vivi

Husband will be attending a 4 day event at the Connecticut Convention Center, staying at the Marriott.

I have never been to CT so I was thinking of tagging along. (We will be coming from Los Angeles.) He will have a rental car I can use. What is within striking distance? Would the Hudson River Valley be a reasonable day trip? (NYC and Boston look too far away.) I like museums, big cities, cute towns, colleges, scenery. I am not a shopper or a gourmet! Do you think four days in the HArtford area would be vacation-like or would it be tortuous, LOL.

THANKS for any advice.

djkbooks

Lucky you - the Wadsworth Atheneum is a small museum, but a jewel, and opening February 9th is the Impressionists by the Sea exhibition. It's within walking distance of the Marriott Downtown.

There's plenty to see and do in/near Hartford.

Highly recommend "Connecticut, An Explorer's Guide".

emcash

The Hudson River Valley is about as far away as Boston from Hartford. I would definitely do Boston for a day trip, especially if you have not been before. From Hartford, boston will take you an hour and a half. the tricky thing is that Boston is not the easiest place to drive around in-- alot of one way streets. If you go, get directions to someplace like the Boston Common garage and go straight there and park there for the day. It's not an "easy" day trip but it's do-able.

A drive to New Haven (45 minutes) will bring you to Yale, which is gorgeous and a real college city.Even if you are not a gourmand, you could tour Yale and have an easy lunch somewhere. If you like burgers, new haven is the birthplace for burgers at Louis' Lunch. A very easy day trip.

There are lots of things to see in CT, and the explorer's guide is a great place to see what appeals to you. BTW- The Marriott has a small spa if you want some R&R.

Ackislander

You don't say what time of year, but in late spring and all of the summer you have a choice between driving up through Litchfield County or to the Berkshires in Western Mass for hilly, wooded New England or going to the Connecticut coast (Essex, East Lyme, Mystic) where there are museums and other kinds of scenery.

The advice on the Wadsworth Atheneum is well worth taking. It is a fantastic museum for its size. The art collections at Yale are also excellent if you are a museum fan. I think Woodbury, CT, west of Waterbury, is known for antique shops.

RumRita

There's also the wonderful Mark Twain house in Hartford. Nearby Farmington is a a "cute town" where you can see the Hillstead, another small gem of a museum, stroll through the campus of Miss Porters School - Jackie Kennedy's alma mater, and have lunch by the scenic Farmington River at the Grist Mill.

http://www.marktwainhouse.org/
http://www.hillstead.org/

stellablue

After a morning at the Hill-Stead in Farmington, you could check out the Museum of American Art in New Britain, which I highly recommend.

ATPittsley

Head north from Hartford on I-91 to Springfield, MA. (approximately 25 miles) to the Basketball Hall of Fame: http://www.hoophall.com

or maybe

Continue north on I-91 from Springfield, MA (15 minutes) to Northampton, MA for good eats and cute shops in a great little college town

or

Take Rts 5/10 from Northampton to Yankee Candle's original flagship store in South Deerfield. http://www.yankeecandle.com

bennnie

You are also close to Old Sturbridge Village - a living museum of 18th century village life. Mystic is not far either.

If you like casinos, there are two - Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Both are big and glitzy.

Debi

You've gotten great suggestions - I lived there over 10 years, and you're going during a good time of year. One other quick trip from Hartford is Essex (right down Rt 91/9) which is fairly charming or you could go to Mystic... I wouldn't do Hudson Valley - too many interesting things closer to Hartford... The other thing I used to do all the time was a day trip to NYC. Drive straight down 91South to New Haven, catch the train to NYC - and catch an afternoon Broadway show. There are even companies that will take you from Hartford by bus - DEFINITELY a good way to spend a day, especially if you haven't been to NYC and seen a show there.... Also, plan on eating some really good italian food.... I miss that....

Loki

You can get to NYC easily from New Haven on the commuter rail (Metro North). Also in New Haven in Pepe's, among the most famous pizza places in the US. Louis Lunch is also a good rec for a hole in the wall locals joint, just don't ask for ketchup.

vivi

WOW, thanks for all the advice! I will definitely visit the Wadsworth Atheneum and Mark Twain's house in Hartford. I hope to go to Essex, Mystic, New Haven,Farmington, Litchfield Hills, and maybe get over to Providence or Newport.

I shall try not to be tempted by NYC (my favorite all-time vacation spot)on this trip asI already go there twice a year to visit friends and feast on as many Broadway shows as possible.

denice7

I lived in the Hartford area for about 12 years and there are plenty of day trips. I like The Berkshires in Western Mass. See Stockbridge and Lenox.

Mark Twain House - Harriet Beacher Stowe House - I don't remember which one I toured but by the end of the tour I realized what I was looking at was completely not reall and what I mean by that is the house had been, an apartment building, used for storage by a school, walls removed and put back, among many, many other things before they decided to restore it. So what you see is not really original.

