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New England... where to go
Hi, I am travelling to the US late august, early september for approx 2 weeks. Plan is DC, for about 4 days, then fly to Boston. I've been to Boston twice and never really enjoyed it but loved the scenery of New England so looking for access to New England. We are there 30th-31st August for 4-5 days. Plan initially was Cape Cod but now unsure after reading some threads. We like cycling, walking, photography, scenery and wildlife.... not the type to sit still on a beach, shop or spend much time in museums ... we are doing that in DC.
Any suggestions. I'm planning on car hire.... accomodation cost is a factor, cheaper the better. SO should it be Cape Cod or should we head up towards Maine or fly to Bangor and drive from there and head back down to Boston? Will be flying from Boston to NYC for 2-3 days then Chicago for 3-4 days then back to the UK |
Keep in mind first weekend of September is Labor Day weekend in the US. Sept 5 this year so it will be very busy on the Cape and other Maine tourist areas. It might be less crowded in mid-coast Maine than southern coast. We spent last Labor Day weekend in NH's White Mountains where it was fairly busy esp in North Conway area. It's the last big weekend of the summer although most schools are starting back before Labor Day now.
We really like driving around mid-coast Maine since there are so many places to explore. You could fly into Portland and head north. You could fly into Bangor and head to Acadia for cycling etc. We like the Wiscasset area because it is convenient to get north to Camden and Rockland and south to Bath and Brunswick. I think you'll find accomodations cheaper in the mid-coast area than in south coast of Maine areas like Ogunquit. Although Brunswick is a large college town, you can drive out to the smaller towns of Harpswell which are very rural. We love the short hike out to Owls Head Light in Rockland - great view. Best lobster shack on the water is nearby Waterman's Beach. Hardly anything there except the ocean. I like the little town of Damariscotta and drive out to Pemaquid Point. Check out Yankee Magazine's website for suggested drives and photos. |
I think biking the carraige roads of Acadia sound about right if you can fly in and out of Bangor. Portland is also another airport to consider.
http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm |
My family enjoyed the White Mountains, New Hampshire area (see previous poster), a short drive north of Boston. We stayed off-season in what is typically a ski area. Went kayaking, mountain biking, and hiked the Franconia Notch. Drove further north to Littleton to see the country's longest candy counter and then drove into Vermont, just to say we'd been there.
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Berkshires might be nice too. Drove through the area last summer on the way to Boston, but didn't stop there. Also, enjoyed the area just outside of Newport, Rhode Island (near University of RI) for a couple of days. It's not far from Boston.
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Thanks for the replies. I think sounds like Maine is a better option than Cape Cod. Thanks for the heads up about labour day weekend. I've checked my itiniery and will be in Chicago then so will avoid the crowds to a point.
I just need to make a plan for about 5 days mid- south coast maine. Once i fix on places to visit i can then look for motel/cheaper accommodation further out as don't mind driving in for the day. I can fly into Boston and drive up the coast or in to Bangor or Portland and drive down the coast. Places recommended have been Portsmouth, NH Ogunquit Kennebunk villages portland Bath Rockland Bar Harbor |
Portsmouth NH is a beautiful historic area with a working harbor. Check out Odiorne Point science center, walking trails at Urban Forestry Center. Drive out Rt 1B thru historic Newcastle and/or across the bridge to Kittery Point, ME (NOT Rt 1 with all the outlet malls).
Ogunquit is famous for Marginal Way paved trail along cliffs but both O and K are in very busy southern Maine. You will pay to park to walk the Marginal Way unless you get there real early or take the trolley. Portland - nice Old Port area with interesting shops, great cruises available on Casco Bay. Mailboat visits various islands. Not much narration but scenic. You might want to get off at one of the islands. Friends recommend Peak's Island but we haven't been there. Bath, famous shipyard. If you can get a cruise to visit light houses (check Maritime Museum) it's great. Wonderful drives from Bath out peninsulas (Harpswell is my favorite, have lunch at Dolphin Bay Marina). Rockland, already described above. Bar Harbor, fantastic for cyclists and hikers. Beautiful drives. I could easily skip O and K because of the amount of traffic. You don't get to see much of the coast. Most ocean front is private property. There are some scenic areas but there's much more scenic per mile if you are in Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park. |
For that area, check out Manchester NH airport. It is served by major airlines and is much easier to get in to than Boston.
