New England Trip- Am I Nuts?
 

We are currently planning a trip to New England 10/4 to 10/11. We are flying in and out of Hartford, CT.

Those parts of the trip are set in stone.

Below is the itinerary that I have created. I am starting to be concerned that I am crazy to try to pack so much into the week:

Day 1: Arrive about noon in Hartford. Spend day in Hartford, then drive to Groton for lodging.

Day 2: Spend day in Mystic. Same hotel as Day 1 in Groton.

Day 3: Depart Groton, travel to Newport, RI. Spend day and night there.

Day 4: Depart Newport, travel to Boston. Spend night there.

Day 5: Boston

Day 6: Depart Boston, travel to Concord, NH via Portsmouth NH for Portsmouth Harbor Cruise. Lodging in Concord, NH

Day 7: Travel to Vermont. Lodging in Quechee.

Day 8: Depart VT, travel to Hartford CT. Flight home leaves about 5 pm.


I am thinking we may want to forego NH and VT this trip (though I think Portsmouth is still doable).

Any comments? Basically I don't want to spend my entire vacation on the interstate.

Is there a reason you are wanting to stay in Groton? I would personally pick Mystic or New London over Groton (lived there).

My wife and I enjoyed the Whaler's Inn in Mystic a few years back.

http://www.whalersinnmystic.com/

Wow, you could spend all that time in the Boston area and not get bored. I would skip Concord, I spend most vacations there visitng family and although lovely, I would rather spend more time in Boston or even Vermont.

I picked Groton for budgetary reasons.

I also would skip Concord. Nothing against it, but it would give you another day in either Portsmouth or Boston.

If there's no compelling reason to go to VT, I'd drop that too, again to add time to Boston and/or Portsmouth.

While in Hartford, have lunch or dinner at Hot Tomato's at Union Station - very popular with the locals and yummy.

Only one day in Boston? tsk, tsk :)

I think you will regret not spending more time in the Boston area ... really of all the places you will be visiting .. Boston has so much to offer .. not sure if you are visiting the other areas because of choice or if there are other compellng reasons .. You could spend the entire time in Boston and not run out of things to do .. However it you had to visit areas other than Boston .. I would maybe visit Newport .. and/or Providence .. see the Waterfires there .. and then head up Rt 95 to Boston ... I would not spend my time going to Concord .. VT is lovely .. Woodstock .. Quechee .. lovely but perhaps do that another time .. I would suggest if you can spend the time in the Boston area .. if you want to do a little exploring .. head down to Cape Cod ... about 1 1/2 hours from Boston .. much closer than VT ... and much to see and do ..

All true about Boston, but your trip schedule allows you to go to NH and VT for fall color, which, if you are coming from a long way off, is well worth seeing.

I too would have suggested staying somewhere other than Concord, but if you already have lodging booked there, hold on to it. Ditto Quechee, though that is a very nice area. If you haven't got lodging booked, you may want to stay longer in southern NE because it could be hard to find.

If this is your first trip to New England, you will see a lot of it with your plan, and I wouldn't allow myself to be discouraged by other suggestions.

A good bit of what you will see will be out the car window, but that is a lot better than not seeing it at all. You can get a quick impression on this trip, then come back another time to do the museums, historic houses, etc.

When you have decided more definitely on where you want to go, I will make some more specific suggestions.

Well, a6t that time of year I can think of a LOT of places I would rather be than STUCK in downtown BOSTON but to each their own....

My POINT: Cadgirl, you do not say WHY you are even GOING to Boston...if it IS to see the many very interesting sights, monuments, historical stuff etc. there then I would AGREE...one night isn't enough.

If your purpose is to go up[ and see countryside, fall colors, etc...you could easily skip Boston altogether.

So, please help us by telling us more than it is budgetary...

To answer several questions/comments:

Really its more like two days in Boston (see day 4).

Our trip is not geared towards leaf peeping, although that would certain be appreciated.

I would say that our trip leans more towards historical stuff.

I do have lodging set up for Concord NH and Quechee.

Boston is someplace I've always wanted to go. We have friends whose daughter went to Harvard, and they are telling that Cambridge is a must visit as well.

If you like historical stuff (I do too) visit the Shaker Village in Canterbury, NH. It's about 15 minutes from Concord (exit 18 off of route 93 north).

It's the largest and most well preserved Shaker community in the country and so interesting to tour. The location is spectacular. The guides let you see so much in the various buildings unlike many tours where you can only see a few rooms. You can have lunch or dinner there at the restaurant.

I think its doable and you are hitting some of the highlights of New England. It will just wet your whistle for a return trip.

I think it's a lot. I'd skip Concord NH and Quechee VT. Portsmouth is definitely doable and you might also see some fall color there.

Queechee and Woodstock, VT are so glorious in October... and it's a straight shot back to Hartford. I'd try to keep them in. I think I'd skip Portsmouth instead, since you are going to Mystic and Newport.

As long as you don't mind keeping up a hectic pace, it is doable.

I'm voting for Concord! And the Portsmouth Harbor Cruise. Depending on the time you can include a great lunch in Portsmouth. Rt 4 to Concord is a lot of trees. The bridge over Great Bay provides a nice view. Concord has some decent restaurants. It should be very pretty along the Merimack River. Since it's only about an hour or so to Quechee, I'd also vote for visiting Shaker Village just north of Concord before heading to Quechee. Then rather than take Rt 93 to Rt 89, go back to downtown Concord, heading south on Main St. Turn right onto Pleasant St. Keep driving. This is rt 103 and goes thru quaint towns of Hopkinton, Contoocook and Warner. You can also keep going until you get to New London. It roughly parallels Rt 89. In Warner you could drive up Mt Kearsarge for a short hike, visit the Indian Museum. After Overnighting in Quechee. Hartford is an easy trip down Rt 91. An alternate to the Mt Kearsarge hike is to go to New London turn right to go to Wilmot. Look for road up the mountain. There's a small state park (Winslow) near the top with a great view. A fee is charged. The hike to the top of Kearsarge from this side is very steep. It's not as spectacular as in the middle of the White Mountains but it's still a great view.
Your itinerary involves a lot of driving but should be nice.

Thank you to everyone for their comments, especially Andrew8 for suggesting the Whaler's Inn in Mystic (I booked us there this morning) and dfnh for the specific driving directions.

I think for now I will leave our trip as is. This is my first trip to New England and I am really looking forward to it!

I think you will be much happier in Mystic:)

You're welcome Cadgirl!
Here are a few of my favorite restaurants in the area:

Abbott's Lobster which is 10 minutes away has great lobster roles. Bobby Flay has done shows from here. They are only open Friday-Sunday in October.

http://www.abbotts-lobster.com/index.html

Another favorite of mine is Skippers Dock in beautiful Stonington which is 15 minutes away.

http://www.skippersdock.com/index.asp

Noah's for breakfast which is a 15 minute ride away in Stonington.

http://www.noahsfinefood.com/