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Itinerary and routes for road trip in New England area

Itinerary and routes for road trip in New England area

Old Apr 13th, 2014, 09:19 AM
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Itinerary and routes for road trip in New England area

Please help - my husband and I are flying for Scotland into Boston for a 14-day road trip and would welcome any suggestions, whether it be accommodation, routes, places to visit. May husband is a very keen photographer as well.
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Old Apr 13th, 2014, 12:31 PM
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What month? Do you want to stay in the coastal areas or head for the mountains and forests?
Stick with the smaller 2 lane highways instead of the Interstates.
Boston has lots of historic spots to see before you rent the car.
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Old Apr 13th, 2014, 01:31 PM
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There are some suggested routes on Yankee Magazine's website for the New England area. I agree with smaller 2 lane highways.
Need more info before suggesting routes. What kind of events might you be interested in? Does your husband have a favorite thing he likes to photograph?

Do you like small country towns or more interested in visiting cities like Boston, Portland ME and Portsmouth NH?

You can find a lot of suggestions here if you do a search on each state name.
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Old Apr 13th, 2014, 06:08 PM
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Good advice so far, but do come back and let folks know when you will come as where you would want to visit would probably be different during summer than winter etc.

Either do your touring of Boston using the T and feet at the beginning of your trip and pick up your car after that or do Boston at the end of the trip and drop off the car before you tour.
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 08:36 AM
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Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
We are travelling in May and I check out the Yankee magazine website.
It has been suggested we stay on the outskirts of Boston and commute into the city, would any of you have recommendations on best places to stay.

I am sure my husband will be photographing light-houses throughout our trip. We are both keen hill-walkers.
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 10:36 AM
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Depends on what time in May, actually. Hotel rates are quite high in the city during college graduation weekends but I can't think of any other reason not to stay right in Boston. As for the coastal drive....in May (except for the holiday weekend May 24th) you don't really need advance reservations, there are lots of openings roadside and if you're not to fussed about the perfect accomodations, playing it as you fly is possible.
As for "hill walking", you'll need bug repellent in May!
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 10:40 AM
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If you mean you are thinking of staying in the suburbs and commuting to Boston by car, I don't recommend it. It really is not a good city for driving. I would try to find something near the public transit lines.

Unfortunately, Boston hotels are expensive
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 11:25 AM
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Just noticed this thread has suggestions for places to stay outside the city
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...re-to-stay.cfm
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 11:56 AM
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Here's a link to the dates of Boston college graduations this year http://www.bostonzest.com/2013/11/bo...ring-2014.html

I would suggest avoiding the busiest weekends for the Boston part of your stay. If you can stay right in the city, it's worth it. In addition to the hotels listed in the above link, the Quincy Marriott has a shuttle service to the nearby Red Line station. The train brings you right into downtown. If the weather is nice you might consider taking a cruise to the Boston Harbor islands. Nice photo opportunities.
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Old Apr 27th, 2014, 04:44 PM
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This is a great site that lists all the lighthouses in Maine with photos and directions to find them. http://www.lighthousefriends.com/me.html

Here's my photos of New England, including lighthouses. http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/new_england , http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/boston

You mention Maine, NH and Massachusetts which are all in New England but you also tagged this as Delaware. I hope that was a mistake because you can have a wonderful 14 days in New England but if you are going to try to go to Delaware it certainly would complicate things.

So assuming you really do mean New England - I'd rent the car first and drive to Cape Ann for the first night, which is just north of Boston. It's a short drive so makes sense for the first day. Salem, Gloucester and Rockport are worth seeing. Then drive up the coast stopping in Portsmouth NH, and then up the coast of Maine. South of Portland towns worth stopping in are York, Kennebunkport and Ogunquit. Portland and around deserves at least a couple days (several lighthouses there). North of Boston Camden and Rockport Maine would make a good stop - plenty to explore between Portland and there. And then I'd continue up to Acadia National Park for a few days. Then I'd head west into the white mountains of NH and down through the lakes region.

Put Boston at the end of the trip and drop the car when you get there. If you absolutely can't find any place to stay in Boston or Cambridge then I'd keep the car and stay as close to Alewife Station as possible and drive there and take the T (tube/metro/subway) into Boston. There is a huge parking garage at Alewife.

For most people that would be a nice leisurely two week trip assuming you want several days in Boston. But if you want to move faster than that you could go west into Vermont and then south down through the pioneer valley (Connecticut River Valley) of Massachusetts and then back east to Boston. Two interesting places to stop are Historic Deerfield and Sturbridge Village (both in Massachusetts).
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Old Apr 28th, 2014, 01:58 AM
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That's a great map of lighthouses. You are too early for a lighthouse tour from the Bath ME Maritime Museum but you might be able to find another on a weekend. Mid-May will be beautiful with flowering shrubs and crab apple trees in the Rye/Portsmouth NH area. We like the drive along Rt 1B from Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth thru New Castle then get over to Rt 1 for a drive along the water and past private mansions. Nubble Light in York is very popular. Cape Elizabeth/South Portland is located in a beautiful park with a terrific view of Casco Bay. Don't miss Rockland (different from Rockport) and Owl's Head Light. Short easy hike. But we usually take the auto road to top of Mt Battie in Camden. Incredible view from the top overlooking harbor.

Don't take a car into Boston. Public transportation is fine. I would stay in the city or in Cambridge. We have stayed twice at a hotel with room overlooking the Charles River and within walking distance of a T station.
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