Three Good Stops

New Orleans to Buffalo: where to stop

1240 miles, about 17 hr 58 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between New Orleans, LA and Buffalo, NY, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Laurel, MSStretch your legs in Laurel, MS · mile 138

The other 9 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

C•••••, ALstretch, fuel, meal · mile 278
A•••••, ALstretch · mile 419
N•••••, TNstretch, fuel · mile 559
C•••••, KYovernight, meal · mile 603
L•••••, KYstretch · mile 740
G•••••, OHstretch, fuel, meal · mile 876

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
16038 hr 38 minCave City, KY
25948 hr 40 minHamburg, NY
3430 hr 40 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan New Orleans to Buffalo your way →

Questions

How far is New Orleans, LA to Buffalo, NY?
About 1240 miles, roughly 17 hr 58 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive New Orleans to Buffalo in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 3 days, with a night in Cave City, KY.

Where is a good place to stop between New Orleans and Buffalo?
Laurel, MS is the first one on this route.