Philadelphia to Boston

Hi,
We are going to a concert in Camden NJ and then visiting friends who leave near Boston. Our plan is to fly to New York, spend four nights there and then hop a train to Philadelphia, where we will spend two nights. We have four days before we have to reach Boston. We were thinking of hiring a car in Philadelphia and travelling up to the Catskills or Adirondacks. Any ideas regarding route or destination?

Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

Both those areas make great roadtripping adventures, being scenic with lots of small settlements and a variety of scenery. But don't overlook eastern Pennsylvania, one of my favourite roadtripping States. In particular I like the LeHigh Valley with the quaint little town of Jim Thorpe, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Pocono Mountains. This would keep you on a route to Boston without covering extra miles to Upstate NY.

Do you have any maps? or access to good detailed maps? If you are a member of your local automobile club, then take your membership with you. It will give you access to free maps and tourism information from the AAA. You could pick up detailed maps of PA, NY, CT and MA, as well as a detailed map of Boston and Philadelphia while in NYC. These maps have a wealth of information when it comes to attractions along the way. You will see your many choices of routes, including scenic routes, which are hilighted on the maps.

If you were to approach Boston on I-84 through CT, you could stop of at Old Sturbridge Village, just before you get to the Masspike.

Lifey

Thanks for the advice. Since posting, we have done a bit more research and it looks as if two nights in Philly may be cutting it a bit short. Plenty to see. We may add an extra night and then take our time travelling up to Mass. Quite fancy taking in the Shaker and Rockwell museums up that way. Intercourse sounds interesting (hard to write that without laughing)

Since you are apparently going to be spending a bit more time in Philadelphia as well as on the road to Boston, you'll have more time to visit a few more places. In Philadelphia, a couple of out of the way places that might interest you include Elfreth's Alley, the Italian Market, the USS Olympia, and the Mummer's Museum.

There are actually three Shaker Museums in roughly the same area along your route, one in Albany NY, one in New Lebanon NY, and one in Pittsfield MA. Also, you might enjoy Old Sturbridge Village.

As for the Amish in Pennsylvania, my experience is that if you go to the 'famous' sites such as Intercourse or Bird-in-Hand, you will find a packaged, for-sale, tchotchke version of the Amish culture. The Amish do not trade on their beliefs. Any venue that advertises itself as an 'authentic Amish experience' is none of those three things. If you want to observe the Amish, you can hardly do better than wandering about some of the many back roads in a triangular area roughly defined by three routes: US-30, PA-272, and PA-10. And do try to respect their aversion to being photographed. They are not a tourist attraction.

AZBuck

Thanks for this. I was a little concerned about descriptions of the Amish locations and agree with your comments entirely. Thanks for the advice.
As a keen photographer, I would like to snap some nice neon of restaurants and diners. I have spotted a couple of diners and a famous steak house in Philly. Any other must-sees in this department?

If you are interested in visiting something in Philly which is completely different, and of which not many people are aware, let alone visit, I would recommend that you visit the "Village for Arts and Humanities".... 2544 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia.

This is a community project which was initially designed to keep the youth off the streets and transfer previously drug strewn vacant land into an area to be enjoyed by the community. It has since grown to include an art studio and much more. If you do go, I hope you meet someone there who can explain its history and significance. All the work is and has been done by the local youth of the day, whose children are now involved with the project.

I was fortunate to be in a group escorted by the originator of the project, who explained why and how it set out to be what it is and how it has evolved over the decades. It is a great way to meet the Philly locals, away from tourist attractions.

Lifey

Another hidden gem in Philadelphia is to go to the Macy's store that's about 7 blocks down from Independence Hall and the historic district. Every afternoon, they have an organ concert inside the store! The store itself is pretty "cool" to see, but to think of hearing live music from an organ within the confines of a store is not something you see/hear every day. Check it out.


Donna

We are now putting the finishing touches to our Philadelphia to Boston road trip, but need to get a clearer idea of the section from Quaker Town to Stockbridge. We thought that a drive up to the Catskills would be good and then the next day on to Stockbridge. Question is where in the Catskills would be a nice place to stay for the night, leaving for Stockbridge around 2:00 the next day? Once we have visited the Rockwell museum, we would want somewhere nice to stay, but not necessarily in Stockbridge. The next day, we want to visit Hancock.

Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about the same trip in the same thread