Atlanta get in the HOV lane, its like a speedway but we have never had an issue.

we are from Kalamazoo, MI. My mom always told me if I didn't behave she was going to ship me to Kalamazoo. Guess i was bad lol

thank you for all your reply's. Hov it is

I go thru Birmingham to avoid Atlanta. It probably takes longer, but thats ok.

My recommendation is to check GOOGLE Maps using the "Traffic" function just before Marietta. Like many of the other people have indicated, the HOV lane is a quick way to get through Atlanta. But we check to see if GOOGLE Maps is showing heavy red, either on 75 through town or the west side of 285, and make our decision then. By checking when we are in Marietta, we can make the decision and know what lane to get into as we approach the 285 junction.

Over the years we concluded going through Atlanta is the best/easiest route.
Best times are mid morning (before lunch) and mid afternoon (before 3:30).

I use WAZE when I'm driving anywhere by car outside the Villages. It is up to date, usually within a few minutes. It'll tell you that there's a vehicle stopped on the road up ahead - and 20 seconds later there's the car, on the side of the road. Often it's just a construction crew but at least you know, when traffic is slowed, WHY it's slowed.

It will also take you off the highway through detours if it detects traffic stops or significant slow-downs.

It's an app you can download to your cell phone; you can get the free version or the paid version. I've seen no reason to get the paid version so I just use the free one. It has "in-app ads" but I don't spend time watching the app while I'm driving, so it's not an inconvenience for me.

Your google voice will sync with it, and you can set it up to give you the current prices of gas along the route, which exits to look for, which rest areas are congested, etc. etc. It's pretty awesome.

Driving Directions, Traffic Reports & Carpool Rideshares by Waze

We have traveled this route dozens of times to Battle Creek (near Kzoo). Take I-65 at Marshall, Mi to Montgomery, Al. There you pickup limited access four lane state highways (think freeway) east then south to the panhandle to I-10. It is 30 to 45 minutes longer in reality. It can even out if there is a delay in Atlanta.

Edit to add:. Since someone might point out this is further, I know. This route avoids the metro areas known for bad traffic.

We make the trip north to Nashville TN area 5 or 6 times a year. The route you described is how we go. The route to Atlanta is quicker until the time (about 1 in 5) that traffic backs up to a crawl for 30 miles.

We always use the HOV with our car. Are their vehicle restrictions for the HOV? For example, can a truck pulling a camper use the HOV or a large RV?

I don't know what these fine Michiganders will be driving. Just want to help them out.

Moving to Villages
 

We too live in Kalamazoo, husband says jf you will be going through Atlanta during heavy traffic times we take the Beltway or you will be sitting in a mess. We bought in Villages last Jan! Love it!,

I think we are going to love it to. Bought villa in Sanibel. The Paige Villa's

We have driven this 75 route the past 18 yeas to TV from metro Detroit and only once did we take the bypass around Atlanta.That was due to a horrific accident near Marietta. Yes avoid rush hour. Timing is everything. Use the HOV lanes when possible. There is a toll road express lane open the past few years. We never take it.

Thank you. I will be towing a 4x8 trailer with a few things in it to hold us over till moving company gets everything delivered. Hopefully I can use the hov with the trailer, I have been reading yes and no so need to research more. We are going to try driving straight thru, Really do not want to stop anywhere with all the craziness going on.

With regular travel from TV to western NC, we are firm believers in relying on both Google and Waze.

As discussed in the link shown above, both have their merits. Google captures the real-time GPS information from all the app's users, around the globe. That data includes your GPS location and your computer's (smart phone, iPad, tablet, etc.) machine address, tracking your progress as you travel.

From that, real-time algorithms are able to show traffic conditions and advise you of your "best" route, if you have declared a destination.

Waze works somewhat differently. Waze takes traffic data from user inputs and reports on accidents, speed traps, etc., merging it with satellite data.

Using both gives drivers the best choices.

BTW, going straight through downtown Atlanta on Interstates 75/85 is sometimes quicker.

When my brother and his wife come down to visit from Michigan, they always take 75 through Georgia, including Atlanta. They just time it so that they come down on the weekend to avoid weekday traffic through any of the larger cities on I-75.

As a fellow Michigander, welcome to The Villages! If you're going to be here full time, be aware that summers take some getting used to but fall, spring and especially winter are great here! Try not to be too smug when talking to folks back home about how you are shoveling sunshine when they are shoveling snow! There are at least four social clubs for Michiganders here, too.

With the pandemic and all, social clubs and nightly live music are largely off the schedule at the moment so thins won't be as incredibly active as they once were. However, all this will come back in time. You can still golf, swim, bicycle, play pickleball and more. If you have to be "stuck at home", this is the place to do it.

Last, if you're from southern Michigan and have been eating Koegels hot dogs your whole life, there's bad news and good news. The bad news is that nobody in the south (we lived in North Carolina for 20 years before retiring) makes a hot dog worth eating. We've tried them all. The good news is that there are so many of us down here that Koegels sends a truck down twice a year and you can stock up on their products. We've already made Koegels converts of several of our friends and neighbors.

If you have any questions, this is a good site to get answers. Folks here helped me get a lot of good information before we made the move. Generally, Villagers are so happy to be here that they seem to like to share the joy by helping others. If you want to test that, just stop in one of the town squares with a map in your hands and a puzzled look on your face and you'll have someone asking to help you in manner of minutes. That was sure our experience!

Thank you. We spent the month of February at the villages and fell in love with it. As far as the heat I figure here we spend the winters inside with heat going and down their we will spend the summers with the a/c going. I think it will be a nice trade off. Thank you everyone for your great advice.

just remember that you don't really have a strict timeframe to be in the Villages, do you? maybe drive off the freeway onto some 4 lane state highways along the way and see something other than Atlanta metro area.

We are driving south to TV next month. Our preferred route when traveling to FL from here is to take Hwy 441 to just south of Lake City, FL where we pick up I75. That cuts out all of the major bottlenecks like Knoxville, Chattanooga and Atlanta. It is 4 lane for most of the way with only short stretches of 2 lane. Less stressful and a more direct route.