New england
 

Ok. My husband, our two sixteen years old daughters and me are planning a trip to visit New england.
we live in Lakeland FL. We have like 17 days to do this trip. This is my rough idea of what we should do.
As we are traveling in our car, traveling 8 hours per day, we will arrive in three days to Maine. From Maine is what we need the advise. What will be the more efficient way to go. I hear of a bunch of nice cities that I reead I need to visit, Bar Harbor and try whale seeing tours, Acadia National Park, Nantucket Island, Portsmouth NH, Montpelier VT, Salem, cape Cod, Newport, Martha's Vineyard?
IWe enjoy sightseeing mostly, and would like a couple of things that the girls can do being them the only adventurous in the group.
Any advise it will be highly appreciated. I am sorry about my english errors, my native language is spanish.
Sandra

Others will have more help/advice -- I have only been a few of the places on your wish list. But, you need 6 days just to drive to Maine and back to Florida. That only gives you 10 or 11 days to visit more than nine different places in five states. That is just too much time in the car and not enough time actually seeing things.

Hopefully others will have suggestions what you can/cannot manage in that much time.

(your English is just fine :) )

10 or 11 days-

You could spend 2 days on Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket, 3-4 days on the outer Cape, 3 days in Salem, and then...2-3 days in another place.

I spent 5 days in Provincetown, 1 day on Nantucket, 1 day in Truro, a few hours in Hyannis. I could have easily spent 3 more days on the outer cape or 3 more days just exploring the rest of Cape Cod towns (I had no car). Provincetown was my favorite, and I think that would appeal the most to your teens. I'd give Nantucket a miss if I had to do it all over again- the only thing I really enjoyed was the whaling museum. Nantucket shopping is really really expensive (and I'm not really a budget shopper) and it was super crowded and hot (July on a weekday).

"Adventurous"- I think if your daughters like biking, they should definitely rent bikes and explore the Cape trails a little. I did that up near Provincetown and on Nantucket and had so much fun that I want to go back and do a whole Cape tour by rail trail some day.

Salem: best thing was the Peabody Essex museum, but I also enjoyed the witchcraft stuff and the town itself.

Have you been to Boston? With your teens, I'd divide your time between Boston and a beach town if you've never been. I spent a week in Boston on the same trip, and although I'm not sorry I went to Cape Cod, I could have spent 2 weeks in Boston quite happily, so much to do!

Spend 2 days on Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. I could have spent 2 weeks in Boston quite happily.

There's nothing wrong with Maine, but you may want to skip it, given that you have only about 10 days for sightseeing and many places you want to see. (What time of year?) My suggested itinerary:

Two nights in Newport. Tour the mansions.
Three nights in Boston. Many, many sights.
Three nights on Cape Cod. Provincetown, Chatham and other towns. I'm not a fan of Hyannis.
One or two nights in either Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard. You can take the ferry from Cape Cod. Hyannis to Nantucket; or Falmouth to MV. Rent bikes and tour the town(s) and island.

When are you planning to go? If it is in the summer, I would plan for the Maine part of the trip later in the summer to make the weather and ocean water a bit warmer, and past black fly season. If you to plan to visit Boston on the weekend, you might get better hotel rates and you will probably want to use public transportation in the city as parking is expensive and driving there can be a challenge.

You can do a whale watch many places along the coast, including Boston Gloucester and Provincetown (on Cape Cod) in MA as well as from Portland ME and Point Judith, RI.

If the girls want activity you can rent kayaks or canoes on Cape Cod or in Maine. There are nice bike trails on Cape Cod and plenty of places to rent bikes there too.

For swimming, the beaches in Maine will be colder than those on Cape Cod or Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. The water north of Portland, ME is very cold.

Montpelier Vt is very far from the other places you mention, which are all on the shore.

I would give Boston a few days and then head either to Maine or to The Cape.
People who live in FL typically find any New England waters cold for swimming.

If you are going this summer it is time to make hotel reservations in either Maine or Cape Cod, especially during the weekends.

Better make it three 9-hour drives if you want to end up near Acadia, as you'll have to take meal breaks, potty breaks etc. And isn't there anything you want to stop and see on the way north or the way south?

If your trip is this summer, your itinerary might depend on where you can find hotels with vacancy. Acadia and Nantucket/MVineyard will be e$pecially difficult, especially finding rooms for 4 adults. Have you checked hotel prices, do you have a budget in mind? I would probably say skip Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard for this trip...wave to them from Cape Cod.

