Road trip Miami to Maine May/June 2016

Old Oct 3rd, 2015, 07:23 AM
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Road trip Miami to Maine May/June 2016

As always, grateful for any advice please on our proposed trip as above. We are mid-sixties and fortunately fit enough to enjoy walking and travelling in general. We will have approx four weeks to journey from Miami to Maine, hopefully stopping on route in Savannah, Washington, Philadelphia and aiming for about four or five days in the Acadia area. We have previously spent four weeks seeing the New England states, so don't particularly need to revisit, much as we loved the area!
My draft plan is:

May 12th, arrive in Miami and spend four nights in Fort Lauderdale, with car
Drive to Savannah perhaps three nights
then spend two weeks travelling by car to Philadelphia (the part I am really concerned about)

My thoughts then are to get the Amtrak train from Philadelphia to Portland, Maine, one day's journey, as driving looks busy! then car on to Bar Harbor for final days.

Appreciate any thoughts on driving from Savannah to Philadelphia over two weeks being over-ambitious (easy to do this I know) - and if so, would it be better to use train/plane through the Carolinas to Washington?

We usually like to have 3 nights in stopover, though can do less if it is necessary.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2015, 07:33 AM
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I would FLY from Philadelphia to Portland if all you want to do is get from one to the other. Yes, Amtrak may be cheaper but I think it would be a big waste of time.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2015, 07:49 AM
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Four nights in Ft. Lauderdale? The beaches in SC are prettier. Please do spend a couple of days in Charleston, even removing some from Savannah.
Two weeks between SC and Philadelphia? there can be a lot to see
Williamsburg, Charlottesville, AND DC before Philadelphia
There are interesting areas in more central NC--Winston Salem has Old Salem and an outstanding small museum of Southern Decorative Arts. Pottery is in the Seagrove area, which is even where Wedgwood got the clay for their jasperware at one time. Over 100 potteries of all styles! The Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham area has interesting sites.
DC certainly deserves 3-4 days minimum, even taking some off of Philadelphia. Maybe fly from DC to Portland to finish your trip.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2015, 08:10 AM
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I second or third the recommendation to fly from Philadelphia to Portland. It's a long train ride and once you get to Boston at South Station, you'll have to transfer to North Station to board the train for Portland.

Check that schedule because it may not work with your Boston arrival and build in additional time in case the train to Boston arrives late.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2015, 08:47 AM
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Friends who visit NYC often like to bus into Boston then take train to NYC. They said it's scenic along the CT shore. From South Station you can also take the bus to Portland. I don't know the price and time but I believe the bus I take to NH, Concord Trailways, also serves the Boston to Portland route.

If you haven't been to Portland before, you might want to spend a few nights there. On your drive to Acadia, I highly recommend timing your trip so you can have lunch a McLoon's lobster shack in St. George. Nice but small menu and wonderful view from picnic tables. It will be a detour however.

We left Frederick MD at 6:50am and took a longer route thru PA via I84 to NY and then CT. IF you can get past Hartford CT before rush hour starts, the drive is fine. It's longer than doing I95 however. Train or Plane is a very good idea.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2015, 09:14 AM
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As Gretchen said, don't miss Charleston. I would also add St. Augustine on your way north from Miami. It is America's oldest city (450 years) and loaded with history and charm. The historic district is very walkable.


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Old Oct 3rd, 2015, 09:36 AM
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if your destination is Bar Harba, you'd want to fly into Bangor airport not Portland. However, one-way fares into either city are prohibitively high from Phil.

Your best bet if you decide to fly is probably Baltimore to Portland on Southwest airlines. You'll find the fares at Southwest.com( they do not utilize brokers like expedia, orbitz etc). They are not selling seats for June 2016 yet.
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Old Oct 3rd, 2015, 02:29 PM
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The drive from Portland to Bar Harbor can be quite scenic and more so, IMO, than the drive from Bangor. If you plan to use Southwest airlines from Baltimore that would mean a certain degree of doubling back from Philadelphia and you could certainly do that by train or drop your car at the BWI airport.

