ilovemaui

We are hoping to travel in July '05 to Washington D.C. and New York with our 3 kids (16,15 & 13). Got any ideas for travel companies and hotel packages? We really want to hit the historical end of these places and hubby want to view the new england states....all in about 2 weeks time...but wants a tour rather then us figuring things out and driving. Anyone have any ideas?

dfrostnh

For the New England area you might check out Yankee Magazine's offerings www.newengland.com. You've chosen a big area for just two weeks. I would spend a few days in Boston (make sure to include the Kennedy Library) and maybe Sturbridge Village or Plimoth in MA. You could also visit Portsmouth NH which has Strawbery Banke historical area. It's a beautiful seacoast town with the option of taking some 1/2 day boat tours. Reward the kids for their good behavior with a visit to the waterpark on Rt 1 or a day at Hampton Beach (NH).

elberko

I agree that this is just too much ground to cover in 2 weeks. You could probably manage DC & NYC and the historical aspects of that area (don't forget Philadelphia!), but New England needs it's own 2 weeks.

~Liz

Anonymous

Are you interested in New England as well as the 2 cities you named? That's a lot of ground to cover, you're unlikely to find one tour to cover them all. Perhaps you should consider doing DC and NYC on your own -- they wouldn't involve driving, anyway -- and then find a tour of New England. You could even get from NYC to Boston on your own, spend a couple of days there, and then you're left with just a New England tour to find (and pay for!).

rkkwan

It depends on what part and what "kind" of New England your husband what to see. Boston can be easily done on your own, or do a day tour (duck tour or otherwise) after you arrive. No cars needed.

But in general, there are very few organized tours in America, catered to Americans. The only tour bus I've regularly seen having lived in New England for several years are run by Chinese groups, catered for Chinese American/Canadian - some from New York City, some from Toronto. Otherwise, people usually travel on their own.

gail

I just did a quick check on Globus tours (globusandcosmos.com). Just checked Globus side of site, but, while not an exact match, they have at least 2 tours on "Historic East" and another one that includes some of Southern Canada.

I would check the usual tour companies - Globus, Cosmos, etc. as well as ads in travel sections of large Sunday papers. Also, local AAA offices offer a variety of tours as well.

One problem you will run into is that tours almost always are "double occupancy" - and it seems there are 5 of you. Some may allow a triple option which would solve the problem.

You may have to end up doing 2 tours back-to-back to cover your desired geography. I disagree with a poster above about availability - my mother and her friends have taken many US/Northeast trips as they do not wish to drive. How you wish to travel is certainly your business - but these cities are really easy to do without a packaged tour. Another option would be to buy air and hotel as a package and then book yourself on various day trip/tours from each city.

nytraveler

The other thing you may want to look at is age group. Some of these tours are primarily senior citizens - and you would need to consider how well the group/activities would fit with the needs/interests of three active teens.

I too would consider doing this yourelf - very uncomplicated - and that way you get to see what your family really wants. Also, agree that 2 weeks is not much time to do DC, NYC and New England.