the summer trip new york state to where
Where do we start ...every year we ask the same question ..and the answer is always quite simple really...find a site that has like minded people ( like here ) and ask the collective wisdom for their advice. So here I am.
Now to the fun part well , the question: Mmmm this always sounds easier then it actually is so here goes !
My wife and I will fly into Boston on the 14th June this will be our first time in New England and we plan to spend 5 nights in Boston; will hopefully give us time to do the tourist things ..lol. Part 2 of the trip is to catch a train yes people a train, something I have not been on for at least 15 years and never ever had the experience of catching one in the USA. So its the train from Boston on the 19th June to the "Big Apple" and another 5 nights to explore .
Now here comes the difficult bit I have arranged in a moment of sheer madness to hire a car from Avis for 16 days and that we are going to collect it from central Manhatten which should be fun. So now I am after ideas of what best to see and how much can I cram in , in these 16 days. These are bits that must be included within our trip;
1) We must end up in Boston on the 9th July
2) We would like to visit Niagara Falls.
Also we would like to split the driving between boring interstates and nice country roads.
Current ideas are;
1) New York -D.C.-Niagara-Boston Would this be too much to take in, in such a short time. Would we end up just stoping each night to sleep and not really seeing anything .
2) New York - Niagara - Boston. this involes just taking our time driving through NYS to the falls and back through VT to Boston.
So fellow travelers its now down to you to hopefully try and steer me in the right directions ...seriously any input would be much appericated.
thanks all of you in advance
More Time Than Most Americans Would Give It
Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.
With 16 days, you can actually see quite a lot of that region of the country. Keep in mind that no two places that you've listed in your current ideas are more than a day's drive from each other at most. So that leaves quite a few days for you and SWMBO to relax and explore your destinations, even if you were to combine both of your proposed itineraries. I might 'steal' a day from Boston or New York to make the driving portion more relaxing, but otherwise, I think you could anticipate alternating a driving day with two or three 'seeing and doing' days, and even then your driving days would not be "spending all day every day in the car".
Just a couple of additional points and tips. The train service between Boston and New York is some of the best in our country, particularly if you travel on either the Metroliner or Acela trains. While it is true that one of us drives on the wrong side of the road, I have never found that the transition takes more than a few minutes to get comfortable with, and our secondary roads are proportionately wider to accommodate our wider cars. There is always room to allow two cars going in opposite directions to get by each other. In Amish country, actually I strongly suggest that you get onto these back roads (Pennsylvania state highways with 3 digit numbers, such as PA-896, PA-340, etc). But slow down on these roads. Especially if you are driving through on a Sunday, you are quite likely to round a curve or top a hill and find yourself right behind a horse and buggy moving at 5-10 mph. Also be aware that the Amish do not like to have their pictures taken, so honor their sensibilities or at least be circumspect. The other area where you should poke around some of our 'B' roads is in Vermont. VT-100 which runs north-south through the center of the state is particularly scenic.
AZBuck
