EuEu

Hi everyone,
First of all, sorry for my english...
I am travelling to US next june for 3 weeks and I have planned the following itinerary and I would like to know your opinions about it.I am travelling from Europe to make this trip and I am interested in american culture and I would like to do a mixture travel (history, museums, nature, villages,...).

1. Washington
2. Washington
3. Washington
4. Alexandría or Annapolis. Baltimore
5. Baltimore – PN Shenandoah. Front Royal
6. PN Shenandoah - Crooked Road
7. Crooked Road
8. Crooked Road – Pittsbourgh
9. Pittsbourgh - Niagara Falls
10. Niagara Falls – Seneca Falls – Finger Lakes – Ithaca
11. Ithaca – Concord, New Hampshire
12. Concord –Ogunquit - Portsmouth – Rockport
13. Rockport– Salem - Boston
14. Boston.
15. Boston.
16. Boston - Cape Cod, Provincetown - Wellfeet - New Port – Providence
17. Providence - Mystic – New Haven –Beacon.
18. Beacon –Hudson Valley – Catskills
19. Catskills – Philadelfia.
20. Filadelfia - Lancaster, Dutch Country
21. Lancaster - Gettinsburgh. Washington
22. Washington

I am not sure if I have planned a good and doable route....
Thanks in advance for your help!

TDudette

Hi EuEu, Will you be driving? If so and in general, I'd Google the driving times between places...see if you are driving too long. Specifically, I'd choose Alexandria over Baltimore only because you can visit Alexandria easily from Washington without driving. Plus going to Virginia from DC is more efficient. Baltimore needs more days so save it for your next trip. Boston could use more days. Others can weigh in about the other venues.

EuEu

Hi TDudette, thanks for your answer. Yes, we will be driving. I assume that some days (2, 3 or 4)) are going tho be full driving but I don´t find other way. I will consider keep Baltimore for future trip because defenitibly it worth.

HappyTrvlr

Day 16. Cape Cod is a large peninsula. Spend a few days in Chatham overlooking the water.

TheModoc

I would likely fly into WDC, give yourself a few days to see the sights, drive north to Baltimore (maybe stay a day), then drive on to Philadelphia (good culture, art museum, etc.), then NYNY (at least 4 days here, but warning Manhattan is not a good place to drive), then perhaps Lancaster (interesting history) and Hersheypark (if you have kids it's a fun amusement park) to start...

Sassafrass

Are you planning this June, 2024 or next year, 2025?
I think you are trying to cover too much ground, geographically.
You are not allowing time to stop and see and enjoy things along the way.
Are you very interested in country music? Is that the reason for Crooked Road? If so, then you need to plan a stop for hearing it somewhere.
If possible to bypass Pittsburg, I would.
Do you have any desire to see NYC?
How important is Niagara and the Finger Lakes area to you?
Can you specify the top three to five priorities for you?
If you can narrow things down and keep a straight line of nearly linear travel, it would help.

kja

As others have said, you are trying to cover a LOT of territory. I think you would do well to consider trimming your itinerary. I don't understand your interests well enough to make meaningful suggestions for revising your itinerary, but I would offer the following thoughts:

• If Washington, DC, and Philadelphia are each priorities, consider flying into one and out of the other.
• Unless you have a very specific reason for visiting Alexandria, Annapolis, or Baltimore, you might consider skipping them to free time for your other destinations.
• It would seem that you are viewing Pittsburgh, Ithaca, Concord, Rockport, Providence, Beacon, and Philadelphia as simply places to spend a night. If that's your goal, fine. I would note, however, that Philadelphia is a city with much to offer. I'm also a fan of Pittsburgh and think Ithaca worthy of at least a day for it's waterfalls. JMO.
• If you are willing to skip some of the locations, you can take a train from Boston to Philadelphia (or on to DC, if necessary.

Hope that helps!

dfrostnh

i agree that you are trying to cover too much territory so I hope suggestions will help you focus more time on some of the places andmhelp you decide what to skip.
11 and 12 are my suggestions. I'm guessing to are arriving in Concord NH merely to spend the night but you are very close to Canterbury Shaker Village which is in a beautiful town and has interesting tours. Also, to the west of Concord you could have a pleasant drive heading out Pleasant Street thru the towns of Hopkinton, Contoocook and Warner. Warner has a couple of small museums but with not too mich time I would head to Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum. Concord has a walkable downtown, don,t miss the League of NH Crafts store. If you're lucky there's a free outdoor concert. Suggest you carry bag chairs for times when you want to sit someplace and enjoy the view.

