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My family and I want to take a fall road trip up north to New England. Well, we wanted to go to Spain but have you seen flight prices? So yeah, New England sounds great!
My daughter is almost 7 and we will be driving. I will stop to see friends in MD and also PA and MA, but we want to go to Boston for at least a few days and also to Maine to visit the shore and national park. Then maybe hit Niagara Falls and western MA on the way back to NC. We'll have about 2 weeks of time.
Those of you more experienced, can you not only suggest good routes and times/days to do each segment of the journey but also some "must do" things that are on the way? Or things to avoid?
It is definitely worth spending a couple of days in RI. Newport is amazing, the harbor, the historic houses along Thames St, Ocean Ave and the mansions (think Biltmore on a cliff overlooking the ocean) kite flying at Breton Point. Head to Point Judith and take the ferry to Block Island. Providence is so rich in history - cobblestone sidewalks and homes from the 1600's - 1700's on Benefit St, Brown University. RISD.
The other great thing is that when in Providence, you are only 47 miles from Boston! Great time of the year. Tons to do in Boston. Quincy Market, Fanieul Hall, The North End, Museum of Science, Boston Aquarium, Duck tour straight into the Charles River, freedom trail etc! Oh and Fenway!!!!!!!
I haven't even started on NH, VT and Maine!!! Could go on and on and on.......
It is definitely worth spending a couple of days in RI. Newport is amazing, the harbor, the historic houses along Thames St, Ocean Ave and the mansions (think Biltmore on a cliff overlooking the ocean) kite flying at Breton Point. Head to Point Judith and take the ferry to Block Island. Providence is so rich in history - cobblestone sidewalks and homes from the 1600's - 1700's on Benefit St, Brown University. RISD.
The other great thing is that when in Providence, you are only 47 miles from Boston! Great time of the year. Tons to do in Boston. Quincy Market, Fanieul Hall, The North End, Museum of Science, Boston Aquarium, Duck tour straight into the Charles River, freedom trail etc!
I haven't even started on NH, VT and Maine!!! Could go on and on and on.......
Now this is what I'm talking about. Please do - go on and on, that is
if you like being scared out of your wits, drive the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.... I suggest taking the scenic route diagonally across northern VA on Hwy17 over to Warrenton if you need to see friends that way over. And take NYS 17 through the southern Catskills in NY (stop to eat at the World Famous Roscoe Diner), then you can go over the Hudson, through Kingston, stop and visit in Rhinebeck and on into the Conn. The Taconic State Parkway is nice I hear.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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We're heading up to Boston and Canada this summer, too! And we're also driving. Niagara Falls is a bit out of the way, however. Also, if you are crossing into Canada for Niagara Falls (it's much better than the American side), remember that the adults need passports (kids just need their birth certificate). I'd probably skip it for this trip though since there are other places to see that are closer.
We are heading up via the western route to avoid I-95 traffic and for a change of scenery since we drive I-95 quite often. So we'll go up I-81 to I-78 to the NYS Thruway to a bunch of other roads and enter Boston from the west side. It's definitely longer, but we'll hopefully avoid traffic that way. Boston will take a couple of days to explore - lots to see for kids and tons of history. Don't skimp on your time there. There are so many areas to explore near Boston that you cannot do it all in one trip. You can do Cape Cod along with Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. You can head up to Maine and check out Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, and Portland along the coast. Bar Harbor And Acadia National Park!
As someone else mentioned, Newport, Rhode Island is worth seeing (don't miss the Cliff Walk with all of the Robber Baron mansions!). Or you can do the western side and head into Vermont and New Hampshire and do the White Mountains and also visit Ben and Jerry's (yum!). The scenery is GORGEOUS in New England. You won't be disappointed!
The western part of Mass. has the Berkshires. And on the way is the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, if you are interested. On the way home to NC, if you are brave, you can visit NYC. Or if not, Philadelphia is also a great place to visit as well as DC. For something less cityish, you can visit Lancaster, PA and see the Amish, and HersheyPark is a nice stop for a 7-year old.
