no idea about new england
 

hello friends-next year to celebrate our 35th anniv. we are plannig a 2 week trip to new england. we have traveled extensively through europe but now with the dollar taking such a beating we have set our sights on New england to celebrate. we have never been there so when I read about all the places mentioned on Fodors I don't know if they are days ,hours or months apart from each other. We will be driving up up from the harrisburg,pa area so we want to carefully plan each leg of the journey. I guess we want to concentrate on Maine Vermont,and New Hampshire although we are open to anywhere---this seems like a daunting task to me so hopefully your suggestions (lodging, restaurants, sights of interest )can help us.we like smaller towns as opposed to large cities hopefully our rental car will have a GPS in it. any advice will be appreciated.
thanks

When? Timing can make a difference as to what we tell you.

ooops -sorry -next summer mid-june

Ok, here's a first stab at it. I'm leaving a extra nights for on the road between Harrisburg and NE.

3 nights Burlington VT and area. Great food, beautiful views of the lake, a college town. You could drive up the west side of Lake Champlain (through the Adairondaks) and take the car ferry over to Burlington, with stops in Saratoga or Lake George area.

Leisurely drive through the cute VT towns and farms to Hannover - 1 night.

Leisurely drive to a resort town on Lake Winnepesaukee (or however the heck it's spelled) -- 3 nights. Enjoy boating activities and summer theater.

2 nights Portland, ME. Take a day trip to the islands. Working Lobster boats, quaint downtown area.

2 nights Portsmouth, NH. More quaint downtown, harbor views, some historical sites. Stop at the humongous LL Bean store on the drive down if that's the kind of thing you like.

Drive home via Rt 2 in MA, and then south through the Berkshires. Visit the art museums (North Adams), Tanglewood, stay in a nice B&B for a night on the way home.

Maine is so much more than Portland. Try to include at least Bar Harbor or Camdem and a bit of the interior in your trip-tic. There are several quaint-touristy southern coastal towns if Bar Harbor is too far northeast -- York & Kenneybunkport are 2.

You could use secondary roads to go west from New Hampshire through the interior of Maine to the coast (1 day's drive - we've had breakfast in NH & dinner in Machais). You could also include going downeast far enough to visit Rooselvelt's Campobello (sp?). From Machais to New Haven, CT is @8 hrs drive (sticking close to speed limit & not doing it on Labor Day when the toll exits back up!). However, heading south from Downeast, you could break your trip in either Portland or Portsmith NH & sample the sites there. Leave Lake George & Saratoga, both NY, for another trip.

By the way, check out Chowhounds New England board closer to your departure time for some great eating places.

Mid-June is a lovely time to visit. I would time the Maine portion for the lupine festival in the Stonington area (it's almost to Acadia). We went a few years ago. It's basically a small town event and even if you don't go to the events, you can pick up a map to see where the largest areas of lupines are. We were camping in Searsport at the time which is a good location for day trips north (i.e. Acadia) and south (Camden). NH also has a lupine festival in the Franconia area of the White Mountains. If you stayed in a resort town on Lake Winnipesaukee such as Meredit or Wolfeboro you can make day trips to the mountains. Chowhound is an excellent reference for places to eat, just do a search on the town you will be in or what you are looking for. There are some topics such as great ice cream in Maine and, of course, the location of the best lobster roll. I think Camden is a romantic area because of the beautiful harbor and sailing ships. I always recommend a wine tasting at the Cellar Door Winery. We always bring home a few bottles.
We generally spend a week or half a week in each location. A VT vacation was split between the northern area (Burlington etc) and Middlebury area. When we headed south we spent the day at Shelburne Museum. It is a lot of fun to wander VT. If you want a classy town, maybe Woodstock VT and a romantic dinner in nearby Quechee at elegant Simon Pierce. However, to me Woodstock is full of tourists and was upgraded for tourism. It's very quaint but pricey. You could plan your drive to the next state as a full day that includes some sightseeing along the way. Machias to New Haven in 8 hours seems awfully fast but I know NH is about 4 hours long from north to south. The eastern edge of the White Mountains in NH to Portland Maine is probably only an hour.
We have an atlas and gazetteer for each state publish by DeLorme. Each contain the locations of covered bridges, waterfalls, etc as well as detailed road maps. We still get lost occasionally but not for long. We've found some interesting places. Perennial plant farms are sometimes way out in a rural area. Best steamed lobster shacks are always a little hard to find. You might pick up a Yankee Magazine travel planner magazine for ideas or check their website for suggested routes.

thanks to all of you .you've been very helpful.if you ever need any advice on Spain i guess that would be my area of expertise as i have been there 16 times.thanks again

I would second the recommendation to drive on secondary roads in Vermont, NH, Maine, and Western Massachusetts. Find those that are marked as "scenic" on the map, and stay off the interstates. Often older roads parallel the interstate, and you can see what the country really looks like, as well as finding interesting local places to eat.

Would also look at Newport RI and Mystic, Ct as possible last night visits. From Mystic to Harrisburg about 6-7 hrs. Newport has a great Cliff walk -- ocean front trail 2 miles in-between mansions (open to public) and the sea. This is fabulous. Mystic has the seaport (historial village and whaling museum) nearby Stonington village with great ocean-front dining.

Can't advertise on this site but know of a great condo rental in York Harbor, Maine, a great central location to use as a base. Contact off line - [email protected] .