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Yes, either Manchester, NH or Portland, ME airports, unless you can get a rental car that doesn't have a surcharge for picking up in one city and dropping off in another.
Also, I was going to question why you'd <i>fly</i> from Boston to NYC: the train (or even the bus) is the *much* better option on this leg. However, if you have no interest in Boston at all, you should just fly from NH or ME into NYC, giving you more time to enjoy your vacation and less in transit. Even though you say you're not interested in shopping, while in Maine you might want to stop in Freeport at the famous LL Bean store - it's quite unique! One other recommendation, if you're interested in canoeing or rafting, we've found the excursions by Saco Bound to be a lot of fun (www.sacobound.com). |
I second the recommendations for Harpswell & lunch at Dolphin Marina. My daughter graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, & we loved visiting her there. We miss not going to Brunswick now that she has graduated. Also recommend Orr's Island and Bailey's Island (connected by causeway) & other seafood restaurants, such as Estes I, II & III, & Cooke's Lobster House. Bath is nice, too, & there is Popham Beach nearby that is pretty & nice for walking. Brunswick is also near Freeport & Portland, which gives you other options that people have recommended.
I also second Bar Harbor/Acadia for hiking, biking & beautiful scenery. |
If you don't enjoy Boston and want to just head to mid-coast Maine, you should really look into flying from DC to Maine, and then fly from Maine to NYC. It's a waste of time to go through Boston Logan and then driving all the way up to Maine, esp in the summertime.
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Agree that if you don't want time in Boston then flying into there is a huge mistake. That whole weekend the roads will be very crowded (you do NOT want to go to the Cape that weekend), even the roads in Maine will be somewhat crowded. So if you want coast - and despite the fact that I live in Western New England I think the coast is the best part - then fly into somewhere in Maine and concentrate on Portland and north.
I also think your idea of flying to NYC and then Chicago for a couple days each is not a great idea. Have you been to either? Is there a special place/person you want to see? If not I'd scrap one of them (Chicago would be my choice to dump) so as to have several days in the other. If you choose NYC I would then suggest you drive rather than fly. Flying will take the entire day, and getting into the city from the airport (any of them) will be time consuming and expensive. With the extra days you could add one or two and take the time to drive from Maine through New England down to NY and then drop the car. I would suggest: DC - 4 days - fly to Portland Maine - 4 days Drive through NH to Vt down through western Mass to NYC (take 2-3 days to drive down) NYC - the rest of your time (sounds like about 4-5 more days) |
I think you should check out Rockport, MA. It has everything you might enjoy from whale watching to scuba diving, sandy beaches & sailing.
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Since you love cycling, photography, scenery, (what about lobster?), you should consider Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. There are 57 miles of car-free carriage roads, stunning trails, glacial lakes and great restaurants and microbreweries. Acadia is unique because it's where mountains meet the sea. A photographer's paradise.
http://www.ouracadia.com |
Hi Mogton,
New England is a wonderful place to visit and Maine will be several nice degrees cooler than DC! I will offer a separate suggestion from the others in offering this idea: Fly into Hartford CT and rent a car from there, traveling up through Mass (only a few hours drive total) to get into Maine. You can see the pretty sites along the way and lots of opportunities for detours if you have the time, thus avoiding Boston altogether. In case you haven't figured it out, Boston Airport is a nightmare :) |
Getting to/from the Boston airport is not so bad if you are coming from/going to the NE (i.e, the direction of Maine). BUT - traffic can be quite heavy going toward BOS during morning rush hour (7-10 AM) and going away from it during evening rush hour (4-7 PM). Plus, rental cars at the airport itself are considerably more expensive than in the surrounding communities (including Boston).
So if you intend to spend your time in Maine, I agree that flying into Manchester, Portland, or Bangor makes good sense. Flying into Hartford would make sense for visiting Connecticut or western Massachusetts (Berkshires), but not for Maine. |
Boston is only 2 hours from Hartford, so not much of a difference in getting to Maine.
