Short answer
About five hours north to south and three to four hours east to west. I-75 from Ringgold, at the Tennessee line, to Lake Park, at the Florida line, is 340 miles and took 5 hours 11 minutes. I-20 from Tallapoosa, at the Alabama line, to Augusta is 201 miles, about 3 hours. Google Maps times, as of October 2026.
We checked eight cross-state drives in Google Maps on Monday, October 5, 2026, in the early afternoon, town center to town center. These are the times Google gave for the fastest route at that moment, so treat them as a planning number, not a promise.
Rush hour through Atlanta, a wreck on I-75 or a holiday weekend can add a lot. For drive times from Atlanta, Savannah, Macon and eight other cities to 88 places in Georgia, see our Georgia drive times dataset.
How long are the main drives across Georgia?
| Drive | Direction | Miles | Drive time | Main road |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dillard – St. Marys | Northeast corner to southeast corner | 390 | 6 hr 30 min | GA-17 |
| Ringgold – Lake Park | Tennessee line to Florida line | 340 | 5 hr 11 min | I-75 |
| Columbus – Savannah | West to east, south half | 249 | 4 hr 7 min | SR-96, I-16 |
| Atlanta – Savannah | Capital to coast | 248 | 3 hr 45 min | I-75, I-16 |
| Atlanta – Valdosta | Capital to near the Florida line | 228 | 3 hr 28 min | I-75 |
| Tallapoosa – Augusta | Alabama line to South Carolina line | 201 | 3 hr 2 min | I-20 |
| Macon – Savannah | Middle Georgia to coast | 166 | 2 hr 27 min | I-16 |
| Port Wentworth – Kingsland | South Carolina line to near Florida line, along the coast | 107 | 1 hr 38 min | I-95 |
How long does it take to drive Georgia from north to south?
Plan on five to five and a half hours on I-75. From Ringgold, just south of Chattanooga, to Lake Park, just north of the Florida line, Google Maps gave 340 miles and 5 hours 11 minutes. That drive goes straight through downtown Atlanta, which is where most of the extra time comes from on a bad day.
Google also flagged a toll on its fastest route; if you’d rather skip it, set “Avoid tolls” in Maps and compare. Atlanta to Valdosta alone is 228 miles and about 3 hours 28 minutes.
How long does it take to drive Georgia from east to west?
Three to four hours, depending on how far south you cross. Up top, I-20 runs from Tallapoosa at the Alabama line to Augusta on the Savannah River: 201 miles in about 3 hours 2 minutes. Down south the state is wider. Columbus to Savannah came out at 249 miles and 4 hours 7 minutes, using SR-96 over to I-16.
What is the longest drive across Georgia?
Corner to corner. Dillard, up in the mountains near the North Carolina line, to St. Marys on the coast near Florida was 390 miles and 6 hours 30 minutes, the longest of the drives we checked. That is about an hour and twenty minutes longer than the full I-75 run.
How long is the drive from Atlanta to the Georgia coast?
About 3 hours 45 minutes to Savannah (248 miles, I-75 to I-16). From Macon, I-16 to Savannah is 166 miles and about 2 hours 27 minutes. Once you’re on the coast, I-95 covers the whole Georgia shoreline, from Port Wentworth near the South Carolina line to Kingsland near Florida, in 107 miles and about 1 hour 38 minutes.
Our Georgia coast road trip breaks that stretch into a five-day plan, and the Georgia beaches and islands guide covers where to stop.
Can you drive across Georgia in one day?
Yes. Every drive in the table is under seven hours, so any crossing fits in one day with stops. A few things that help:
- Time your pass through Atlanta for midday or evening, not the morning or late-afternoon rush.
- Check 511GA, the Georgia DOT road-conditions site, for closures before you leave. Google Maps routed us around a road closure on the Macon to Savannah drive the day we checked.
- Breaking up a mountain drive? Our North Georgia mountain town distances show the short hops, and day trips from Atlanta by drive time lists 71 places under three hours.
How we checked this guide: Dates, hours, admission and parking prices, and access details were verified against the official sources listed below on . Operators change schedules and raise prices without notice, so confirm anything time-sensitive before you drive. The figures in this guide also feed our Georgia Attraction Transparency Index and Family Day-Out Cost Index.
Sources
- Google Maps driving directions, all eight drives in the table, checked
- 511GA – Georgia Department of Transportation traffic and road conditions
- It’s Georgia – Georgia drive times dataset (OSRM/OpenStreetMap routing, free-flow times)
Hank Whitlock is the pen name of the It's Georgia editor. Every guide is built around the questions a busy family actually asks before a trip: how long is the drive, what does parking cost, can the stroller make it, are dogs allowed. Details are checked against official park, city, and venue sources, and each guide shows the date it was last updated.
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Cite this page: It's Georgia, “How Long Does It Take to Drive Across Georgia?”, itsgeorgia.com/answers/how-long-does-it-take-to-drive-across-georgia/ (updated ). Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page.