starting in Philadeplphia

[driving miss daisy]

Dear all

I have been on this site many times and always got great advice. Thanks for that! This time I will really need it....
We have done road trips around Florida and the southwest many times - we don't mind the driving. This time we have to go to Philadeplphia for work and would like to do a road trip for 2 weeks before going back home to Europe. We will be there in the beginning of May. I have no idea what to see and where to go!!!!!! We thought about driving to Washington D.C, amish county, maybe see the Niagra falls and fly back from New York. Waht will the weather be like in May? But as I mentioned, we really have no plans and would be greatful for lot's of advice!!

Thanks for now

[Lifemagician]

Welcome back. Glad to hear that last year's trip was a success.

The places you mention could all be visited in the time you have available. Allow a couple of days for DC. Even just going to the many Smithsonian sites will take a while, besides all the monuments, etc. Unless you already have a car, you could consider taking the train to DC and picking up a car when you leave there. Public transport is very good in the city, and parking is expensive. Besides, you can spend a lot of time looking for somewhere to park.

Do you have passports to go over into Canada? Niagara Falls is a great place to visit, especially early in the season, and the Canadian side is really the best. There's also a great IMAX movie which is shown on the Canadian side, which gives a lot of information on the falls. It is also the side where the falls are illuminated at night. The Maid of the Mist tour operates from both sides, but the walk behind the falls (if it is operating in early May) goes from the Canadian side.

Have you thought of traversing back to NYC via Boston. A city with much history, especially of early European settlement.

Lifey

[driving miss daisy]

Thank you for your input. Yes we have passports, so I guess we can go to Canada. what is a Good Place to stay?
I will be in Boston later this year, that is why we didn,t plan to go there this time.
Are there any National Parks in the area?

We do have a car which we already have when leaving Philadelphia.

Greetings from Europe

[DonnaR57]

National parks in the area around DC and through Niagara Falls: Not all that far from DC is Shenandoah National Park, with its Skyline Drive. Then there are also National Historic Parks and National Military Parks all over the East, such as Manassas (Virginia), Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP (Maryland), Gettysburg (Pennsylvania), and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (PA).

In Philadelphia itself, there are SO many things to see and do. My husband and I spent hours, two years ago, tooling around the historic district -- Independence Hall, the hall of congress, City Tavern, Liberty Bell. Nearby is Constitution Hall, the Mint, and more. We also walked about 10 blocks down the road to the downtown Macy's store, where they have an ORGAN CONCERT twice a day -- if you like a good concert of classical music, check out this unique setting for a concert. We did the 5:30 concert and avoided driving out of Philadelphia during Rush Hour!


Donna

[AZBuck]

A two week RoadTrip beginning and ending in Philadelphia can cover any, or even all, of the following areas: the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Virginia's Historic Triangle, the Blue Ridge Mountains, Washington DC, Pennsylvania Dutch country, New York's Finger Lakes, Niagara Falls, Toronto ON and Montréal QC in Canada, The Thousand Islands and Adirondacks in northern New York, Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont, most of New England, and New York City. And the thing is - all of those locations are within a day's drive of Philadelphia or New York so that you could start out on a great loop around them, seeing the ones that interest you and skipping others, and never be all that far from your flight home when your time in America is coming to an end.

AZBuck

[driving miss daisy]

Thanks fo all the new ideas!
Well, Philly and DC are all planned.
We thought of driving along to coast from Philly to DC.
I read alot about the Shenandoah National Park, with its Skyline Drive. So we thought about doing that. What worries me a bit is the trip to niagra. Is there anything on the way? We did want to see Gettysburg and Lancaster with Amish Country. But then what?

Thanks for now

[Lifemagician]

Seek out any part of US6 in northern PA, a route which is a destination in itself, with it's many attraction. Any of the many scenic routes through the Allegheny National Forest. That is a wonderful area for leisurely driving, sightseeing with many boutique places to stop and eat. Then there is scenic route 16 through New York, up to Buffalo.

I find it hard to find a road/route which does not have something of interest to offer, even if it is not on a computer mapping program. Most are mentioned on paper maps. It would pay you to get a Rand McNally road atlas, before your trip. I also find this article very helpful.

Lifey