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A non-stop flight to Hartford (BDL) from a DC-area airport is much more expensive than one to Boston. Just did a search on kayak.com and found (as an example)
Cheapest non-stop DCA-BOS on 8/30 is $70 Cheapest non-stop DCA-BDL on 8/30 is $222 You could fly BWI (Baltimore)-BDL for $80, but there is a change of planes, so it would take almost 3 hours (versus less than 1.5 DCA-BOS). Also, not sure how easy it would be for you to get to BWI (others can address that). But BWI-BOS non-stop is only $54! If you really want to avoid BOS, Hartford is NOT the way to do it from DC. Again, using 8/30 as the flight date, you could fly non-stop DCA-PVD (Providence) or DCA-MHT (Manchester) for $77. Since Manchester is on the NORTH side of Boston, you'd be better off flying into MHT for a trip to Maine. Or you could fly non-stop BWI-PWM (Portland) for only $104. Still only 1.5 hours flight time, and you are in Maine, so you have saved yourself some driving time! |
I must say that I am a bit baffled by the negative "don't-go-to-Cape-Cod" sentiment that some have expressed here. Since we routinely go between Acadia and Cape Cod during the period from late August to the Thursday before Labor Day in early September, I can say from experience that there is more traffic heading to and from NH and Maine that weekend than there is heading to the Cape. The Cape Cod National Seashore from Eastham to Provincetown is an ideal destination, IMO, for anyone visiting Boston who might like to experience a more natural, less commercial landscape...and it is only 2 hours from Boston. With plenty of fine restaurants, cultural activities and open space, the outer cape makes an ideal destination at any time of the year but most especially in early September. We go to Acadia for a change of pace, but it will never supplant Cape Cod and the National Seashore as our #1 favorite place!
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I would suggest also Acadia National Park, the cape is lovely, but the opportunity for cycling, hiking, canoeing and general outdoor activities is a lot broader in Acadia.
From the Manchester airport Acadia is a 5 hour drive, about the same as from Boston, so you wouldn't be saving any time flying into NH, Bangor would be the airport of choice, since that will be only 2 hours from Acadia. You seem to be spending a lot of time changing location, so if Chicago is not on the itinerary for a specific reason, I would save that for another time. With two weeks four major areas DC, NY, Boston/NE and Chicago is a lot, you'll spend a lot of time changing locations. |
Southwest flies to/from Hartford CT, Manchester NH, Baltimore MD, Chicago Midway, and Washington DC, usually for prices less than $100. We regularly fly Hartford/Baltimore for around $70, for example. Also they have no problem selling you a one-way ticket at a reasonable price.
Southwest does not participate in expedia, kayak, etc, so you won't find their prices listed on those websites. You have to visit the company website southwest.com |
Southwest also flies into Boston (as well as Providence, RI).
The Washington, DC, airport Southwest flies into is Dulles (IAD), which is quite a ways out from city. If possible, you want to fly from Reagan National (DCA), right across the Potomac River from Washington. |
The outer Cape, from Eastham to Provincetown,2+/- 1/2 hours from both Providence and Boston so if you use either of those airports and do not want to spend 5-7 hours in the car getting to Acadia, you should consider the cape. Although the Cape Cod National Seashore area is not as vast and rugged as Acadia, you will find many diverse trails, salt marsh and harbor area to explore. http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisi...CACOmapweb.pdf
Kayaking is easy and convenient on the outer cape, the bike trails are well maintained and extensive enough to keep you busy and the light is a photographer's dream! I am sending along some links that might help you organize if you decide to choose Cape Cod. If you need lodging suggestions let me know. http://www.capecodbiketrails.com/ http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisi...bikerevise.pdf http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/things2do.htm http://www.trails.com/activity.aspx?area=14651 http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Co...leet/index.php http://www.cctrails.org/wellpond.htm http://www.explorecapecod.com/ http://www.goose.com/ http://www.artsdunetours.com/ http://www.whalewatch.com/ |
Another vote for Cape Cod, especially the outer cape. Very close to Boston, beautiful. Many varied experiences, and in early September booth the bay and the lovely freshwater kettle ponds are swimmable, something that cannot be said for Maine. Truro, especially has gorgeous windswept dunes , Provincetown has a wonderful arts scene and shopping as well as excellent restaurants in every price range, whale watches, dune tours. kayaking is varied and excellent.
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Cape Cod is really nice in late summer. I have a couple of pictures, taken a little later, at www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009/sets in the Cape Cod set, if you care to look.
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