We are flying to Boston on 4/29, will be there mid day, and want to see more of New England. We've seen the Concord area and have spent a week or so in Boston before. We need to end up in Marlborough on 5/5, so we'll have 5+ days, a car and no kids to please. We like sightseeing, especially parks, seashore, mountains,local color, some historic sights as long as not tourist traps, shopping a little, gourmet dining (and we like all types of food), local theater, nice hotels and inns (NO B&B--my spouse hates them.) Looking for itinerary suggestions from local residents. We are 55 and 43 respectively and reasonably fit. I've viewed other posts and gleaned some information. However, I'm having some difficulty with determining how far we can travel in a day. Would prefer not to "backtrack" over a route if possible

If you want to see oceans & mountains and don't mind driving too much, here is a good loop to take.

From Boston, drive up to the Southern Maine coast. Try Kennebunkport. Spend a day there.
Then you could drive to the White Mountains of NH. Probably about 2-3 hours, depending on where you go. Try Jackson. You could spend a couple days there.
From Jackson, you could drive to to the Woodstock, VT area - probably 4 hours? Never done it. Visit the Billings Farm Nat'l Historic Park in Woodstock.
From Woodstock, you are only about 3 hours to Marlborough.
Hope this gives you a good idea for a "loop".

Thank you for the help!

The loop suggested by "bm" sounds good to me, and at that time of year it shou.d be lovely. Bring some bug repellant in case you run into and early "black fly season".

in NH I'd definitely recommend Lake Winnepesaukee. Wolfeboro is a very pretty little town right on this lake. North Conway is fun too, scenic areas and also famous for its retail outlets.

The above suggestions sound great - just be aware that this time of year in Northern New England can be very unpredictable weather wise. Spring has a great deal of difficulty getting started up here, so you may run into everything from snow to 75 and sunny. Also be prepared for mud and blackflies!
. The good thing is that springtime sees very few tourists.

Hi shorebrau,
Here's a different plan of attack that may be a bit warmer with more coastal areas included, if so inclined.

Boston - Provincetown Capecod - fly or ferry over and rent car upon arrival. This tip of the Cape offers great rest., shops,galleries, whale watching, biking beaches etc.

Falmouth or Hyannis (approx. 1hr.)Rte. 6 - poke around town or take car or not to Marthas Vineyard or Nantucket - lots to do and see, very beautiful - all you'd expect and more from coastal ares.

Newport RI (2hr.) - Head due south of Fall River Ma. 195W - 24S onto Aquidneck Island. great time of year to go - great walk around town, beaches etc. leave via Newport bridge rte.138W - 95N. shops, rest. mansions, lots of history, sm. theaters/museum etc.

Providence RI (45min.)- great and doable walk around city - musuems, rest., riverwalk - see waterfire display (scheduled) historic areas, shopping etc.
get on 95 north to 495 to Marlborough (1hr.)
Hope that helps;
Enjoy!
Sherry

p.s. don't know if you like zoos but Roger Williams Park is 15min. south of Providence. Nice place to see tigers and have a picnic.

Thank you for all the help. Unfortunately, the timing of the trip is not discretionary, Bar Mitzvah to attend on 5/6. We are from Wisconsin and are used to cold, damp, biting cold weather. We prefer the change of seasons and do not generally travel in summer, as we don't care for hot weather and summer crowds. Biting black flies? You haven't been to northern Wisconsin and the Rockies on camping trips--we can handle that with highly toxic bug dope. We will bring Goretex shells, fleece and medium weight hiking boots for trail exploration.

My husband was excited when I discovered the Ben & Jerry's factory tour in Waterville, Vt. We "hooked up" over ice cream 17 years ago--

I really appreciate all these tips, they are going to be very helpful and am grateful for the time you spent to respond.

This link might offer some suggestions

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

someone was posting about trip with girls, looking for new england towns and some history, - I had posted a drive we love to mid Vermont area on this post if you are interested in reading it - and you could go up one way and down another - getting your actual ocean seashore in that way. there are some web sites on the post - you can't go wrong with any of the above suggestions, you just have to mill through them and pick what would interest you the most.

Also, several recent posts on Newport, RI, Providence, Mystic Ct area which you could search for those threads here also.

There are some lovely lodgings in New England that aren't quite 'hotels' but not quite B & B's - for instance, the Swift House Inn in Vermont is lovely
www.swifthouseinn.com - has lovely breakfast and dinners, rooms in carriage house have great sitting area and fireplaces, lovely other restaurants in area. Also the Middlebury Inn, but Swift House is one of our favorites. This area gives you some mountains, lake, small charming towns, -

Escargot, appreciate the help. I had viewed the other thread and made notes from that as well.