rosebery44

Hi - my boyfriend and i are coming to New England at the end of April 06. We are spending 3 nights in Boston first, then have 7 days to explore New England. Our plan is to hire an RV.

We're from the UK and are not used to the huge geography of the USA! does anyone have any good ideas about what we could cover without spending the whole time driving? our first thoughts are that we'd like to explore the maine coast, then the white mountains, and then possibly go over to the Berkshires before dropping the van back just north of Boston. We also thought about fitting in Cape Cod, but my thoughts are that it would be a little out the way with the time we've got.

By the way, we both like visiting historic places, walking and generally exploring beautiful countryside. Any ideas would be gratefully received! Many thanks.

jaguar7777777

We're from the UK too and had a holiday in New England last year. After Boston we drove through Salem to Cape Ann (Gloucester and Rockport are very nice seaport towns) and stayed 1 night at the Emerson Inn, Rockport - very nice. Ask for the Emerson room overlooking the ocean. Then we drove north and then west through New Hampshire. Then Vermont where we stayed at Montpelier (1 night at the Montpelier Inn - also very nice) and Burlington (a lovely town on Lake Champlain). In Vermont we also spent some time in Stowe which is a lovely area. Then we drove south into West Massachusetts (The Berkshires) and stayed at The Inn at Richmond (nice but expensive) and visited the Norman Rockwell museum (well worth a visit) at nearby Stockbridge. This area is a bit like the Cotswolds, we thought. Then back to Boston on the Mass Turnpike for the flight home. Only 6 nights on the road, so a bit of a whirlwind trip and we didn't stay in New Hampshire. So you could extend your trip by staying there or maybe driving up into Maine. We also like Cape Cod but you'd need at least 2 days there to do it justice I think.

Jaguar

escargot

Here are two more recent threads where people asked about driving routes for NE visits that you might pull some info from where people mentioned liking the same things you did -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34742153
and
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34747102

I would say perhaps skip Cape Cod and save it for another trip. Cape Cod is lovely, but to snake your way down and back and really enjoy it would take you at least 2 dys or more, and that gives you no time to visit the off islands like Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Block or Rhode Island - that could be a trip in itself.

For a good New England feel, and be/c you want to go over to the Berkshires, I would think you are better going from Boston up the coast, along Maine and perhaps cutting over if you like into mid Vermont area and down to western Mass. Don't know how far north of Boston you have to drop off the van, that might matter.

April weather can be iffy (snow/rain/sunny take your pick) but in any weather you can enjoy Maine coast and New England and I think more will be open than you will find on the Cape.

Where you are returning the van might be helpful as well as how long you care to drive each day - say is 4 hrs your limit or would you drive 7 with stops? what is your preference. - and are you planning on sleeping in RV or parking and staying in Innes/B & B's, etc and what's the average budget look like.

Here's a thread with good web sites for figuring out a driving route and times:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34756099

and if not mentioned in that, other good sites are freetrip.com and recreation.gov -
also if you like nat'l parks/hiking ry any of the preservation/park sites like www.thetrustees.org (for Massachusetts) and others for each state or new england in general.

Anonymous

Are you sure you'll want to rent an RV? Remember, we drive on the other side of the road here. And April is still early in the spring, in New England -- temperatures will still be chilly, many campgrounds aren't open yet for the season, and New Hampshire and Vermont will be in the depths of "mud season."

rosebery44

Thanks for your help, everybody.

A couple of other questions: I have noticed that a lot of campgrounds don't even open until mid May and have been told that the ones open year round tend to have hook to electricity and water in high season only. Is this the case, as our RV won't have a generator.

Bearing in mind the unpredictable weather and possible lack of campgrounds would the car hire / guest house be a better option??

tovarich

We did the 6 New England states in 2004 in the fall. The most beautiful time of the year with the foliage. We took 25 days. My itinerary for 7 days would perhaps be ythe following:
Boston-Plymouth(visit Plimoth plantation)-Newport(Rhode island):1 day .Newport-Mystic(visit Seaport)-New Haven(university) 1 day.
New Haven- Housatonic valley-Litchfield; 1 day
Litchfield-Berkshires-Hancock shaker village(visit)-Williamstown(visit Sterlin,g and Francine clark institute):1 day
Williamstown-Bennington-Shelburne(visit Shelburne museum):1 day
Shelburne-Jackson(N.Hampshire) 1 day
Jackson- Boston.
This will be very heavy. If possible try to postpone your trip to the fall. We only had a few drops of rain.(Indian summer).Renting an RV for only two peersons is not a very good solution. The cheapest way to hire your rental is to do it in tour own country.Much cheaper than aftere arrival in Boston airport.In Boston you dont need a car.Try to do the Old Town trolley tour the first day.We see everything with great guides and can get on and off as much as you like.If you havent booked a hotel we stayed at the Chandler hotel. It's close to everything if you're not afraid to walk. Greetings from Belgium.Paul

