I am hoping that expeienced East Coast travelers can help with ideas for my family's summer road trip.

Background info: thers will be 4 of us - my children are age 16 & 13. We are driving from Iowa. None of us have traveled on the East Coast very much. We did fly into Washington DC one year as a family. My husband and I have been to New York.

We have 2 to 3 weeks to spend on the trip. I am trying to get an itinery so I can start booking hotels.

I need help on places to see. So far, I know that we would like to do the following:

Gettsyburg - short stop
Philadelphia - 2days
Boston - 2days ?
Lexington
Concord
Ben & Jerrys Ice cream
Small cute coastal towns - which ones?
Acadia national park

On the way home:
Niagara Falls
Quebec ?

How long could it take to drive from Philadelphia to Boston with the traffic? We would like to visit an island off the coast or Cape Cod but I am not sure if that would take too much time. I really need help on the coastal towns up to Maine.

We like hiking , museums, and wildlife watching.
Any and all comments are welcome!!!
Thanks
Sandy

Two things that I forgot to mention.

We will be going in mid July. Also we wold prefer to spend at least 2 nights in the same hotel in a central location where we could drive to see things.

Thanks
Sandy

If you base yourself in Boston for 3-4 days, you can do a day trip to Lexington and Concord.

If you do the Cape or the Islands, you'll need at least 2 nights. The traffic is pretty heavy in July and most hotels will have a 2 night minimum. I personally really love the Vineyard.

As for cute coastal towns, coming from Boston, there's Rockport MA, Portsmouth NH, Ogunquit, Kennebunkport, Camden and Bar Harbor ME.

Its about a 6 hour drive from Philly to Boston, at least. If you want to break up the trip you could stop in Jersey City and take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty (no need to drive into NYC), then sleep in Weschester county or maybe somewhere like Bridgeport or New Haven. Not much for tourists, but its about half-way.

From Portland ME, you could either go to Quebec/Montreal via Acadia, or go via Vermont/Ben& Jerries. But I don't see an easy way to do both. I suggest 2-3 nights in Montreal.

It is a long day's drive from Montreal to Toronto -- you could stay in Toronto a couple nights, then have an easy drive to Niagara.

You have a good rough outline, but with 3 weeks you'll want to really research the northeast. There is a LOT to see and do.
A few comments:
If you enjoy hiking, plan on at least a few days in New Hampshire's White Mountains. You can use Jackson, Sugar Hill, Woodstock (NH), etc, as your base.
Vermont has a lot more to offer than just Ben and Jerry's - it is one of the most beautiful states in the US, especially if you explore the back roads. You might want to consider a b&b farm stay for a few nights. Towns like Woodstock, Waitsfield, Rochester, Stowe, etc, make a good base.
As for beaches, Cape Cod is the place to be. Try basing yourself somewhere mid cape - Chatham, Wellfleet, Eastham, etc. You could easily take a day trip (or an overnight) to Martha's Vinyard, which is less than an hour's ride from Falmouth. Forget the car, just rent bikes when you get there. Oak Bluffs is the better ferry destination for biking.
The Maine Coast is huge - longer than California's if you unkinked it! The southernmost towns - York, Ogunquit, Wells, Kennebunkport - are the 'beach' towns. They have wide sandy beaches, lots to do,are very charming, and get crowded in the summer. Further up, the coastline is more rocky, and the water is colder.
Acadia is amazingly beautiful, but is a long ride from anywhere.
If you can manage it, a few days in French Canada will be very memorable, and quite different from New England. Quebec City is very much like France, and Montreal is a hip, lively international city. I would forget Niagara Falls - a very long drive from where you are going to be. The Quebec area is much more interesting.

Here's one idea...drive from Philly to NY, then straight up the Taconic into the Berkshires. Spend a couple nights in the Berkshires. you can take in a concert in Tanglewood on the lawn, go to the Norman Rockwell, hike, and so on. This is an easier drive than the more direct routes from NYC to Boston, and the Taconic drive is pretty too. Then from the Berkshires you can go into Boston. You could stop at Sturbridge Village on the way if you wanted to.

Plan your Cape Cod visit for midweek. you do NOT want to do it on a weekend if you can avoid it. Maybe do a day trip to Martha's Vineyard using the ferry from Hyannis.

Its another 5-6 hours from Boston up to Acadia. In Mass, the cute coastal towns might include Rockport, Gloucester or Salem.

But better, spend a couple nights in Portsmouth NH, you can see the historic sites, and go to Hampton Beach which the kids will love.

In Maine consider Boothbay, or Camden. Or skip them and drive from Portsmouth to Bar Harbor and just spend 4-5 days up there (that's what I'd do, I think).

Lots of good suggestions.
Portsmouth NH is only an hour north of Boston but in addition to historic Strawbery Banke you can also tour one of the first submarines (Albacore), boat tour of Portsmouth harbor and spend a day at Water Country. There are events, music, theater going on in Portsmouth in several locations - also seacoast science center is nearby at Odiorne Point.
If you aren't going to get back to the East coast very soon then you should go to Acadia with a stop in Camden, home to several windjammers. There's a lighthouse museum with a keepers 'family' in residence near Rockport (sorry, haven't been). The Owls Head Transportation Museum has extra events on weekends. Two years ago we saw antique airplanes flying. Short hike to Owls Head light is another worthwhile visit for the view. This is Rockland area near Camden. I enjoyed staying at the Glenmoor by the Sea which is actually in Lincolnville just north of Camden. They have motel rooms but also small suite-like places. You will want to take another boat tour to see seals etc. The one in Bar Harbor was good. Instead of an island off Cape Cod perhaps visit Monhegan Island - great hiking and just a day trip from Boothbay Harbor or other place.
Cape Cod probably wins out for beaches but Maine's craggy coast is unforgettable. You could then make a swing thru NH's White Mountains (about an hour west of Portland ME) before heading to VT and Ben & Jerry's. There are lots of great local ice cream places so although the tour is fun it could be skipped. If you cross over into VT north of the White Mountains you could head to Danville VT where there's a very challenging corn maze .... although coming from Iowa that might not be a big deal for you. (Check Great Vermont Corn Maze).

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

Looking the distances between places, I am afraid that I may have to trim down my itenery. My problem is that I really want to see Acadia. It is one of the few national parks that I have not been able to visit. I want to make sure that we have time to stop at some the towns along the way on the coast too.

Also I really want to visit Quebec City and Montreal.

We were going to go to Toronto but I am thinking of skipping it. Is Toronto really great? It looks like Quebec City/Montreal would be more fun.

Thanks for all your help!
Sandy

I would recommend not going out of your way to visit Ben & Jerry's. It's mildly interesting.

But, there are long waits in the summer, right next to where you can order ice cream and concoctions at ridiculously high prices.

At the end of the tour, free samples are passed around. You would not believe how tiny those cups are (like the dentists have, about 1" in diameter) or the spoons!

Yes, Toronto is great, but I think you can skip it and be OK. You've got a very busy schedule. As previous posters have said, Montreal to Toronto is a long drive. I've done it and I wouldn't do it again. If you take the scenic route, you'll add even more time to the drive. If you take the straight route, it's not that exciting of a drive for that long.

If you are driving from Montreal back to Iowa, Toronto is pretty much on your way, which is why I suggested it.

Toronto does not have the quaint old-world feel of Montreal/Quebec city. It does have great museums, nice waterfront, amusement park and a space needle, and the Blue Jays (you could see a game) -- I think of it as kind of having a Chicago vibe.