Bar Harbor and Acadia and Driving to South Florida
 

We are planning a visit to Niagara Falls but want to stay in Niagara on the Lake. We have a couple of weeks and we're thinking of flying to Buffalo, renting a car, and then driving back to South Florida. But, I wanted to visit Bar Harbor Maine and Acadia and drive south from there. Can anyone suggest a route and suggest stops along the way east to Maine and then south to Florida. We are comfortable driving up to 5 hours a day.

Or, are there any other suggestions for our road trip south?
I've posted on the Canada board as well.

Thanks for your help and Happy New Year!
k2

That is to general of a question.
There are Mountains in Vermont, Philadelphia, New York, Washington DC, Boston, Coast, Shenandoah National Park, Luray Caverns, Georgetown, National Historic Battlefields, Places like Mt. Vernon, Monticello, and Montpelier. and I haven't even made it to the Carolina's and Georgia yet. There is just a ton to do there, so to ask someone to give you a suggestion is kinda vague. What are your interest? outdoors places, dining, wine, history, traveling with kids, budget

A lot of the places I have listed take some time to do them right. You could easily spend your entire two weeks in Boston, Philly, NY, and DC for example.

Before you get too far, check into one way car rentals. It sounds like that's what you want to do. It might not be worth it to drive to Florida.

spirobulldog and dfrostnh - Thanks for your comments. We have changed our not very well thought out plans and have eliminated Niagara and will save that for another trip. We can begin May 20 by flying into Phila for a 1 day family commitment.Then pick up a car from there. Maybe we could start out from there and fly back to Florida approx June 5 from Maine.We would like to visit, not necessarily in this order,

1 Bar Harbor and Acadia
2 Portland, Maine
3 Montpelier, VT
4 A nice Berkshire area town with a music and /or performance festival. I know Tanglewood performances do not begin until end of June.
5 Fairfield, Ct (we would visit friends for a day)
6 Newport RI
7 Probably have to drive through some of NY or NJ but would appreciate a suggestion as to where to stop.

We like food and wine, not necessarily upscale and don't want to do winery tours. We were thinking more in the line of lobster rolls and ice cream. We don't really hike but enjoy a healthy walk &/or a bike ride.We enjoy music and art, fairs and festivals,local history, small town shops and stopping to talk to people. We are not on a tight budget and like really nice hotels and B & B's.

Thanks again for any suggestions!
k2

If you switch 5 and 6 you will be doing less backtracking.

Yes, you will have to drive through NY and NJ, so plan your time through to avoid rush hour. Fairfield is right on I-95, so the most direct route would be to take it to PA and it's only about 3+ hours from Fairfield, if you avoid a traffic tye up.

Thanks emalloy for the suggestion.
k2