New York and New England

[Jonny Parker]

My wife and I are flying from LA to New York City in May to spend 6/7 days on the east coast before flying from Boston to London. We would like to spend a couple of days in NYC and then get a car to road trip for 4/5 days. The original plan was to drive up the coast to Maine and then head back south to Boston for a couple of days. But I'm wondering if we should detour to Niagara Falls while we're out there...

We like to see new states, cities, and places. We tend to do the "touristy thing" when we travel to make the most of it and support local tour operators. I have visited NYC twice and Boston once (over 10 years ago). My wife has never been to the north east at all.

We'd like to maximize our time out there and see as much as we can. But we'll be traveling around England for a week and a half following the road trip and don't want to be burned out before we get there.

Please suggest routes, places, and stops. Any and all advice is welcome.

[DonnaR57]

Boston, of course, is full of history. In Maine, there's Acadia NP (just to name one thing). Niagara Falls would be a bit further west if you wanted to go from NYC to Maine and back.

With just a week, you'd be doing a lot of driving to go from NYC to Niagara, then Niagara to Boston, then Boston to Bar Harbor -- 3 days up, two days back, which only leaves you one day at Niagara and one at Acadia (and none in Boston). Or a day up to Boston, time there, another day's drive to ME, time there, and then drive back. But it all depends on what you think is more important -- scenic, history, or a combination of both.


Donna

[Jonny Parker]

Hi Donna,

Thanks for the reply.

It sounds like we should skip Niagara and focus on the coastline.

We'd definitely like a combination of both scenic and history. And we need to finish the trip in Boston to catch our flight to the UK. Assuming arrival in NYC on April 30 and departure for New England May 3. What route / places would you suggest to end in Boston on May 6?

[AZBuck]

Certainly, you can follow the coast from New York to Boston, but if you're skipping Niagara and Acadia, New England is surprisingly compact, with just a few days, you can take your pick of almost anywhere, but not everywhere, within its confines. so to help you choose what you and your wife would most like to see, check out the suggestions linked to here.

AZBuck

[Mass Tim]

As has been stated, New England is relatively compact when compared to other regions of the USA. So, you could also consider taking a day to head out onto Cape Cod, or even into the interior regions - such as New Hampshire's White Mountains, Vermont's Green Mountains, etc. You'd be hard pressed to find scenery as dramatic as that of the White Mountains anywhere else in New England.

[Jonny Parker]

Thanks AZBuck.

This will be our second road trip. I booked the flights today, so I can start planning with confirmed dates and times now. We will definitely spend 2.5 days in NYC. We pick up a car on Thursday May 3 at 6PM to head out of the Big Apple and on with the road trip. We fly out of Boston the following Monday night (so it would be nice to get there late on Saturday or early Sunday to get a couple of days there). But that only leaves a couple of days for the road and Kim really wants to see Maine and I'd love to see Martha's Vineyard. Perhaps that dictates the trip... But I like your note that New England is compact and relatively easy to see.

We want to visit again one day (in the fall) so we don't have to see everything.

I have started reading through the threads via the link you shared. I'll post an itinerary at a later date and see what the replies are.

Thanks again!

[Jonny Parker]

Hi,

Spent some time searching through the threads (thanks to the links above). Our provisional itinerary is:

Tues - NYC
Weds - NYC (depart in the evening and drive to Mystic, CT)
Thur - Mystic, CT to Newport, RI to Falmouth, MA
Fri - Falmouth, MA take ferry to Martha's Vineyard and then drive up to Saco, ME (stay in Bay View Villa)
Sat - Saco, ME to Portland, ME
Sun - Drive to Boston in the morning.
Mon - Boston (fly out in the evening).

Does this sound reasonable? Practical?

Any advice on places to stay, eat, and visit at each stop?

Thanks!

Jonny

[glc]

I think you should get out of NYC before afternoon rush - I-95 has some of the worst traffic on the planet.

Better check the ferry schedules to MV carefully - you need to get around Boston before afternoon rush too. Fridays are particularly bad.

[AZBuck]

I admit that I was a little concerned at first when I saw your plan to get over to Martha's Vineyard (and back) and get up to Saco (i.e. through Boston) all on the same day, but after looking into it a bit, it shouldn't be that bad. A couple of things to note: There is absolutely no point in paying the extra expense to take the car over on the ferry. You'd just spend your limited time trying to get out of and then back into Vineyard Haven, not to mention the hassle of trying to park. Just go over on foot and enjoy a couple of hours walking around the town and harbor. Secondly, I'm not sure if you're aware of it but the Bay View Villa is a retreat run by Catholic nuns. You don't have to be signed up for the retreat to stay there, but you should be cognizant of the fact that it is not a typical resort and you will have to respect the ground's rules.

AZBuck