Durham NC to Washington DC drive: Distance, time & best stops
The best road trip stops on the Durham NC to Washington DC drive are Kerr Lake, Richmond VA and Fredericksburg VA. The distance from Durham NC to Washington DC by car is 258 miles, with a four hour driving time.
Planning a Durham NC to Washington DC road trip itinerary
The Durham NC to Washington DC drive takes you from a university city in North Carolina to the national capital.
Durham NC is a big tech research center, and home to Duke University. The latter is home to the Nasher Museum of Art and the soaring Gothic Duke Chapel.
Nature-lovers can go walking through the Sarah P Duke Gardens and take a tour of the Duke Lemur Center. The biggest crowd-pleaser, however, is the Museum of Life and Science. There are several sections to this, both indoor and outdoor. It’s mainly button-pushing, kid-friendly science indoors and black bears, butterflies and red wolves outside.
The best-rated Durham NC accommodation options are the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club and the Hampton Inn and Suites at the University Medical Center.
Washington DC has an enormous range of tours, experiences and attractions available. You could happily spend weeks in the Smithsonian Museums alone. Top choices, however, include the nighttime monuments and memorials tour, small group guided visits to the Capitol and National Library of Congress and Lincoln assassination tours that visit Fords Theatre.
Memorable Washington DC accommodation options include the Willard, where Martin Luther King Jr wrote his I Have A Dream speech. There’s also the Watergate Hotel, a luxurious conversion of the offices from the Watergate scandal.
Durham NC to Washington DC distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Durham NC to Washington DC is 258 miles. That makes for a driving time of around four hours. The quickest route is up the I-85 and I-95.
The best stops to add to a Durham NC to Washington DC road trip itinerary are Kerr Lake, Richmond VA and Fredericksburg VA.
For more suggestions, read the guide to the Richmond to Washington DC drive.
Durham NC to Washington DC drive: Kerr Lake
Kerr Lake – officially the John H Kerr Reservoir and unofficially Buggs Island Lake – straddles the Virginia/ North Carolina border. The dam on the Roanoke River is on the Virginia side, but there are several picnic areas, campgrounds and swimming beaches on both sides.
The closest section to the I-85 is in North Carolina. Here, the Kerr Lake State Recreation Area. There’s are a visitor center and bathhouses here. There are also campgrounds, picnic tables, beaches and three miles of hiking trails.
Best stops between Durham NC and Washington DC: Richmond VA
Once the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond VA is not entirely weighed down by its history. The surprisingly wild James River runs through it, and the west end feels energetic and more of the North than the South.
The top attraction, though, is the huge American Civil War Museum at the historic Tredegar Ironworks. After that, walk the suspension bridge to Belle Isle in the middle of the James River, see the dubious Confederate monuments on Monument Avenue, or see the grandiose tombs of the Hollywood Cemetery.
Other good Richmond experiences include food tours of the Arts District or Church Hill, Segway tours of the city landmarks, nighttime ghost walks and guided hikes along the James River.
For Richmond accommodation, the Moxy Richmond Downtown brims with fun, youthful energy. The Residence Inn by Marriott, meanwhile, is a short walk from the lively Shockoe Bottom neighbourhood.
Durham NC to Washington DC road trip attractions: Fredericksburg VA
Fredericksburg is a prettily historic Virginia city, with its main attraction being the Fredericksburg Battlefield. You can take a driving tour here, but there are also walking trails.
You’ll also find the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library here. It takes you through the former president’s life and work inside his former legal office.
The Rising Sun Tavern, meanwhile, was owned by George Washington’s younger brother and was a center of revolutionary plotting.
More Durham NC road trips
Durham NC to Asheville | Durham NC to Atlanta | Charlotte to Durham NC | Richmond VA to Durham NC | Durham NC to Wilmington NC | Durham NC to Winston-Salem NC.
More Washington DC road trips
Washington DC to Asheville | Atlanta to Washington DC | Washington DC to Baltimore | Boston to Washington DC | Washington DC to Charlotte | Chicago to Washington DC | Dallas to Washington DC | Fort Lauderdale to Washington DC | Fredericksburg to Washington DC | Greensboro to Washington DC | Hartford to Washington DC | Houston to Washington DC | Washington DC to Knoxville | Washington DC to Myrtle Beach | New Haven to Washington DC | New York City to Washington DC | Philadelphia to Washington DC | Washington DC to Pittsburgh | Raleigh NC to Washington DC | Washington DC to Richmond VA | St Louis to Washington DC | Washington DC to Tampa | Washington DC to Wilmington NC.