Boston 2 Quebec: 2 days transit?
 

We are planning on driving from Boston to Quebec City and have two days to do so - which option is preferable . . . or, is there a better option that I have not listed?

A) Drive up through the White Mountains stopping at the Flume Gorge and then onto Ben and Jerry's and Stowe.

B) Drive up through Vermont stopping at Grafton, Woodstock and Stowe.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

The easiest way is to take I-93 north, which will take you thru the heart of the White Mountains. You could spend time in this area, staying in Lincoln, Sugar Hill, Plymouth, etc. You then take I-93 up to I-91 in Vermont. You could visit Stowe from I-91 but it's quite a bit out of the way. If you want to explore Vermont, just off I-91 are some small towns like Barton, Glover, etc. This is a very rural, mountainous part of Vermont. If you continue up I-91 you will cross onto rte 55 in Quebec. You might want to stop at Magog Quebec, a pleasant lakeside resort town. from here, it's an easy ride up to Quebec city.

If you choose the VT route, I would also include Quechee (visit Simon Pierce, maybe lunch there). If it's a Saturday, I would stop at a farmers market in Brattleboro, Norwich or Montpelier. (festive and a good place for coffee break or picnic lunch). (Montpelier would require a detour.)

The Flume is nice. If you are interested in native wild animals, Squam Lakes Science Center in Holderness is very interesting. It would be a detour off I93 from Meredith exit. The animal demonstrations are very interesting but just walking thru the center is great. If you sit down to rest, a docent is likely to sit down to talk with you. In another area we stopped for a moment and a docent with the sweetest little owl stopped to tell us about owls. Since you have time, you could also take the pontoon boat tour of Squam Lake. If it's hot, I would do boat tour and not hike the Flume.

The Stowe area is certainly nice enough, but it's quite a bit out of the way.

A more or less direct route that would be terrific would be to take 93 and, as dfrostnh suggests, stop at The Flume and Franconia Notch State Park. Then hop back in the car, continue on 91 and then 91 to the border, then head over to the charming town of North Hatley Quebec for your overnight. It's a beautiful town on a lake, with many pleasant B&Bs and also a top-notch hotel (Manoir Hovey).

The drive from Boston to North Hatley is about 4 hours, and Franconia is just about at the half-way point.

Appreciate the responses. I do realize that 93 to 91 is the most direct route but we've always wanted to see or get a taste of Vermont. So, with two days to spare I wondered if a leisurely drive from Boston to QC via Vermont was worth the additional time or if the direct route is just as appealing.

It sounds like the majority opinion is to skip Vermont for the direct route?

NO, but you have to choose between mountains and bucolic VT scenery. It really depends on your interests (I would skip Ben and Jerry's tour). There's a route over the Green Mountains from Rt 100 to Bristol that would be a big detour but there's a swimming hole that's a great place for a picnic (if you don't want to swim). One section of river is very shallow (but rocky, you would need water shoes) but up stream you can sit in the shade to watch kids jump off granite ledges into a deep pool. There's a small waterfall. You can drive for hours in Vermont and not see any fast food places or shopping plazas.

We don't like interstates unless we want the quickest way from here to there.