Right now a one-way fare PHL to Portland on American airlines is running about $472 for seniors (65 years old or more); that does not include checked bags. Southwest fares would probably be cheaper and would include checked bags.
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Old Oct 4th, 2015, 05:28 AM
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Thank you all for your help and suggestions. I will now start work on draft 2 that will include time in Charleston, and also St. Augustine for its historic district.

Flying rather than train seems the best choice if within budget, and I will look at various routes, perhaps from Baltimore to Portland. We do like the idea of the drive from Portland to Bar Harbor.

Many thanks again. Its a minefield trying to decide the cities to visit and any to miss!

Much appreciated.
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Old Oct 5th, 2015, 03:23 AM
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IMHO, I know you said three nights, but some places are close together with just enough to see that one or two nights would be fine and allow longer for other places. If you think you would not be too tired, skip Ft Lauderdale and head straight to St Augustine, saving a night for some place else. If you need it, spend a night in Ft Lauderdale just to rest up.

Visit St Augustine 2 nights, Savanah 2 nights and Charleston, 2 or 3 nights.
Head to Williamsburg for 2 or 3 nights, then DC and possibly Philadelphia.

If American history is super important to you, then forget this suggestion, and do Philadelphia, but for a different, and lovely trip, my suggestion adds about 4 hours drive time to the total trip.

From Charleston, head N-NW up to Ashville, NC, 3 nights, to see the Biltmore House and some of the fantastic craft and art shops. Part of the way will be on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which in Spring or early summer, will be beautiful.

Head NE to pick up 95 to about half an hour South of Richmond. Head East to Smithfield, VA. Take a little rest break and walk around Smithfield for an hour or so, perhaps have late lunch or early dinner. Go North and cross the James River by ferry to Williamsburg. Spend two nights.

Head North to Fredericksburg and stop for 3-4 hours tour. Continue on to DC for 3 nights. Fly from Baltimore to Maine.

Baltimore airport (BWI) is one of the easiest airports anywhere to depart from. I would choose it anytime over either DC airport, and I avoid Dulles at all costs.

I would not, however, do a RT up to Philly and back to Baltimore for a flight. If you go on up to Philly, look at flights from Newark to Maine.

Personally, unless you are really tied to American history, I would skip Philly this trip and go from Baltimore.
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Old Oct 5th, 2015, 08:37 AM
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>

There is no time ever that train would be superior to driving from Savannah to DC. Amtrak sucks. It's bearable at best in the NE Corridor from DC to Boston. Outside of that stretch, it's awful.

>

This makes no sense - Philly is the 6th largest city in the US, it has an airport and plenty of flights on American to wherever you need to go (AA took over all the UScAir routes and Philly was a UScAir hub).

As for the car hire - you can drive up the east coast and drop the car in DC, toddle around the capital for __ days and then hop a train to Philly and wander around there. Neither Philly nor DC require a car (it's a liability to some degree in DC). You can then fly to Boston and hire another car to go visit Stephen King or go lobster fishing or whatever.

All that said, you need to give us parameters on what you want to see and do for better suggestions.
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Old Oct 5th, 2015, 09:19 AM
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"This makes no sense".

Currently the one way fare from Philly to Maine for next May is $434 plus bag fees, while Baltimore to Maine is $145 on Southwest, baggage included. So for 2 persons the savings is $600.00
So unless the OP finds a decent fare sale and pounces, it could make a lot of sense. Also, Southwest fares are fairly changeable, so if booking with plans that are fairly up-in-the-air....the one-hour Acela Express train back to Baltimore might make plenty of sense.

