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Boston, Marthas Vineyard, New York, the Jersey Shore are the best.
Yes the Jersey Shore. Its my favorite set of beaches and towns yet in the us. Call me weird
If fall do CT VT NH MA for foliage.
Boston, Marthas Vineyard, New York, the Jersey Shore are the best.
Yes the Jersey Shore. Its my favorite set of beaches and towns yet in the us. Call me weird
If fall do CT VT NH MA for foliage.
You don't want to actually live on Martha's Vineyard or at the Jersey Shore though. Winter is not fun. Those are tourist and seasonal places. It really comes down to what the OP wants to get out of the trip.
Boston, Marthas Vineyard, New York, the Jersey Shore are the best.
Yes the Jersey Shore. Its my favorite set of beaches and towns yet in the us. Call me weird
If fall do CT VT NH MA for foliage.
The OP said Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, maybe CT. And they are landing in Philadelphia.
I wouldn't suggest MA, VT, NH, MA if they only have 4 days and their destinations already in mind. And you can find stunning foliage in PA, NJ, NY, which are in the areas of interest to the OP.
My question for the OP: Are you city focused or suburbs/countryside focused? Would help narrow down a path of travel over the 4 day visit.
To clarify: I am suburbs/countryside focused with a big city not more then 2-3 hours away. I have never been to CT or anything north of it. Never been to Boston and probably won't this trip either.
In regards to this trip, I'm open to visiting NYC for a day, Philadelphia/NJ for a day, Delaware/Maryland/DC for a day. But again, my plan is not finalized yet. Also, I'll most likely be staying in PA or NJ as its central being between NYC and DC. Any suggestions are welcome.
Being from California, I am used to driving long distances. The beauty of the East is the vast variety found throughout. You've got big and small states on EC. West only has big states.
To clarify: I am suburbs/countryside focused with a big city not more then 2-3 hours away. I have never been to CT or anything north of it. Never been to Boston and probably won't this trip either.
In regards to this trip, I'm open to visiting NYC for a day, Philadelphia/NJ for a day, Delaware/Maryland/DC for a day. But again, my plan is not finalized yet. Also, I'll most likely be staying in PA or NJ as its central being between NYC and DC. Any suggestions are welcome.
Being from California, I am used to driving long distances. The beauty of the East is the vast variety found throughout. You've got big and small states on EC. West only has big states.
Stick with Philly and either one of NYC or DC...you only have 4 days...
For instance, if you only want to spend a day in DC you're basically talking about only visiting the landmarks around National Mall, and probably one of the Museum, and maybe visit some nearby neighborhood for a meal, but that's about it. Same for NYC - basically you take a few pictures at Times Square (although that's really enough...), go up Empire State Building, eat at a few more famous restaurants, take a quick tour of Statue of Liberty, etc.
But either way you won't get anywhere close to getting a true "feel" for the city. And you'll basically miss some small towns here and there since you won't have any time.
To clarify: I am suburbs/countryside focused with a big city not more then 2-3 hours away. I have never been to CT or anything north of it. Never been to Boston and probably won't this trip either.
In regards to this trip, I'm open to visiting NYC for a day, Philadelphia/NJ for a day, Delaware/Maryland/DC for a day. But again, my plan is not finalized yet. Also, I'll most likely be staying in PA or NJ as its central being between NYC and DC. Any suggestions are welcome.
Being from California, I am used to driving long distances. The beauty of the East is the vast variety found throughout. You've got big and small states on EC. West only has big states.
If you going to hit Philadelphia or even Baltimore/DC, you might want to take a side trip to Gettysburg National Battlefield in order to see some of the Pennsylvania countryside. And while I do not think southern Pennsylvania hits peak leaf season in late October, there should be at least some color by next week I think.
Another possibility closer to Philadelphia is Valley Forge, although I think Gettysburg is worth the trip if you can fit it in. Also near Philadelphia is Longwood Gardens, one of the bigger botanical gardens in the USA i believe.
If you want to visit CT with the purpose of finding a place to live there, then I suggest you drive further into the state than Fairfield County. Unless that's where you want to live, that area of CT is the most expensive and dense. If you want to move to an affordable, nice suburb in CT, then visit either the Hartford or New Haven area on your trip. I'd suggest going to Hartford since it's more affordable and you can take I-84 to get there instead of I-95, which should be less stressful. Hartford is about 4.5 hours or so from Philly. If you visit the Hartford area, West Hartford, Southington, Wethersfield, and Middletown all have nice walkable downtowns and will give you a nice taste of the area. If you stay in NYC for a couple days then you can also make a daytrip to CT fairly easily, either by car or MetroNorth. In that case, visit the New Haven area (check out Milford, Branford, and New Haven itself).
Given the timing, I'd wonder if going north and/or upland might be best for fall colors. Instead of going up the coast to Connecticut, maybe go up the Hudson River Valley to the Catskills and see cute small cities like Beacon or Kingston.
You don't want to actually live on Martha's Vineyard or at the Jersey Shore though. Winter is not fun. Those are tourist and seasonal places. It really comes down to what the OP wants to get out of the trip.
With the tight time window, I'd resist the urge to try to do too much. I'd do a day in the Philly area, a day up in Bucks county (New Hope, as suggested above, is a cool little town, and there's a lot of "autumn" stuff to do around there), and wild card would be a day at the Jersey Shore in which case I'd recommend Asbury Park. Asbury is not the closest shore area to Philly (that would be AC), but it's surely the coolest town on the shore, and there's enough to do even if it will be too cold to hit the beach (and it will be).
I wouldn't bother with NYC honestly as you don't have enough time to really get anything out of it. Ditto DC. You'll spend too much time driving around or on trains and less time seeing stuff.
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