New England Road Trip (by car)

Tommy Gunn

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The boss has decided that next year she'd like to do a road trip of New England. She's not too clear about exactly where she wants to go which is fair enough but she would like to see 'Clapperboard houses, covered bridges, Colonial style mansions, small pretty towns, rolling hills and meadows, historic lighthouses and fishing/seaside towns.'.

We have 10 nights and will be flying in and out of Boston. We've already spent some time in Boston itself so have no need to spend any time there.

We'd like to make the journeys from place to place a major part of the holiday but equally we don't want to spend all day in the car.

We've bought guide books and maps and I've searched Tinterweb and spoken with travel agents but I'm getting more confused rather than achieving the clarity I hoped to find.

I'm largely to blame for the confusion having banged on at great length about Bilco's trip to the West Coast last year.

Road wise I'd like to avoid Interstates and major roads.

So what I'm looking for is any recommendations of 'must see' sites encompassing any of the above please together with any first class scenic drives.

Additionally any decent quality non corporate hotels/B&Bs would be gratefully received.

It's dawned on me just how big New England is and that we're not going to see all of it in such a short period of time but I am keen to make this as memorable as possible for Sarah.

I intend taking whatever suggestions you chaps can offer and trying to link as many as possible into 1 terrific road trip. Thanx in advance, as ever.
 
Try organising your trip with North America Travel Timaloy. They have an office in Manchester but will do it all by phone. They get better rates than you will ever get and are ABTA registered. I have done maybe 6 or 7 trips with them all over the US and they have always got it spot on.

Around Boston, obviously you'll need to do the Cape Cod thing, get yourself a week out there but don't stay too far up the peninsula as most of the action apart from Province town is near the neck of the cape. Another good site is Weneedavacation.com who mainly do Cape rentals. A day trip to Martha's Vineyard is a must by ferry. You'l also want to go to Rhode Island,the smallest state and up the coast toward Canada. The best time to do this is Sept or October as the vast forests start to turn Amber, red and brown. The yanks call it the colours. The summer up this coast can be stifling and humid so either go late or stay on the coast or both.

Just bear in mind that journey times are very long, the further you go up the coast the more remote and everyone goes to bed about 9 so outside the big towns there's deck all night life.

SP
 
Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard is as typical as it gets re New England by the sea. Chappaqidick Island is a short ferry ride away from the town. Edgartown was known as Amity in the film Jaws. But don't let that put you off because it's not comercialised and retains it authenticity. Also Chappaqidick Island has notoriety re a certain American president in the late sixties driving off a bridge.
Yes its really nice place to stay and I would also recommend Bar Harbour which is a 5 hour drive north of Boston another very typical town.
 
Thanx for all of your help Comrades.
I've had a look at the websites quoted above & really like the look of some of the trips on the North America Travel Service web site so last Wednesday I sent them an e-mail asking them to put together a trip & prices. I'd heard nothing by Friday so rang & was told by a chap that he dealt with Web Site enquiries but he'd been off work on Thursday but he found my enquiry & would ensure it was dealt with 'within 24 hours'.
Having heard nothing I rang again today & was told that the man who deals with these is on holiday & no-one can access the enquiries whilst he's away. It really doesn't inspire much confidence.
I've also been in touch with 2 other US 'Specialist' Travel Agents (both over a fortnight ago) & am still awaiting a response from them as well.
At least I know it's not personal as my boss is trying to organise a 2 week holiday to California for 10 people, budget ITRO £20k and she can't get any travel agents to call her back either.

Looks like I'll have to organise our New England trip myself so, once again, thank you very much for the suggestions, I'm very gratfeul.
 
It looks like we'll be in New England towards the end of September, so I was wondering how it worked out for you. The bare bones of our trip so far is that we'll first of all fly to New York then after a few days hire a car and go to Boston, then the coast around Cape Cod, but the one 'must-do' for me is a visit to the American Precision Museum in Windsor, Vermont:
https://www.americanprecision.org/2011-12-09-21-27-05
I got there less than an hour before closing time about twenty years ago and they had already closed for the day so, this time, I'm getting in hell or high water. Hopefully we'll see some of the sights of New England in the fall, we did have a day or so of sunshine there the last time and the colours were indeed glorious, but the rest of the time it was dull and overcast and so frustrating after such a brief glimpse of how beautiful it could be.

We are considering nipping into Canada, Montreal to Toronto perhaps, and leaving the hired car there before flying home, but there may be problems in dropping the car off in a different country to where we picked it up. We'll see.

