When is your trip? This will help with recommendations.

End of August, I know, too early for color. No kids, just hubby and me, 50's.

I know there's Boston and then up the coast to Maine, but how can I get in the White Mountains or the Green Mountains or Acadia in a 7-8 day loop drive? Can you recommend a state park with some good views and a short hike? Maybe I need to add a day or two. Or maybe I can fly in to Boston and out from another city. Ideally I'de like a 3-4 hour drive from hotel to hotel, but I am ok with a full days' drive.

Thanks for any advice. I have all the travel books from my library, but there's too many towns listed.

We loved Acadia; I would try to fit it in!

Keep in mind that NH's White Mountains (at least the Conway side) are only 1 hour from Portland ME and Portland is only a few hours north of Boston.
In Boston, you can cover a lot in 3 days/2 nights. I'd put the Kennedy Library (accessible by T) and one of Michele Topor's culinary tours on the top of my list. She (or helper) includes a lot of Boston's North End/Little Italy history on her tour. The food samples are wonderful.

Get a car and head out early. Suggest early harbor or inland rivers cruise out of Portsmouth NH (only an hour away) plus lunch. Walk around. Strawbery Banke Historic area is an option.

I'm going to guess Rockland ME is 3 hours up I95. (I think it's 2 hours north of Portland.) If you want a lobster shack dinner at a picnic table, head for Waterman's Beach. Nearby is easy short hike to Owls Head light. You might have a couple of hours to visit either the Farnsworth Art Museum or Owls Head Transportation Museum. One overnight. (night 3)

Aim for the hike up Mt Battie in Camden the next day or just take the auto road. It's our favorite place for a picnic lunch. One of the most interesting views in Maine since it overlooks the harbor. You can watch boats coming along the coast.

Continue north to Acadia. After all that driving you should spend at least 2 nights (4 and 5). Hike, bike and eat lobster. Ben and Jerry's are all over the place. I don't think they have a tour but MDI ice cream has very unusual flavors. You can search chowhound.com for recommendations of great ice cream places. Some people have done an ice cream tour of New England. Also get list of farmers markets. There might still be trucks along Rt 1 selling blueberries. Great easy dessert = fresh berries and vanilla yogurt. Bring picnic supplies i.e insulated bag. I would seriously consider buying some cheap bag chairs when you get here so you can find some good places to sit and enjoy the view.

Next, long drive to NH's White Mountains. Take fastest route. Inland Maine is nice but not as nice as the coast or the mountains. 2 nights (6 and 7) convenient to where you would like to hike. North Conway is a cute, tourist town with a great view of Mt Washington but it's crowded. I'm not a hiker but have been on the hike to Aerathusa Falls (sp). Nice drive across Kancamagus Hwy thru the mountains. You might try finding the place (Diana's Baths?) where you can swim in a rocky river. Also consider flight back and distance to Boston. If you stay on the west side, I93 corridor, you might only be 4 hours or less from Boston. We "hiked" the Flume last year. It's a popular tourist hike through a gorge. My favorite drive is from Rt 16 to Tamworth (we haven't been to Remick Museum) to Center Sandwich. If you like ice cream, try to find the Sandwich Creamery and share a pint. Sled dogs for polar expeditions were trained in this area. Head to Squam Lakes Sciene Center in Holderness. You might want to take a loon cruise. Very beautiful lake with very little commercial activity and no public beach. Big Lake Winnipesaukee is a short drive away.

If you opt to skip the White Mountains to spend more time in Maine, that might be good. Despite living in NH, the mountains aren't my favorite place to visit but I'm not a hiker. If you pay attention to little maps, you might be able to spot some secluded but public nature areas that are seldom visited by tourists. We generally spend a week in Maine hunting for the best lobster rolls and exploring back roads.

End of August will still be quite busy in coastal Maine, you'll need to book accomodations pretty soon.

Usually the two-airports idea does not work well for New England because of very high car rental rates to switch airports.

Boston is a little easier to navigate on Sat and Sun if you can arrange your trip that way. Might be best to leave it to the end of your trip if that's a weekend, plus you'll put yourself down near Boston Logan airport for departure day rather than into weekend beach traffic etc up the coast.

Mount Battie near Camden Maine is a nice hike and Camden has good dining and nice Inns, most will have a 2 or 3 night minimum for August. High Tide Inn is a simple old inn, beautiful setting by the water and just outside of the touristy areas of Camden/Rockport.