And if the OP decides to drop Philadelphia, it also makes sense. Nothing wrong with putting plenty of options out there.
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Old Oct 5th, 2015, 09:53 AM
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If you figure driving from Portland to Bar Harbor, plan on staying on I95 until you get to Brunswick. Then you can take Rt 1 for the scenery in Wiscasset and Camden. North of Camden is pretty ordinary.
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Old Oct 5th, 2015, 01:52 PM
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Clark - re-read what I wrote - going to NEWARK for a flight from Philly makes no sense.
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Old Oct 5th, 2015, 02:57 PM
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There may have been some misunderstanding.
I did not mean Newark, DE.
I was thinking Newark, NJ., if flights from there are cheaper than from Philadelphia.

Driving time is a bit over an hour and a half from Philly to Newark, NJ, also a large airport with easy access to the airport.
It is about two hours back to Baltimore if you are driving.

So, either Baltimore, or Newark, NJ, given close driving times, could make sense if ticket price is better than out of Philly.

When I couldn't get a flight out of BWI that met my needs, and found flights from Philly were double the price, I drove the extra hour and a half to Newark. Just another option for the OP to check out.

The Acela Express train also makes sense if the cost is not too high.
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Old Oct 5th, 2015, 03:02 PM
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If you ditched the car in DC, saving parking costs, you can take the train directly from DC to BWI.

As to the trains. In general, I do not enjoy East Cost trains. However, if it is still running, the night train from Columbia, SC to DC was great fun. I used to do,it and loved it. For your trip, however, it depends on your final itinerary.
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Old Oct 17th, 2015, 04:00 AM
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Thank you all for the suggestions since my last input; I have found them so useful, particularly how to save money on flights! Now close, I think, to finalising our trip. If anyone could indulge me one more time, here is our latest plan:

Miami - arrive and stay three/four nights and explore by car.

Head for Jacksonville, (3 nights) then Savannah, then Charleston taking 5 nights for these last two.

From Charlestone, head for Ashville, 3 nights, pick up Blue Ridge Parkway for Roanoke (I visited some years ago and do wish to see again), stay 2 nights, then head on to Washington where we will stay 3 nights.

From Washington, get to Baltimore by local transport, for flight to Portland, stay 3 nights

Then on to Acadia by car and stay for 4/5 nights.

Haven't yet worked out how to get back to London!

The trips we have done in the past have been New England, so seen much of the Hampshires, Boston, White Mountains. Also Tetons and Yellowstone, plus Driving Seattle to San Diego so we really love scenery interspersed with urban life. Always take at least four weeks.

Does this look reasonable? I think I can collect what to see and do from the brilliant forums, so its the main travel plan I would love an opinion on. I am just concerned I have misinterpreted things.

Thank you
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Old Oct 17th, 2015, 04:37 AM
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If you decide to fly from either Philadelphia or Baltimore to Maine, check fares and car rental prices to Manchester, NH (MHT i think). Southwest flies there and sometimes has better rates. It is very close to Maine so doesn't add much time to your drive.
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Old Oct 17th, 2015, 05:17 AM
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If you have not been to Miami, the Everglades, and Key West, they should be part of an epic east coast journey.

You don't mention New York City, so I assume you have been there before, as you have been to New England.

I would drive up the coast through Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach (Florida) to the Sea Islands and Savannah in Georgia, then up US 17 through Beaufort, Charleston and Pawley's Island, South Carolina, Wilmington, new Bern and Beaufort (pronounced differently) in North Carolina and then through the Norfolk-Yorktown-Williamsburg area in Virginia. Then to Washington.

Then Philadelphia and a train to BWI, the Baltimore airport where you fly to
Portland. The Amtrak trains stop right at the airport.
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Old Oct 19th, 2015, 03:18 AM
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There isn't much in Jacksonville for 3 days! St. Augustine has been suggested and is certainly worth a day. Shave Jax.
Roanoke? How about Williamsburg or Charlottesville if you are on your western swing.
Ack's itinerary is VERY attractive.
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