Scenic route from NYC to Boston

[bigmiz7]

i've heard the route 1 coastline route isn't all that. i'm from nyc and planning a trip to boston with my girlfriend in late august. allocated time will be about 5-6 days. we plan on spending about 3 days in boston and possibly a few days in between in hotels while we stop and explore some possible awesome towns/cities before keeping it moving. Any suggested routes?

[Megan and Tony]

My wife and I just did this last week. We went from NYC to New Haven, CT and stopped at Yale University. Check out there awesome library and rare book museum.

[bigmiz7]

i just edited my post to be more specific about things but yea we were thinking of stopping in new haven and a few other places along the way but would like some more suggestions and driving routes wit the most optimal scenery and places to visit without going out of the way

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

As always, there is more than one 'scenic' route between any departure/destination pair. This is especially true in New England (as well as other places). So let me lay out just one possible loop between New York and Boston. For the 'coastal' leg of the loop, there's no point in following I-95 through the heart of a very urbanized coastline between New York and New Haven, so instead take the Merritt Parkway (CT-15) up to the New Haven area. Here you'll have to brave at least a short urban drive by taking CT-59 into New Haven, past Yale University's gorgeous campus (and my 8xGreat-grandfather's homestead) to hook up with I-95. East of the New Haven area the Connecticut coast opens up quite a bit and you can alternate between I-95 and US-1 as the mood or need for speed dictates, but be sure to drive through Mystic and take in its Main Street and Mystic Seaport and then continue on US-1 into Rhode Island and take RI-138 over a couple of bridges into Newport. The obvious thing to do at this point would be to head on out to Cape Cod, but it's so obvious that it is often a traffic nightmare. Instead, you should look at taking RI-138/MA-79/US-44 to Plymouth and then MA-3A up to the Boston area.

A return inland drive might do something like: From the 128/95 Beltway take US-20 west to Sturbridge and then head south on MA-139/CT-169 to CT-14/CT-66 west through Willimantic (be sure to note the bridge) to Marlborough and CT-2 west. At East Glastonbury, take CT-160 west to cross the Connecticut River on the nation's oldest continuously operating ferry service and a stop at one of the few places on Earth where you can make your own casts of dinosaur tracks. (You do have to bring your own plaster of Paris.) continue on CT-160 to US-5 south to once again get on the Merritt Parkway (CT-15) for the rest of the drive back to NYC.

AZBuck

[bigmiz7]

So we've decided to make Newport into a seprerate weekend trip after researching it a little. That route sounds very interesting and like a lot of fun. I had thought about seeing Mystic, and I've visited Plymouth once so I know she'd love it. Thanks for your input, we will definititly keep all of this in mind!