Thank you for the ideas, this helps a lot. Feel free to add more info.

There are so many towns, but are they just a drive through, an ocean view, beach, or a meal and shops? I don't need swim time, maybe just a beach walk. I don't think my husband can take gift shops in every town. We're really nature, food, history.

Portsmouth, NH and Portland, Maine are full of food and history. If you take the drive to those two cities you also find a lot of nature and beaches in between.

Portsmouth (settled in 1623) is quite a bit smaller but has Strawberry Banke Museum, http://www.strawberybanke.org, which is a property of about 30 historic homes, plus there are about 6-8 other home museums around town that range from the Colonial to Federal era. It's very walkable and has more restaurants and boutique shops than any other town around it's size.

Check out our early cemeteries for some interesting history like the North Cemetery, http://gravematter.com/cem-nh-portsmouth.asp for signers of the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution, or Point of Graves, http://gravematter.com/cem-nh-portsmouth2.asp for Portsmouth's founding fathers.

Check out the Discover Portsmouth center too for more info http://www.portsmouthhistory.org/discover_portsmouth_center/

From there you can drive up the coast through York, Wells, Ogunquit, and Kennebunkport, all charming little seaside villages. York Beach has a beautiful Victorian-era hotel, The Atlantic House, http://www.atlantichouseyorkbeach.com with a great restaurant Blue Sky on York Beach. One of the last grand ladies that used to adorn all over the seacoast. Wentworth-by-the-Sea in New Castle, NH http://www.wentworth.com (a small island off Portsmouth) is another.

I haven't spent much time in Portland Maine yet but its a beautiful city that I recommend exploring!

we took a trip 2 years ago to n.e. flew into boston and stayed the night north of the city where the rental car pick up was.the next morning drove to n.h. stayed in a b&b
http://www.franconiainn.com/ we got the plan that included dinner and breakfast it was fine dining in a beutiful room.the next day we hiked the river trail at franconia notch state park(the flume?)and then drove to boothbay harbor for 3 nights.we drove the coastal hwy to bar harbor as a day trip.This was just to much for one day(i would add more days there)the hwy has almost no water views and crawls through every small town.driving to camden would have been great.we left in the morning,drove to boston,dropped off the car and took an arranged shuttle to hotel in afternoon.spent 3 nights and flew out.one thing about a place like booth bay is that it is at the end of a peninsula so there is alot of driving in and out for day trips.we really enjoyed the lobser pounds,interesting small museums and lighthouses.I hope this is of some help.

I'll try to keep things "historic" here.

Will second the JFK Presidential Library, and if history is your passion, definitely take the Freedom Trail walk. It will take a full day if you are thorough. There are also a couple historic houses open for tours -- Otis House, Gibson House, and Nichols House are in Boston, while the Longfellow House is not far from Harvard Square in Cambridge. Also consider seeing Trinity Church, the main branch of the Boston Public Library (just across the street from Trinity Church), and the nearby Christian Science Center complex (you can see the churches and mapparium here).

Will second Strawbery Banke and the various other historic houses in Portsmouth NH. Seeing them all is a full day affair.

In Southern Maine, the Old York Historical Society consists of several historic houses and other buildings. Combine with a tour of the Sayward-Wheeler House not far away, and you can spend a full day here. In Kennebunk/Kennebunkport, consider seeing the Seashore Trolley Museum and the Nott House.

Portland, ME has a couple nice historic houses open for tours, the Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Victoria Mansion.

Boston and Portland also have art museums that are well worth a visit.

Thank you all so much, this is just what I was looking for!

Joe, I liked your tip the best about saving the Boston sightseeing for the end of the trip to be in Boston and closer to the airport for departure day.

If you have the time, I recommend in Maine visiting the Brunswick/Casco Bay area. You can drive through Harpswell, Orr's Island & Bailey's Island,(connected by causeway) for beautiful coastal scenery & great lobsters/seafood at Cooks, or any of the 3 Estes restaurants. I am partial to Brunswick because of Bowdoin College, where my daugter graduated from, it has a very wide main st with interesting little shops & restaurants. You could visit Bowdoin's art museum & artic museum, & have a meal at the Seadog Brewery in Topsham overlooking the river.

If you go to Acadia, I recommend a lobster dinner at Thurston's Lobster Pound in Bernard.