If I were you, I'd pick your top 5 must-sees and base your trip around that making a loop so you don't cross the same place twice. I'd probably pick Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, RI, and the Maine Coast with a stop or two on the way up and the way back.
if you like being scared out of your wits, drive the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.... I suggest taking the scenic route diagonally across northern VA on Hwy17 over to Warrenton if you need to see friends that way over. And take NYS 17 through the southern Catskills in NY (stop to eat at the World Famous Roscoe Diner), then you can go over the Hudson, through Kingston, stop and visit in Rhinebeck and on into the Conn. The Taconic State Parkway is nice I hear.
Good stuff, thanks. Not much scares me, driving wise, I'm a professional high speed driving instructor so I don't freak easily but I do try to stay away from idiots whenever possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by michgc
We're heading up to Boston and Canada this summer, too! And we're also driving. Niagara Falls is a bit out of the way, however. Also, if you are crossing into Canada for Niagara Falls (it's much better than the American side), remember that the adults need passports (kids just need their birth certificate). I'd probably skip it for this trip though since there are other places to see that are closer.
We are heading up via the western route to avoid I-95 traffic and for a change of scenery since we drive I-95 quite often. So we'll go up I-81 to I-78 to the NYS Thruway to a bunch of other roads and enter Boston from the west side. It's definitely longer, but we'll hopefully avoid traffic that way. Boston will take a couple of days to explore - lots to see for kids and tons of history. Don't skimp on your time there. There are so many areas to explore near Boston that you cannot do it all in one trip. You can do Cape Cod along with Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. You can head up to Maine and check out Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, and Portland along the coast. Bar Harbor And Acadia National Park!
As someone else mentioned, Newport, Rhode Island is worth seeing (don't miss the Cliff Walk with all of the Robber Baron mansions!). Or you can do the western side and head into Vermont and New Hampshire and do the White Mountains and also visit Ben and Jerry's (yum!). The scenery is GORGEOUS in New England. You won't be disappointed!
The western part of Mass. has the Berkshires. And on the way is the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, if you are interested. On the way home to NC, if you are brave, you can visit NYC. Or if not, Philadelphia is also a great place to visit as well as DC. For something less cityish, you can visit Lancaster, PA and see the Amish, and HersheyPark is a nice stop for a 7-year old.
If I were you, I'd pick your top 5 must-sees and base your trip around that making a loop so you don't cross the same place twice. I'd probably pick Boston, Cape Cod, Newport, RI, and the Maine Coast with a stop or two on the way up and the way back.
Have fun! Maybe I'll pass you on the road!
Really good input and skipping I-95 sounds wonderful, although maybe for the way back for us. We have to stop in Silver Spring, MD on our first night to see friends and 95 is the easiest route there. Boston for sure will be at least a few days and like you said, we'll hit the highlights and then come back in future years for more as she gets older and acquires more complex interests. Cape Cod and the rest sound wonderful.
My grandparents had a place in the Berkshires that my aunt now owns. It was supposed to pass to me when she is gone, but she and I had a falling out and I think she'll change that to spite me. So maybe I can at least take my daughter there to show it to her once as a minimum.
Thanks for the great input!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeJaquish
PA is a wide state. Friends in Eastern or Western PA?
Lancaster. Which according to the above sounds like a great afternoon stop at least.
I tried to plan a trip from here to Acadia once, but the wife vetoed driving up. In retrospect, I was very thankful. We'd have wasted so much of our trip getting to/from there. Instead we flew into Logan and rented a car to drive up to Maine. Even with that, we were still in the car driving for what seemed like hours so many days trying to see places along the Maine coast. We were childless at the time, but I really want to go back once our boy is older (just turned 7). I want him to be old enough to tackle the amazing carriage roads in Acadia on a bike and be able to handle his own sea kayak.
Since you mention Spain, we visited this spring and the lodging, food/drink and ground transportation prices were so cheap that it more than made up for the $800 each we spent getting to/from there. We were able to spend almost all of our time enjoying ourselves instead of traveling thanks to the redeye over and the high speed train network. Our previous trip to Europe was to Italy, which was at least 50% more across the board. Now just seems a great time to go to Spain.
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