Detroit - Montreal - Bar Harbor - Portland - Boston - Detroit
 

We are planning a family vacation with our 14 yr old daughter and 17 yr old son.

Detroit to Montreal (3 nights).

Montreal to Bar Harbor, stopping by Stowe and Burlington VT on way. (3 or 4 nights?)

Bar Harbor to Portland. Stopping at Camden and Boothbay on the way. Figured we won't get into Portland till evening. (2 Nights) - Cape Elizabeth lighthouse, lobster fishing and sightseeing.

Portland to Boston(2 Nights) - Stopping at Oguniqut and Gloucester on way - Freedom Trail??

Boston to Niagara Falls, ON for one night to break up trip home.

Niagara Falls to Detroit.

Any suggestions on this trip? We like boat rides, short Kayak trips, Islands, tours. Love things off the beaten path or hidden treasures. My concern is that there is not much to do in Boston for us. We are not huge hikers for Acadia, but like walking paths and would love bird watching/ seal watching.

Also, any good suggestions for Lobster. Heard Lobster Shack is a must. Thanks:)

google maine lobster shacks. You should find a list with photos. Pick one that is convenient to your route although we prefer the ones in the mid-coast area. Plan picnic lunch for top of Mt Battie in Camden (take the auto road) and bring binoculars for fantastic view. When we visited Bar Harbor we brought DS's bike along so he could bike up Cadillac. Camden has a lot of shops but you could be doing something else. It doesn't sound like you have enough time to take the boat out to Monhegan Island for hiking. Although Burlington VT is fun, I would skip Stowe. I you go late enough in the summer, the Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville VT might be fun for your teens. I think to get to Maine you could make a stop in NH's White Mountains at one of the attractions. The Flume is very popular or find a public trail.

MDI ice cream has bizarre but yummy flavors. Only two shops. One in Bar Harbor and the other on Exchange St in Portland's old port area. You might enjoy the mailboat cruise from Old Port Area. I don't care for Boothbay since it's so crowded. I would opt to get lobster at Waterman's Beach near the Owl's Head Transportation Museum. The hike to Owls Head light is short with a nice view if you climb up the stairs. There is also a trail down to the water. Ogunquit is also crowded with a lot of traffic on Rt 1. Teens might prefer York Beach instead with a walk up to Nubble Light, visit the Goldenrod to watch taffy machine, get ice cream, explore tide pools.

Ben and Jerry Factoryhttp://www.benjerry.com/about-us/factory-tours are fun and informative and yummy.
and Lake Champlain chocolates are must do stops for us when we go from Burlington to Stowe.
http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/

Burlington has a great pedestrian only center district with top notch pizza places. We love Vermont.

Thanks for the information. I'm now wondering if we should take the shorter route from Montreal to Bar Harbor and skip Burlington and Stowe. We were just doing that way for Ben and Jerrys and driving through White Mountains.

I haven't taken a route thru northern Maine is many years but if you go thru northern Maine, it's pretty remote. I would skip Stowe but Burlington and the White Mountains would be nice. Ben and Jerry's isn't as much fun as it used to be due to all the popularity. But Burlington VT's Church Street pedestrian area can be fun if there's anything going on.

We live in NH and spent a week at Acadia in 2010 when DD was 10. Even though you're not hikers there are plenty of very easy and easy trails in Acadia which would allow you to see some of the beautiful scenery and wildlife. This link lists some of the trails by difficulty http://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisi...s-2011-NEW.pdf. We saw lots of wildlife including bald eagles. DH and DD also went on a whale/seal watch out of Bar Harbor.

Take a sea kayaking tour in Bar Harbor. We used National Park Sea Kayak Tours, but there are several other operators. Or rent kayaks at Long Pond. Both were highlights of our time in Bar Harbor.

Just do what defrostnh says.

I agree northern Maine is pretty remote. We have been going to Bethel Maine ( westerm Maine) for 18 winters so know the route through from Newport Vermont to St Johnsbury/Gorham/Bethel. Try and plan some bigger towns into the route so you have good hotel options.
PS there is also a new toll road in Quebec that takes you south east of Montreal if you want to avoid the city traffic. We took it in January and it was great.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20...r-old-montreal
But if you stay in Montreal, this part is worth seeing.

Thanks for all your feedback. Decided to go through the white mountains and do the flume on the way to get out and get some exercise.

Is it worth the time to also do the top of Mt. Washington if we are going to Acadia National Park. I'm thinking we are going to have a lot of scenery on our trip and I wasn't sure it was worth the extra time.

I would include Mt Washington if you have the time.