Ignore google maps direction to drive rt 101 to Portsmouth. Take rt 4. If you need to stretch your legs there's a nice hiking trail at Wagon Hill Farm in Durham. It goes down to the water. In Portsmouth visit Strawbery Banke historic area, sit in Prescott Park to see flowers and water. Take a boat cruise. The harbor cruise is probably the most interesting. Drive rt 1B for a pretty drive. Rt 1A is along the coast going past private mansions. Many choices inmthe area for seafood meals.

Southern Maine is not my favorite area, unless good reason to visit Ogunquit tourist mecca I would skip it. Although you might want to walk the Marginal Way. The Oqunquit Playhouse is nice summer theater or you could take a cooking class (really a demo with meal) at Stonewall Kitchen which is in Kittery, I think. Very close to Portsmouth.

EuEu

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for your suggestions. Certainly, I am trying to cover too much. Especially Niagara Falls and driving to there add too many miles. However, we would like to visit in this trip because I would like to visit others areas of USA in future trips.
We will rent a car at Dulles Airport and return there too.
Our trip is this June, 2024.
I am very interested in country music, that why we would like to visit for Crooked Road so I have planned two nights in the area.
It is a trip without kids and we are not interested in relaxing on the beach.
Besides, I have been several times in NYC so we will avoid visit in this trip.
I am going to write in CAPITAL LETTER some apreciations regards the route.

1. Washington
2. Washington
3. Washington
4. Alexandría or Annapolis. Baltimore
5. Baltimore – PN Shenandoah. SLEEP IN FRONT ROYAL
6. PN Shenandoah - Crooked Road. SLEEP IN HILLSVILLE
7. Crooked Road. SLEEP IN HILLSVILLE
8. Crooked Road – Pittsbourgh (NO INTEREST ON PITTSBURGH, JUST A STOP ON THE JOURNEY)
9. Pittsbourgh - Niagara Falls
10. Niagara Falls – Seneca Falls – Finger Lakes – Ithaca. FINGER LAKES ADD SOME INTERESTING PLACE ON THE ROUTE TO BOSTON
11. Ithaca – Concord, New Hampshire (NO INTEREST ON CONCORD, JUST A STOP ON THE JOURNEY
12. Concord –Ogunquit - Portsmouth – Rockport (NO SPECIAL INTEREST IN ALL OF THEM, JUST IDEAS)
13. Rockport– Salem - Boston
14. Boston.
15. Boston.
16. Boston - Cape Cod, Provincetown - Wellfeet - New Port – Providence
17. Providence - Mystic – New Haven –Beacon. (SPEND NIGHT IN NEW PALTZ)
18.Hudson Valley – Catskills (SPEND NIGHT IN NEW PALTZ)
19. Catskills – Philadelfia.
20. Filadelfia - Lancaster, Dutch Country
21. Lancaster - Gettinsburgh. Washington
22. Washington

I am taking on consideration all the ideas and I am going to investigate the places suggested.
I really appreciate the time you have taken to reply to me.

EuEu

Maybe I should consider avoid some of these::
Niagara Falls and Finger Lakes
or
Crooked Road and PN Shenandohad
or
Boston and area; and from Finger Lakes go to Catskills and down...

kja

I would strongly urge you to avoid picking up a rental car upon your arrival at Dulles. For one thing, you will not need it in Washington DC, where there is excellent public transportation (including to/from Dulles and Alexandria). Finding parking could be difficult and will almost certainly be costly. For another thing, it is not safe to drive after a flight that crosses multiple time zones. Pick it up when you are ready to leave the area.

Note that a major bridge in the Baltimore area collapsed on Tuesday after being hit by a ship. As a result, traffic in the area will be disrupted for many years. It might be wise to skip Annapolis and Baltimore.

Madam397

Agree with the above poster as you certainly don't want to drive or pay for parking at the hotels in DC. It is easy to use the Metro or the Circulator bus. Given the highway collapse that will be a long term project to be repaired/rebuilt, I would avoid Baltimore and/or Annapolis this trip and with that, I wouldn't drive from Washington to Philly. You can easily take the train and then rent a car as you leave Philly, heading to Lancaster and points North and West. I would include Niagara Falls and the Finger Lakes as upstate NY is beautiful countryside and June is the ideal time to visit.