dfrostnh

I think you would be better off with a car rental. The price of gas is around $2.25 a gallon and you will probably get very poor mileage, maybe only 12 miles to the gallon with an RV. You can find some budget hotels for $50 and under outside of Boston since it's off season. Boston will be expensive though. Look for Motel 6 and Red Roof Inns. Since you are coming in April ... maybe you should include the Cape but check on the daffodils first. There are thousands of them planted along the roads and they are very beautiful. Maybe just do one overnight in a town at the beginning of the Cape. I also think you might have trouble parking an RV in some places. For example, I think you will love Portsmouth NH but we always park in the public parking gargage which an RV can't enter due to low ceilings. Yes, it could snow during your visit but that could be fun. 7 days is not a lot of time but it's definitely a very beautiful time of the year with flowers beginning to bloom. It might be too early for flowers in the White Mountains. For south of the mountains, I figure apple orchards are in blossom around May 15. Take a look at Yankee Magazine's website for driving route ideas and best places to see www.newengland.com. If you cut across NH into VT, that would give you a good route going south to the Berkshires. We like Rt 91 from VT down thru western MA much better than going south on Rt 93/Rt 3 and then taking Rt 495 which tend to have a lot of traffic and industry. Rt 91 is more scenic.

jillc1

a new englander born and raised, first relative left france in the 1600's for northern canada- Louis Tetrault. Just found our family tree on the web... great suggestions here- i lived in boston- newburyport - and always found british visitors in newburyport, ma. also other towns you should see... portland, me, essex, ct, & portsmouth, Nh.

escargot

My opinion on you question "bearing in mind the unpredictable weather and possible lack of campgrounds would the car hire / guest house be a better option??"

I would opt for the car rental when leaving Boston, you definitely don't need a car for your days in Boston. The car, to me, would open more flexible options for you and if budget doesn't work for guest houses/Innes (and prices are often a premium during foliage season) there are plenty of nice, simple but clean, motel options in these areas - that won't give you the 'ambiance' of an inne, but you can enjoy most of those anyway by having lunch, afternoon tea or dinner, which are often open to the public, to enjoy a roaring fire or quaintness of a special inne along the way - and plenty of other local restaurants with ambiance/fireplaces/history to enjoy if keeping your lodging accomodations on the lower price end help fit your budget with perhaps one special inne put into the mix for a treat.

Especially if you want to drive on some of the more scenic routes, smaller roads and moutains, I think a car would be easier to negotiate, and as you said, and you can check on the web sites listed, many campgrounds not up and running either at all or w/ minimal extras.

rosebery44

I'm coming round to the car hire/guest house option more and more, and the idea of mixing motels with a couple of nights in more expensive inns is a good one.

To start us off, does anyone have any good recommendations for accommodation along the Maine coast, the White Mountains and the Berkshires? We're open to any type (motels, inns, guest houses) and our budget is $130 absolute max a night.

We've already booked self catering in Boston for 3 nights, so that's all sorted.

Thanks for your help - I'm finding this *very* useful!!

jaguar7777777

I forgot to mention that after Cape Ann we travelled north into Maine and stayed on the coast at Kennebunkport which is another very nice place to visit. We stayed at the King's Port Inn which we thought was decent value for money.

mckechnie

I am jealous that you guys get to explore Cape Cod in the summer. I am stuck working but I am always one to plug Nantucket. My office Great Point Properties handles all sorts of Nantucket Rentals and would be happy to help you. But some things that you need to be aware of: Nantucket is not easy to get to and getting an RV on the ferry would mean that you possess some sort of superhuman powers. My recommendation would be to park in Hyannis and come over to the island for at a minimum the day. Bed and Breakfasts mostly require a three night minimum and the rentals that we handle are a minimum of a week and can range from $2,500 on up to $35K. Nantucket is a beautiful island and the reality is I have been here for ten years and have yet to see all it has to offer. At the least come over in the morning, walk up and down the cobbled Main Street and take a tour bus out to Sconset Village. It is really a special place and worth seeing. Unfortunately for me the Nantucket Real Estate market is buzzing in the summer and keeps me locked to the island (could be worse things) so I am jealous of people like yourselves who get to explore in the summer. But do not miss Nantucket, I am biased but it is worth seeing.

seashell

rosebery44 - I thought that I'd put a plug in for Bar Harbor Maine and the Bar Harbor Inn (www.barharborinn.com). Rates during your trip are from $79-159. It is a beautiful place on the water and Acadia National Park is around the corner. We flew into Boston ourselves, stayed in Camden Maine and Bar Harbor. One bit of advice, rent your car as you leave Boston. Nice people but crazy drivers.

escargot

If you are going to Williamstown and want to spend a night there, in North Adams is a place called Porches Inn - www.porches.com - we have loved our stays there - it is also across from Mass Moca - the new museum of contemporary art - which is worth a visit, even if to see the 'upside down trees' at the entryway if modern art just isn't your thing.
Porches is an interesting architecture and lovely owners, wonderful breakfast very european style, prices range 125-155 for nice rooms, large bath area -

another choice is the Williams Inne or the Orchards Hotel (the latter more expensive) -

red_dog_

If you visit Vermont, steer clear of Burlington. It's a crowded college town with bad traffic. And it's not very scenic other than the Adirondacks that you can see across Lake Champlain, I guess those are ok.

Stowe is the best town to visit in Vermont. It's quite a picturesque town with hills all around it. It's a good town for skiing. However, it is a very overpriced town.

One of the main problems with Vermont is that most of the land is privately owned. So there are not many parks or hiking trails. Most of the land in Vermont is "you can look, but you can't touch".

Dreamer2

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