14 days to travel from Boston to Washington DC
 

We had planned to travel to the east coast 2014 but everything changed and we ended up on the West Coast.

We are now booked to the East Coast travelling from Boston to Washington DC from 10 May to 24 May 2017.

We need to be back in Boston on 24 May for an early evening flight back to UK.

Plan is Boston 10 - 13 May Hotel Booked

Thereafter nothing fixed.

Thought we would whale watch 11 May in order to allow for bad weather and slippage.

Fancied Cape Cod for Lighthouses etc and perhaps Lancaster for Amish experience as it were. Not wedded to any mode of transport. Would like 3 days in DC at the end including 1 day to travel back to Boston.

Any Ideas please gratefully accepted as we are going crazy trying to plot a route.

Cheers

Stadders

Mystic Connecticut for historical ships and the Johnson Glass House (reservations necessary) for an iconic architectural building:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...072757273/show

http://theglasshouse.org/

Given the relatively short time you have for places like NYC, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., you may want to get the Michelin USA East Green Guide which would list highlights of these cities and maybe suggest a 14 day itinerary.

I'll sound like tom fuller. You could take the train (amtrak) from Boston to Mystic CT and use taxis to see the sights in the area like Mystic Seaport, Stonington, etc or to New London, CT and rent a car for the area, return it and then take the train to NYC. You won't need a train in the city, use the subway.

Then take the train or fly to Washington use public transit there then fly or train back to Boston.

If you thought that flying home from Boston would be cheaper, you are probably wrong.
If you can, fly back from Washington National or BWI.
If you do go to Lancaster, you could rent a car after getting off the train. Return to Philadelphia and then go to Washington on another train.
National airport has a Metro stop.
BWI has an Amtrak station connecting to the terminal.
The National Aquarium is in Baltimore next to the Inner Harbor if that interests you.

I'm going to agree on emalloy and tomfuller for this one. If you haven't been to the east coast before, even just Boston/NYC/philly/ DC will more than fill up 14 days. You could maybe pick two "side trips". I would do Salem or Cape Cod or Williamsburg or Civil War Battlegrounds (I have seen a bit of all three, but there is NEVER enough time to really dig in). Or the Maryland coast is pretty high on my bucket list- I haven't seen much there because a car is necessary. But I haven't been to Cape Cod in the spring, so could t say how much is open. And I would probably pick Williamsburg over the Cape in May simply because Williamsburg is hellish on the summer and I went to the Cape for the beaches.

And you really don't want to drive into ANY of those cities. DC is the only one I would consider driving in but a car would definitely not be useful even there.

(National Aquarium is glorious, btw, if you are into aquariums. And there's a really neat sept 11 memorial nearby.)

In philly, if you have any interest in medical history, visit the Mutter. I have been to 3 medical abnormality museums now and that remains my favorite. And don't miss Reading Terminal Market. There's a great Amish donut place there. If there is stuff you definitely want to visit in any of these places, be SURE to check on how to do so. The African American Museum, for example, it's very difficult to get tickets to see that. Liberty Bell and Washington Monument- its possible but involves early long lines. White House tour (if going on) involves applying long before the trip. So if there's something you are really excited to see, buy tickets ahead time whenever possible and be sure of the process to avoid disappointment. (I didn't buy Washington monument tickets in advance last time- waited out in the freezing cold for 2 hours and I was still not at the front of the line. Don't ever assume that people don't get up early for that sort of thing).

If you want more specific ideas, perhaps include more about your interests. There is SO MUCH to see in just New England that I think we'd need a lot more information before helping you with a route.