The advice you are getting is to not try to see too much. Better to concentrate on special locations such as either Cape Cod/Martha's Vineyard or the Maine coast including Acadia but maybe not both. So you would add more diving by going as far as Montpelier, VT, or Newport. You can find historic Boston worthwhile including walking the Freedom Trail and a little west the Minute Man National Park (Lexington & Concord). Yes, Salem a good stop but also Plimouth Plantation and at Portsmouth the Strawberry Bank old settlement.

I think a lot of the places on your list are places to be, rather than sight-see, if that makes sense. All wonderful places, but hard to appreciate with just a day here and there.

6 days of pure just getting there and back driving would not be my idea of a vacation, but, of course, that's for you to decide.

Thank you for all the comments and advise. Maybe is too little time to really appreciate New England.
So, I am thinking, driving directly to cape cod, spend 3 nights there and see the surrouding cities included a day to visit Marthas Vineyard or Nantucket Island.
From there 3 nights in Boston, will visit Salem
I will research what to do in every city
Then I will dive south to Newport?
And i am still working on it and reading all the info that I am getting. Thank you again

I'd spend those 3 nights in Cape Cod in ONE location. Whole point is to kick back and relax:) I'd do Provincetown because there is plenty there for 2 days, but you could also do Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard instead.

Boston is worth 4 nights minimum if you are city people.

If you want to see "all" of the Cape, I'd split your stay between Boston, Salem, and Cape Cod. Leave the other places for another trip. You'll want to come back:)

You can take a ferry from Boston to both Provincetown and Salem during the summer. You'd have to leave your car in Boston, but I'd want to after that 3 day drive.

So maybe:
Drive to Boston: 4 nights
Ferry to Salem: 2 nights
Ferry back to Boston then ferry to Ptown: 5 nights (that gives you 3 days in PTown area, plus time for a day trip to Nantucket or MV. Or 2 days in Ptown area, and an overnight trip to Nantucket or MV. (The Cape has pretty good bus service). Nantucket was easy enough without a car- I biked around- I would probably choose that over MV.

Ferry back to Boston, start drive home.

I would drive to the cape at the end of the trip so you would be south of Boston to start your trip home. You could visit Newport on the way south.

If you have a bit more time, continue south on the Garden State Pkwy then take the ferry from Cape May to Lewes DE. Continue south on the DELMARVA and stop at Chincoteague to see the ponies. Then south across the Bay Bridge Tunnel and decide if you want to head to 95 or meander down the coast.

I think that is a good idea - to skip Maine and focus on the state further south. And skip Mt Montpelier because it is so far out of the way.

Do you have a paper map to plot this out on? As others have suggested focus on Boston and Cape Cod and maybe include the small stretch of New Hampshire coastline.

Or if being on the ocean/coast isn't important, you could do a loop that includes western Massachusetts (Amherst/Northampton), southern Vermont (Brattleboro), southern New Hampshire (Keene), and Boston. That's a very scenic area with places not too far one from the next.

Ok, speaking as a native New Englander currently living in RI but from Martha's Vineyard here is my advise. MAINE, NH , VT all great but will take many hours to get there no matter which one you choose its a whole day's drive. In Maine I would definitely recommend Bar Harbour. It is a fantastic seaside town and offers so Many possibilities. Acadia NP is a must see. I would spend at least 2 days to see as much as you can. The park provides free shuttle service all around and into the town so you could leave your car either in town, in parking lots thorough park or at hotel or campground. the cape and Islands are just beautiful, I prefer MV as there is much more to do and see for your 16 year olds! You could easily see the island in a day with a bus tour of island and get a late ferry back to the cape if you want to combine the cape with the island. Ferries run from early morning to 10 pm at night depending on which line you choose. The steam ship authority is the biggest and only one that runs all year, but in Falmouth the island queen is the nicest for day trips and will bring you into the main town of Oak bluffs where you can get a bus tour of the Islan. ( the busses are right there when you get off the boat). Newport is a must see in RI a night or two here would be great. A tour of the mansions is a must! Buy a family pass as it will get you into them all much cheaper. Then move onto Boston. You can't get better than the freedom trail to experience what life was back then for American history. There is so much to see and do in Boston the list is Endless! If you had to pick I would suggest 3 days Boston, 3 days cap cod and islands and 3 days RI. But if you can fit it in Maine or North Conway NH Would be an excellent addition. Hope this helps and have a great trip. There is nothing better than New England. Some must haves are. Lobster roll and New England clam chowder. Clam cakes, coffee milk and Dels frozen lemonade (Dels is only in RI). In Marthas vineyard you have to ride the merry go round and try for the brass ring as it is the oldest carousel in the Nation. You can do a whale watch in any of the places I mentioned. Boston would be the best choice for that.