So any information on your trip would be very interesting for us, if you could. Thanks.
:beerjug:
 
Timaloy:
Bump!

We've just finished our bookings and will be leaving in time to see the Fall Foliage as they say. Have you been? How did it go?
:beerjug:
 
Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard is as typical as it gets re New England by the sea. Chappaqidick Island is a short ferry ride away from the town... Also Chappaqidick Island has notoriety re a certain American president in the late sixties driving off a bridge...
The President's brother, Edward Kennedy, actually. Google the story, it's quite fascinating. :)
 
Yes it was Teddy Kennedy and he was certainly in his cups when he missed the bridge and drove in the water (he was pretty much always in his cups). It was unfortunate the innocent girl died instead of him.

Acadia NP in Maine is nice.
 
Land at logan airport Boston .. go across backroads of Mass Route 2 might work then 112 or 8A into ....Can you say VERMONT !!! Take ALL of route 100 North and somewhere south of Montpeilier ( your choice) grab rt.2 then cut over the white mountains side trip to (Mt. Washington ) New Hampshire then down into Maine town of Bethel Maine Great little town ...then stay on rt 2 down to Acadia National Forest and BAR HARBOR Maine then south along coast as much lobster as you can eat and little coastal towns you can take .... Pop over to Freeport Maine stop at the LL BEAN factory store OPEN 24 /7 365 !!!!! http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1000001705?page=store-flagship Back to Boston and do IF TIME the Patriots trail/Tea Party (sorry) etc,,,, Google covered bridges and there have to be a dozen along the way !!! 10 nites trip of a lifetime
 
We were in New England this autumn and enjoyed it very much, it's a lovely area. One place stood out (for me): Mystic Seaport, Connecticut. It is an open-air museum with a shipyard showing how wooden ships were built, with a timber yard, a rope factory and a smithy where the metal fittings were made and all the usual harbourside businesses like navigational charts and sextant shops.

Covered bridges: lots about, just Googke New England covered bridges, something surprisingly charming about them.

We flew into and out of Boston but because of the eye-watering cost of accommodation we stayed in Peabody, a few miles to the North East and within reach of the Metro line (or whatever they called it). On the way back we stayed at a Winthrop Beach Inn & Suites across the bay from the Boston Logan Airport and thought it a very good deal, we'd definitely stay there again. As for Boston itself: delightful.

We went at that particular time to see the famed New England In The Fall, the weather was sunny most of the time but the colours weren't as spectacular as they could be, apparently that was due to their having had a dry summer and a mild autumn, still lovely, of course, but not as stunning as we have seen in the past.

We had a couple of weeks there in all, the weather was great except for the last three days or so when we got back to the coast having made a big loop through most of the New England states and as far North as Burlington. I manage to fulfill a lifetime ambition of visiting the American Precision Museum in Windsor, Vermont. It was good but unexpectedly small, they said that their funding was forever being cut back. Now where have I heard that one before? :thumb
 
I searched for New England and found this old thread.

The good lady and I have always fancied the old line - New England In The Fall - and will look at heading there this year. Before it's too late.

I've printed the thread to make sense of all the suggestions.

I have a BA voucher to burn this year after a 2020 cancellation and this looks like a good prospect.

Let the planning begin.
 
Acadia National Park would be worth a look. Also, all through Vermont and New Hampshire - are beautiful mountains, forests, small farms. Catch some moose (ok, see them) and beautiful fall colors on https://kancamagushighway.com/.

depending on how far west your travels take you, you could also catch the St Lawrence Seaway, 1000 Isle Bridge, and even Niagara Falls (although that's quite a ways).
1000 Islands Tower
+1 613-659-2335
https://maps.app.goo.gl/qLvVALFSxDRqZnPs8?g_st=ic
 
The boss has decided that next year she'd like to do a road trip of New England. She's not too clear about exactly where she wants to go which is fair enough but she would like to see 'Clapperboard houses, covered bridges, Colonial style mansions, small pretty towns, rolling hills and meadows, historic lighthouses and fishing/seaside towns.'...


... I intend taking whatever suggestions you chaps can offer and trying to link as many as possible into 1 terrific road trip. Thanx in advance, as ever.
I loved the covered bridges, here's a post of mine in the "Show us your Bridges" section from a year or so ago. There's something quite charming about covered bridges I think. :)
https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/61004-Show-us-your-Bridges/page26

If she's particularly keen on them there's a Clint Eastwood film featuring one, "The Bridges of Madison County".
 


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