To avoid NYC you will need to take the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River instead of the GW Bridge or a tunnel. The problem then is that you end up west of the most direct routes - so while the route you suggest is possible, it does add miles. Depending on time of day, it is virtually inevitable that you will be on I95 through CT for most of the trip anyway - which can be just as annoying as any NYC traffic. And the route you suggest is still through urban areas for the most part - not what I would call a "nice drive".

Would NYC be more tolerable if you could adjust your travel hours to off-peak?

One alternative that avoids 95 but adds some miles is once you get to 84, continue up to Mass pike then take 495 south.

Another would be 84 to 391 to rt 6 to Porvidence then 195 to 24, this is more direct but goes through many small towns in CT and RI. Prettier and less traffic though.

As to your idea of rejoining 95 near Old Saybrook, I would suggest that you use the Hutchinson River Pky to Merrit Tpk when you are over the bridge then join 95 where the Merrit is close to it, as long as you are in a passenger car. The Merrit does not allow trucks and the bridges are low enough so someone gets stuck and pays a big fine and has to be towed backwards when they try it in a tall vehicle.

I left out, 391 to 66 to 6.

What emalloy wrote: GSP to Tappan Zee. Buy gas before leaving Jersey; it is astronomical in Connecticut. Take 287 to Hutchinson River Parkway to Merritt. Get off the Merritt in Milford and return to I-95. It is well marked. It may be congested through New Haven, and especially in West Haven, but it is usually easy after Branford.

It is a fairly pretty drive from Branford to Providence, but it is easy to speed and heavily patrolled in
Connecticut and Rhode Island. There is a famous no mercy speed trap where RI 4 enters I-95 just west of Providence and the speed limit drops.

The Rhode Island rest area/welcome center just across the border is nicer than any of the Connecticut rest areas.

From Providence, you take I-195 to the Cape from an intersection right in the center of the city. This all used to be a nightmare but it pretty straightforward since construction has ended (if construction ever ends).

I can give more detail once you are on the Cape, but I need to know where you are going.

Thanks for all the great feedback.

Everyone would suggest the Tapan Zee over 84? I don't mind the added mileage as long as I bypass the city.

Absolutely do not go all the way to 84 unless you are going to Boston, for which it makes eminent sense unless they are doing a lot of construction.

I think it just occured to me that you may not be a Jersey resident but flying into Newark and driving from there.

It would explain why you are so desperate to avoid I-95, which is a lot easier, say, than I-85 etc in Atlanta or North Carolina. It might explain why you would consider driving an extra 45 minutes minimum (6 is a two-lane highway in parts) to get to the Bourne Bridge.

If you are flying in, I don't understand why you didn't fly to Providence in the first place and solve all these problems. If you are flying to EWR from overseas, please consider listening to people on this and your other thread who do this all the time.

Depending on traffic that day you should consider taking the GWB, then getting off onto the henry hudson north to the cross county to the hutch. There are back ways through teaneck and fort lee that will get you to the bridge quickly if I-95 is a mess (just look at a map, they are fairly straightforward). You won't really be doing any city driving since you'll be going north from the GWB.