Zoom

If you like Broadway/theater you can check out The Bushnell's event calendar at www.bushnell.org.

It might make for a nice evening out together with a dinner at Max, TK, Dish, Vito's, or the place in the hotel is supposed to be pretty good also.

emcash

Speaking of restaurants, my absolute favorite, hands down, is Peppercorn's Grill in Downtown hartford. Food to rival any top place in NYC.

djkbooks

Here's another recommendation for the mansions in Newport. Each is a "museum" on its own - spectacular architecture, art, furnishings.

There are lots of beautiful seaside towns along the way, along with terrific waterside dining.

The drive from Hartford to Newport is about two hours. Best to plan on no more than two mansions in one day (each is huge).

nina

I hate to say this but I think that 4 days in Hartford would be tortuous, not to mention a huge waste of time and money...UNLESS you do some driving and go to either:

1) Newport
2) Litchfield County
3) Boston, yes they are all worth the drive!

Honestly, I grew up there and there's nothing there, it's a small city with zero "street life", no interesting architecture, restaurants, neighborhoods nada.

And forget about going to the Baskekball Hall of Fame in Springfield, unless you're a huge basketball fanatic. Springfield is worst than Hartford, it's kind of a dead city.

Okay, I'm now ducking for cover, buh-bye!

emcash

wow, that was a little harsh on hartford! Look, would i choose hartford as a vacation destination? no. But if my Dh was coming here on business and I had an opportunity to come here with him, I would. And, the OP suggested day trips, which makes the trip perfect. She didn't ask about coming to hartford and spending 4 straight days and nights in the city.

For someone who likes college towns, yale is a stone's throw away. she's willing to do day trips which will break things up. Yes, agreed, hartford itself doesn't have much to offer tourism wise, but it is a gateway to many places. and the suburbs like west hartford and farmington are very charming. BTW vivi, if you get a chance, go to Old Wethersfield, 10 minutes from hartford, for a very quaint town-- some the houses are very old and very beautiful. It's a nice place to grab a great ice cream and walk around.

The XL center has things going on that might interest you depending on when you are coming out and the Bushnell is a great venue for a show. All in the heart of Hartford.

Finally, there are restaurants in Hartford that are GREAT- that offer food as good as you will find in any major city-- Peppercorn's, Max Downtown,Dish, Feng, Agave just to name a few. West hartford center, just 10/15 minutes away offers a variety of others (grant's, max oyster, bricco...). To say there are "No restaurants" is simply untrue and unfair. I've had some of my best meals in Hartford and believe me, I've eaten some great meals all around the world.

So if you come with reasonable expectations, you might really enjoy a trip to Hartford.

nina

Sorry em, but even a free trip isn't free, it's still 4 days and 2 very long plane rides, heck, my husband goes to San Francisco 2 or 3 times a year and even though it's my favorite city, I have to think long and hard about whether I want to join him..is it worth leaving the kids, the house, the business, playing catch-up, etc.?

But if vivi doesn't have children or a job, then maybe she's got all the time in the world and should go and check it out!

I just don't want her to set her sights too high.

Zoom

Nina IS right about four days in Hartford being overkill. I love Newport (totally different/better category than Hartford) and four days there would be too much.

However, the one thing that Hartford does have going for it right now is a pretty good restaurant and theater scene.

mahlquist

Whenever I've had friends from California come to visit me in Connecticut they are always fascinated by the Colonial-era homes.
http://www.ctlandmarks.org/
go to that website and check out the Butler-McCook Homestead (it is only a few blocks down the street from the Wadsworth Museum) and the Buttolph-Williams house (it's in Wethersfield--a 5 minute drive from downtown). In fact Old Wethersfield is famous for its Colonial-era houses. Park the car and walk around; there are a couple of small cafes in town, too.

The Connecticut Historical Society has some interesting displays (they had one on the Colt Firearms Factory and what it meant to the development of the city and the country but I think that ended a while ago).

I second the restaurants listed by other posters. We have some great chefs here.

Miss Porter's School in Farmington (mentioned above) is on a street that is jam-packed with beautiful old homes--a couple of them are 1600's I think.

New Haven is a great place, too--the Yale Center for British Art is a lovely little gem, free admission to some fabulous art, and it is on a street with many cafes (the famous Atticus Books for instance) and great restaurants. And all those Yalies! An easy drive from Hartford.

If you go to the Hudson River Valley, I would direct you to either Hyde Park (Roosevelt's two homes are there--it's glorious, an easy 2 hrs drive from here) OR to the Storm King Art Center in Cornwall New York. An easy one hour drive through some unbelieveably beautiful scenery, to a spectacular outdoor sculpture museum/park. You'll see Andy Goldsworthy's work and the works of other important sculpturists. It's beyond amazing. Stop in Cornwall Village and gather up some picnic food--the Art Center has gorgeous picnic areas but no food is sold there (there are vending machines with water and soda).