jerridelahunty0816

My husband and i are in the beginning stage of planning this road trip from Cleveland to new england....would love to know the best routes to follow with stops in little quaint must see places along the way....we have no time frame and want to take in as much as possible to and from. Thanks in advance for any tips you may have.

Moderator3

Moved to United States board

Michael

Here are some places to visit:

https://flic.kr/p/2hJnLKx
https://flic.kr/p/7vx3fi
https://flic.kr/p/7frw9n
https://flic.kr/p/2hJuddk

zootsi

New England covers a lot of area. When are you going? Unless you are planning on winter activities like skiing and snowshoeing, the ideal time frame would be late June through mid October, with late Sept-early October being the peak season.
A little New England 101 - Although CT, Mass and RI are more urbanized, all 6 states have many picturesque villages and beautiful countryside. The most popular areas would include Cape Cod with it's magnificent beaches and quaint villages, Maine with it's rockbound coast, New Hampshire''s rugged alpine like White Mountains, Vermont's unspoiled and bucolic countryside. There are plenty of other spots. A good start might be a few days on Cape Cod, perhaps doing a day trip to Martha's Vineyard, Then a few days on Maine's coast seeing towns like Kennebunkport and Boothbay. If you are prepared for a lot of driving, Acadia National Park is spectacular. Then head west into New Hampshire's White Mountains for a few days. The Kancamagus highway is considered the most scenic drive, but there are plenty of drives, hakes and walks. From there head over to Vermont, with it's picture perfect little villages like Stowe, Waitsfield, Woodstock and scores of others. Route 100 is considered the most scenic highway, but there are many others. You an explore Burlington, a small college city right on Lake Champlain.
Of course there are many other areas of New England to check out - Connecticut's Mystic Seaport and Litchfield Hills, Rhode Island's Newport and great beaches, the Berkshire Hills of Mass, New Hampshire's Monadnock region, etc. And then there's Boston, one of the most interesting cities in the US. If you have the time, you could even do a night or two in French Canada, for a whole unique cultural experience.

dfrostnh

What are your interests? I agree that time of year makes a difference. We like to visit farmers markets and in Maine we prefer the mid-coast area for the best lobster shacks. If you visit in June you might find a local small town public lobster dinner. Bath has a great Heritage Festival around Juky 4th with a craft fair and library book sale. Hopefully the church ladies are still selling slices of pie. But in Vermont we've been to fun Juky 4th parades, too. It's been too many years since we discovered a farm in VT that serves pizza.

pack some bag chairs and picnic supplies. If you like music a lot of towns have outdoor concerts on certain nights. My husband likes to go to cruise nights where people show off their antique cars and hot rods but you can also find small town events where people show off their antique tractors. Some are called steam shows.

if you like gardens, private gardens are open to the public on a certain day. Check Garden Conservancy Open Garden Days schedule. Great way to have a destination that might be down a dirt road and good chance to talk to locals. We also like boat rides with narration. Portsmouth NH has a couple to choose from and also historic Strawbery Banke you can visit.

clarkcoan8700

You can take Scenic Route 6 though Penn. https://pawilds.com/journey/scenic-r...ry/map/ord=rnd

tomfuller

Let's hope that jerri comes back with answers to some of our questions instead of becoming a "one post wonder".
I do like the idea of taking US Route 6 across northern PA. A couple of the things to see along that route is an oil well next to the McD drive thorough in Bradford and Pennsylvania's Grand Canyon near Wellsboro.
What season of the year would be helpful to know.

suze

Curious where are you headed once you arrive in New England? You realize that covers six states, right? (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine)

I know you said "no timeframe" but you could spend a year and not see it all