There's some very pretty country in between - having grown up near Niagara Falls and gone to college outside of Boston. You are right though as for driving, as it's a haul from NFalls & Maine (google maps says nearly 10 hours by way of the Thruway/Mass Pike). The good news is that you can probably make do with a full day in NF, or perhaps a day and a half.

Niagara Falls: do the Maid of the Mist. It's a very cool experience getting so close to the falls. Be sure to go to the Canadian side to get a view of the Horseshoe Falls. There's also a Butterfly Conservatory that's supposed to be very cool. (Last time I was in town was January, so I've not been.) There's plenty of tacky, awful tourist stuff in NF, but there's enough beauty to more than make up for it.

Given your drive and interests, you may want to make a stop in the Fingerlakes - just to the east of Rochester. Candaigua Lake is beautiful, as are the others. There are winding roads, vineyards to visit and great antiquing. These would be pretty accessible from the Thruway too.

I agree that Boston would not be a great deal of fun to drive through!

Let me do some more thinking & I'll post again... Have a great trip!

Thanks! Yeah, I've heard about the tackiness of NF and we are prepared, it's not going to be a deterrent. I would love to see the Finger Lakes region too. Oh and I love wine! We're down to do some wine tastings.

fyi - it's Niagara Falls, Not Niagra Falls.

Butterfly Conservatory is good.

After the MId of the Mist you can drive along the Niagara Parkway towards Niagara on the Lake. There are wineries , and fruit markets and many places to stop for scenic lookouts. Once you stop at one winery they can dofect you to others. NOTL. Is a busy picturesque town. You can stop here for lunch or dinner and avoid the tackiness right around the Falls. If time permits and you are so inclined you could stop at the Niagara Glen for a very cool hike down to the river.

First of all, I would NOT use the Mass Pike route to get to Maine...you might at least consider driving through the Adirondacks and up to the northern end of Lake Champlain and cross over into Vermont and proceed into Maine that way. Be a lot more scenic IMO

Agreed re: the scenic route - Lake Champlain & Vermont are lovely. The town of Middlebury in VT is quaint and would be a nice little stop. With that said, with two required destinations (NF & Maine) and one week to accomplish it all, along with the 10 hours driving in betweeen that would easily be 15+ going the scenic route, that's a hard call to make. 1+ day in NF, 3+ days in Maine, 1-2 days driving leaves little else to do...