AmandaF

I'm looking for suggestions to improve my itinerary for a trip the last week of September and first week of October (13 days total) to the New England states. There are 4 adults going on the trip who all love to hike, bike, and want to take a whale watching tour. We're trying to do both a coastal tour combined with a fall foliage tour. My concerns are: Are we trying to do too much/little?; Should I move anything around, add or take away anything?; Are there airports that would be better for me to fly in/out of to save driving time? Thanks in advance for your help.
Day 1 --fly into Providence
Day2--Cape Cod
Day 3--Martha's Vineyard
Day 4--Nantucket, Mystic or Newport (which one?)
Day 5--Bar Harbor
Day 6--Acadia
Day 7--Acadia
Day 8--Drive all day to White Mountains
Day 9--White Mountains
Day 10--Drive to Green Mountains
Day 11--Green Mountains
Day 12--Drive to Providence
Day 13--Fly home

Anonymous

Too much time in the car, IMHO. You especially need to rethink day 4/5. Of the 3 places proposed for day 4, Newport or Mystic would be a 6.5 - 7-hour drive to Bar Harbor. Is that really how you want to spend your day?

It's getting very late to book those dates in NH and VT. And many places require 2 or 3 night minimums during peak foliage season.

bigtyke

it doesn't look too bad. So what if you have a long day of travel, you're seeing stuff along the way.

For whale watching, we did Capt John's boats out of Plymouth. They did a great job - even extended the trip by 90 minutes because we had to go so far that day to find some whales.

Melissa

Sounds good, but you will be busy.
Agree with Anonymous about days 4-5.
Flying into Providence is good.
Have you thought about making a stop midway up the coast between Cape Cod and Bar Harbor? Could stop in Gloucester (1.5 hours from cape cod-great spot to do the whale watch),Portsmouth NH, Ogunquit, (about 2 hr), Portland, ME (2.5hr).
Seeing both NH and VT is nice, but I don't think you need to do both. But then again I am very biased to NH. You could nix either the Green or White Mts, spend a day longer in the area you choose, and drive down to Newport RI and spend a few days there. The Providence airport is very close. But if you change anything, definitely do something about the Cape Cod-Bar Harbor loooonnngggg drive-
Safe travels to you,
Melissa

rkkwan

Skip Vermont/Green Mountains. Then you can have more times in the Islands and in the White Mountain areas, and probably in coastal Maine as well. Much more enjoyable, and will give you some time to actually bike and hike, instead of just sitting in the car.

Newport is just an hour from Providence, and you can cover that on your way back from Cape Cod. Mystic is quite a bit far west. Nantucket is pretty nice. In fact, if you decide to only go to one of the islands, I'd take Nantucket over MV.

acereid

For Day 4 Nantucket would be my first choice since you are couples.(Frankly, I much prefer it to Martha's Vineyard - it's less crowded and feels friendlier). It's SO romantic but expect a 2 hour ferry ride there and back. It's worth it for that world-away-feeling and it's the consummate New England gem of an island.
Newport would be my next choice. The mansions are amazing, the Cliff Walk is stunning and there are many great restaurants.
I found Mystic very disappointing -- unless you are taking children, who loved visiting the Nautilus submarine and had fun at the recreated Mystic Seaport/Village watching blacksmiths at work, etc. If I had a chance to spend adult time somewhere in New England Nantucket would always be my first choice.
(With 3 kids that doesn't happen often -- the last time we got there was when our first was still a baby -- sigh )
You can't go wrong - New England is full of such good salt-of-the-earth folk - you're sure to have a lovely time.
Happy trails.

djkbooks

I'm with bigtyke - the very best way to enjoy the foliage (and as much of it as possible) is by driving all over.

But, I agree that you are trying to cover way too much territory.

For example - Cape Cod - I'd recommend picking ONE place for the three days.

Note that Bar Harbor is often completely fogged in that time of year, so a three day visit is rather chancy. If you're staying a week and it's fogged in a few days that's not too bad, but if it's fogged in for your entire visit, well that's a long, long way to drive to not be able to see anything (even the trees along the side of the road).

tracys2cents

For me its a tough trip to plan because you can't really know until mid-september when the peak foliage will be. You wouldn't want to be locked into Cape Cod if it's peak week, you'd want to be in the White Mountains.

I think that's coming towards the end of whaleWatch season, isn't it? You might want to do that towards the beginning of your trip. I think I'd fly in and out of Boston...head down to the Cape (with backup plan to head north to NH instead should the foliage be peaking)...but head down to the Cape for 4 nights (with just a day trip out to Nantucket or M Vineyard).

Then head north up the coast, maybe a night in Camden or Boothbay Maine on the way to Acadia...or just a long ride all the way up the coast to Acadia (7 hours from the cape? Maybe leave Cape 10am after traffic time....lunch on Southern coast of Maine around 1pm...lots of stopping along the way....might make it into Bar Harbor around sunset??)

4 nights near Acadia (the first days kind of a bust since you get there late)...then, crossing Vermont off my list I'd head up through Western Maine to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I really think a cabin for a night in the Rangeley Lakes region of western Maine would be nice, especially if you're hearing that the colors are in full swing. Then 3 nights in New Hampshire, either all in the mountains or one night down near the lakes (Mt. Major is a great hike and you end up with an awesome view from the top)...(check out www.bayside-inn.com for a place to stay if you end up near Alton Bay. )

Then the final night down in Boston readying for the flight. Providence would work okay for this itinerary as would Manchester NH....flying into Providence or Boston with your return flight out of Manchester would work really well, if the one-way rental car isn't too steep.

gail

Listen to the above posters - if you are looking to hike, bike, etc - you will have a tough time of it since much of your trip will be spent in the car. Too many destinations. Pick White or Green Mountains - not both. Pick Cape Cod, MV or Nantucket - not all 3 and stay put in one place to explore, hike, bike. Sometimes less is more.

2kb

For whatever it's worth, we fley into Manchester, NH on a Monday at Noon and it is not too busy. However, we stood in line for 40 min for our rental car. Day 1 - Manchester, Day 2 - Concord and Lexington and around there and then to Providence, Day 3 - Newport and mansions and drive up to south Maine, Day 4 - Drive up to Kennebunkport and late flight home. We were in the car too much but loved the trip.