Hello,

We are scrapping our plans for Cape Cod and instead are considering a road trip to Maine and PEI this July/August. We are departing from Boston and have about a week.
1. We really want to go to PEI and Maine (first time to both places).
2. We know that we cannot get more than a feel of these places in such a short time but want a road trip.
3. We want to have a relaxing vacation with stops for lobster, swimming.
4. We want to avoid highways and see the coast instead.
5. We want to stay in B&B's preferably along the coast but cost is an issue. Not necessary to stay in town. The perfect B&B will dictate the stops..

Any suggestions?

Prelim:
Day 1: Drive from Boston to Bar Harbor. Explore town.
Day 2: Acadia national park, drive to ______.Spend night there.
Day 3: Drive to PEI.Night there
Day 4: Drive around PEI or towards Nova Scotia.Night there(in PEI or Nova Scotia).
Day 5: Drive south and stay _____.
Day 6. Drive south to Boston....

I am trying to keep daily drive times to 4-5 hours to keep things easy.

What do you think?
Susan

Oh! just wanted to add that we want to go whale watching..

S

Considering that you do not want highways, it will be real tough for you to even do Maine, let alone PEI. You are going up in Prime Season so there may be a lot of people on the roads and the B&Bs may be booked already. Add in the time crossing the border and you may have enough time to go to PEI and turn around.

You shd also post this on the Canada Board. You cannot do PEI & NS in one day. Go to www.novascotia.com to get a travel guide & that will give you an idea of the size of the province of Nova Scotia. The jewel of Nova scotia is Cape Breton Island's Cabot Trail...lots of spectacular coastal vistas.

We don't necessarily need to hit PEI and Nova scotia... just one would do...

S

Having one long expansive week to tour from Boston to PEI,you should allot a moment for Newfoundland and why not a side trip to Greenland.With one week a better choice would be to find one spot to base and explore from. Maybe get to talk to one of the loco yokels.

This seems like 6 days in the car - and not within your 4-5 driving hours/day. Spend a little time on mapquest and check drive times. Have you considered ferry from Portland, ME to Nova Scotia and back thru Bar Harbor - does not save all that much time, but avoids backtracking and all that driving.

But the time frame is still too short for all these places.

Way too much to do in that time frame. The roads will be busy too. We grew up in MA and went up that way often and even from our home never went for less than 2 weeks as it is quite the drive! This is using the highways. Without that it will take you forever! I would say see Maine this time, pick a base and explore for there and do PEI, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland (my fave) later.

A more realisitc (though still pushing it) plan:

Day 1 - Get up early and drive Boston to Halifax, 11 hours on major highways (you REALLY don't have time for coastal route). Collaspe in Halifax hotel.

Day 2 - Get up early and spend forst half of day seeing (gettting a small taste of) area from Halifax south to Lunenburg. Spend second half of day seeing (well, a glimpse at least) Halifax itself. Stay 2nd night in Halifax.

Day 3 - Get up early and hit the road to Cape Breton, NS (about 6 hours driving) stopping for lunch along way. Check into a B&B and explore a little of the area, dinner/music out, etc.

Day 4 - Get up early and see Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Plan on a FULL DAY to see as much as possible (you won't see it all). Return to your area lodgings.

Day 5 - Get up early and head to PEI (7 hours driving) with a stop for lunch on route in a charmoing area. Check into PEI B&B and see some of PEI.

Day 6 - Return drive to Boston (about 12 hours on highways).

My only other suggestion is to add more days (or a week) to allow you to include Maine, Bar harbor, and the easygoing coastal drives.

we did a similar trip, but we spent a full 2 weeks. getting to PEI just involves a TON of driving. With this itinerary you will be spending the entire week in the car, and not enough time for relaxing or swimming. Here's an approximation of what your days will be like:

Day 1:5 hours in car to get from Boston to Bar Harbor.

Day 2: 2 hours driving around Acadia,
5 hours to drive to New Brunswick to stay the night
Day 3: 6 hours to drive to PEI
Day 4: 7 hours to drive around PEI

and so on...you get the idea. Now, I know some folks do like this kind of trip, so maybe its what you want. But it really doesn't leave you much time for relaxing.

If you really want to go to PEI, take 2 days (1 overnight) to drive there directly from Boston, skipping Maine. Spend 3 or 4 nights in PEI, then take one more overnight on the way back.

Alma in New Brunswick makes a good stopping point. You might be able to fit in a visit to Hopewell Cape to see the flower pot rocks.

Alternatively, drive to Bar Harbor, spend a couple days, then take the ferry to Nova Scotia and spend a few days there.

That would be my recommendation for an easier trip.

We have often driven from Boston to Bar Harbor for a stay of 3-5 nights. One year we stayed in Bar Harbor for 2 nights and then took another 2 weeks to drive to PEI and NS. That was about the right amount of time to sight-see and relax a bit. So the thought of your doing all this driving in such a short period really doesn't make sense to me. My advice is to go to Mt. Desert Island. Stay there, either in Bar Harbor or in one of the other small towns like North East Harbor, and use that as a base to explore the coast. You could even break the drive up into two parts by taking the coastal road and staying a couple of nights in Camden, Boothbay or Portland on your way up.

We loved PEI but to enjoy driving on the coast, seeing PEI and NS you need a couple of weeks unless you don't mind spending all your time in the car and assuming you get perfect weather. We got to Cape Breton in the middle of several days of thick fog...couldn't see the front of the car let alone the magnificent views we had hoped for! Leave a little time for getting lost...sometimes it's the best part of the trip.

Thank you all. You have confirmed my fears. Will sit down with husband to rethink this.

S

The traffic along the Maine coast is very bad in the summer.

We did a Boston - Nova Scotia - back to Boston via New Brunswick trip once and seriously, it felt like we were in the car FOREVER. And, we took the ferry from Portland to NS!!! LOL

I remember when we were at NS hearing some bus tourists saying that they didn't think it was so great -- and I thought, well yeah, if you never get out of the car it wouldn't be very good. (We hiked in NS and it was wonderful.)

If you want to see Maine maybe you could do some of the coast then head up to Mount Katahdin (Baxter State Park) and Moosewood Lake.

If you can not extend trip, you may have to skip PEI. Take ferry to/from Portland/Bar Harbor to/from Yarmouth, NS. Spend the time touring around NS and then head back. The reason for ferry so vague is that it operates on different days in different directions from different ports.

Love to see a AAA trip-tik on this excursion.

If you want swimming, the beaches south of Halifax NS are wonderful and the water is much warmer than in Maine because the Gulf Stream gets near the coast. Keep in mind the Bay of Fundy has extreme tide changes so it's constantly churned up and muddy looking. We also found warm water swimming in New Brunswick.
Maine water is cold but August is the best time. Keep in mind most of the beaches north of Portland are rocky, south of Portland sandy. For swimming in Maine you might be happier on a lake. It's exciting to explore a new area so we tend to do too much driving but I also make sure to schedule a great place to picnic and we drive lots of side roads looking for great scenic views. We opt however to stay in the same place for a week. We lucked out one summer and were able to spend almost 4 weeks driving from NH to PEI and around Nova Scotia.

Hi! We are starting to consider a week long trip to Maine instead...

S