macgyv13

Hi all,

I'm traveling from New York City to Nova Scotia with my family (including three boys ages 11, 9 and 9) and will be going through the New England states along the way.

I only have a couple of days to get from Connecticut to New Brunswick, unfortunately, and am trying to figure out which would be a better option for the boys -- one day exploring the historic part of Boston (Faneuil Hall/Freedom Trail) plus late afternoon/morning in Salem with a hotel stay there ... or .... drive up and stay in Ellsworth, ME and spend 3/4 of a day in Bar Harbor?

The trip is really more for the boys than for myself, so what do you say O wise folks? Thanks!

clarkgriswold

July or August I wouldn't go up to Bar Harbor just for 3/4 of a day, too much of a trafficky detour to get there.

china_cat

What about Portsmouth NH instead? There are historical things to see and do, its less out of the way than your other choices, and easier to deal with than Boston. I think you might have more time to actually do some things.

gail

Let's just keep adding alternate cities! Portland, ME is a nice little city, along route to Nova Scotia, and about 2 1/2 hours out of Boston. Except for the witch thing, it has most of what Salem has and is less congested and feels more authentic. Peabody Essex Museum is my main draw to Salem, but not sure it would be a hit with the boys. You will get plenty of ocean in Nova Scotia, so I am not putting that on list of things to see. So I am adding Portland to the ballot, and the routing works better than Salem.

dfrostnh

Neither would be my choice. Although Portland is a good suggestion, I agree with China Cat that Portsmouth NH is a good choice. There's the Albacore submarine but I bet they would like Odiorne Science Center. To break up the trip you could detour to Camden and have a picnic lunch on top of Mt Battie. The kids can run around for awhile but I think they would like the view.
or
Take an inland route and go to Squam Lakes Science Center in Holderness NH. Plan to spend most of the day. We took gds ages 8 and 10 there last summer. The coyote demonstration was great. From there you can continue to Maine aiming for I95/Augusta area.
Sorry but kids that age don't understand history. I went on school field trips to Boston and didn't really enjoy them.

macgyv13

Thanks for the feedback, guys! Lots of good alternative options to consider, so I appreciate the info. More ideas are always welcome.

Now... some homework for me to do to look up all of the ideas you've presented in this forum -- I've been to Camden, but it's been a while and that was before I had kids so I'd need to look it up to see what's changed since the last time I was there.

zootsi

If your boys like the beach, take a look at the 'beachy' towns in southern Maine like Ogunquit, Wells, York and Kennebunkport. Miles of wide sandy beaches, lighthouses, fun restaurants, mini golf, etc.