okay, so looking for advice on our trip into New England in the middle of August. We will be flying into Boston on a Sat and returning home on the following Sunday so have a full 7 days in the area. New England is so huge that I'm finding it difficult to narrow down what we should do. My husband would like to see some of the coast whilst I love the idea of the national parks with a chance to get out and about to do a little hiking.

Its also our first wedding anniversary on the Tuesday and I'd really like to find somewhere special to celebrate and mark the occasion.

We've both visited New England before but never together and so we're not too fussed about spending lots of time in Boston but do plan to spend a few days enjoying the city.

Anyone have any pearls of wisdom to bestow upon us?

The two National Parks/seashores in new england are both on the coast so you both get what you want if you go to them: Acadia NP in Maine and the National Seashore on the Cape. They are very different and you would be hard pressed to do both justice in 7 days. There are many national historic sites to visit and they will give you more than enough to do for a week. Lowell NHS is very interesting and gives a look at the textile industry of the 1800s, complete with a trip in a canal. Salem NHS also is interesting and Salem is on the coast. You need to focus on what you really want to do. If it is hiking, head up to Acadia. There are plenty of nice places to celebrate an anniversary along the way north on the coast- Rockport, MA, Portsmouth, NH,Ogunquit,ME, Kennybunkport,ME, to name a few.

How about something like this:

3 nights Boston

2 nights Cape Cod -- take the ferry to Provincetown and use the shuttle (or rent a car or take a cab) to get to Natl Seashore beaches for hikes and views. Try to get to the north-facing and east-facing Natl beaches.

2 nights NH Lake district, or else 2 nights southern Maine (Portland maybe) for more scenery. Lake area has hikes in mountains; Portland has harbor tours, islands to visit, rocky coastline. ( I'm not sure you want to drive all the way to Acadia for such a short visit.)

You could spend a few days in Boston, then head down to Newport RI for the rest of the week with a couple of days spent on Block Island.

Spend your anniversary in Newport at either the Chanler or Castle Inn.

plan so far ...
2 nights in boston
2 nights in Acadia National Park for our anniversary
1 night portland
1 night portsmouth
2 nights in boston

wyatt92 those hotels look amazing! .... so wish our budget would be able to stretch to that

I'm a little concerned about your itinerary given the miles between Boston and Acadia. It's 289 miles and most of the way on Rt 95 will be very boring. However, Acadia is probably the perfect blend of hiking and coast for you and your husband. If you got an early start you could be in Camden for lunch and a short visit to the top of Mt Battie overlooking Camden Harbor. We just returned from a short visit to the mid-coast Maine area. You're driving a long ways to basically just give yourselves one full day in Acadia. I would stay one night in Boston at the beginning to add another night to Acadia. Portsmouth is only an hour from Boston, you'll easily have 2 full days in Boston at the end of your trip plus whatever time on the day you fly back.

thanks for the advice dfrosrnh ... and I'll tell the hubby ... To be honest I don't mind long drives I'm used to long drives when visiting friends at weekends.

So wheres the best place to stay and eat in Acadia?