cck09

My family is taking a vacation east for the first time. We are big travelers and pack a lot into a small amount of time. We have eight days and are flying in and out of Boston. We are a family of four with two teens ages 16 and 12.
Day 1-Boston and do the duck tour and we have tickets to a baseball game that evening
Day 2-Ft. Ticonderoga and Ben & Jerry's Factory
Day 3&4-Bar Harbor and spend two days there seeing Acadia National Park
Day 5-Boothbay Harbor
Day 6-find a good beach to satisfy one member of the family for the next night (we're looking at Kennebunkport and Ogunquit, but open to other places) and would need a good place to stay
Day 7&8-stop in Salem and spend the last two days and nights in Boston again and do the Freedom Trail for sure.
Does anyone have any revisions or other ideas of things to do. We mainly need the best things to see in Boston for all those three days and just want to see if we are on target. Please help and revise. Thanks so much for all of your help!

gail

Unless you have some compelling reason to see Ft Ticonderoga skip that day and fold it into Day 1 or Day 3/4.

Anonymous

Just drop day 2's destinations from the itinerary, that's a long way to go out of your way for those two places. From Boston to Waterbury Vt (Ben & Jerry's) is at least a 3-hour drive, which you'd apparently be doing first thing on Day 2 (since you have an evening activity on Day 1), and from there back to Bar Harbor is over 300 miles, which would really eat up most of Day 3.

joethekay

Just getting from Boston to BarHarbor can eat up mos of the day with traffic and road construction.
Relax, enjoy your ride up to Maine.

joethekay

Oh, BTW, there is a Ben & Jerry's in Freeport, ME as well as a place called LL Bean, for what its worth.

cck09

Thank you so much for your ideas. Is there a factory tour in Freeport, ME. And we were going to do those long driving stretches late afternoon to night. Keep the ideas and comments coming. Thanks!

cck09

Thanks for all of your ideas, but do any of you have any ideas about the beaches? Thanks!

djkbooks

Honestly, I would not bother with the Ben & Jerry's factory tour. In the summertime, the lines are ridiculous, and you wait near an ice cream stand (read very expensive ice cream ahead of a free tour) - a brilliant ruse on their part.

The tour starts with a movie of the Ben & Jerry "story" (you can read on the web). The "factory" tour is looking through a large glass window at enormous stainless steel mixing equipment. At the conclusion of the tour, they pass out the tiniest bites of "free samples" you can imagine, with a very tiny plastic spoon.

And, I would agree with skipping Bar Harbor.

You may want to consider a visit to the Project Puffin visitor's center in Rockland.

www.projectpuffin.org/puffin-visitor-center.html

along with a drive right up to Owl's Head Light - one of the most beautiful and scenic on the Maine Coast.

The boat tours, especially the sailboat cruise, out of Boothbay Harbor are fantastic. Also puffin nature cruises, whale watching, lighthouses, lobster trap hauling... And, the Lobster Dock, right on the Harbor in Boothbay Harbor, is a wonderful place for lobster rolls and other seafood.

In Ogunquit, the Marginal Way is a fun walk along the shore. Great boat trips from there, as well - lobstering, a cruise past Nubble Light, etc.

Wells is in between Kennebunkport and Ogunquit. Lodging is more economical. We really like the oceanfront rooms and beach at the Atlantic Motor Inn. There are several similar places nearby.

With the kids, I think two days in Portland would be more fun than Bar Harbor.

You may want to consider a morning or afternoon at Old Orchard Beach on your way south. Perhaps others can advise better, though, as we haven't been there for a few years.

Should there be a rainy day, there's a stadium theater, Cinemagic, in Saco. Also in Saco is Funtown/Splashtown with rides and water slides.

Another great place for lobster, etc., or a wonderful breakfast, seaside, is Lobster Cove, 756 York St., York.

You might also want to consider the Peabody Essex Museum

http://pem.org/homepage/index.php

Lime Rickey's on Devereaux Beach in Marblehead is not to be missed

http://www.limerickeys.com/

For the Duck Tour in Boston, be sure to get advance tickets. And, be sure to use www.bostonducktours.com/, not the new "Superduck", which I head is an inferior imitation.

bm

I agree with the others -way too much driving. For instance, Waterbury VT to Bar Harbor would be 7ish hours.
I personally think Acadia Nat'l Park is worth a visit. I'd head up there from Boston. Spend a few days there, then head to Southern Maine for the beaches (skip Boothbay) - Kennebunkport is a good choice. Our favorite beach is Goose Rocks. Then, head on back to Boston.
Save Vermont for another trip!

elberko

I enjoyed visiting Ben & Jerry's, but there is no way it's worth going that far out of your way! If I remember correctly, there was basically one window overlooking the "line".

I always recommend more time in Acadia, one of my favorire places ever! Keep in mind that no Maine beaches are "swimming" beaches...very, very cold!

~Liz

dfnh

I'd cross VT off your list. If you don't have a particular reason for visiting Ft Ticonderoga, there are other historic places you can substitute between Boston and Maine. I googled factory tours in Maine and found one for Tom's of Maine - they make organic and herbal toothpastes, soaps, etc. If you are ice cream lovers you might look for a list of locally made ice cream in Maine. They won't have tours but you'll get some great flavors. I think your kids will rebel if you keep them in the car for so much driving. DJBooks recommendations for boat trips is great. York Beach was a long time family favorite. You'll find a variety of accomodations but the Marginal Way is a great walk. For late afternoon travel keep in mind that Rt 1 can get extra busy with commuting traffic as well as vacationers. So if you're planning on leaving Boothbay in the late afternoon, there will be a lot of traffic congestion because of the narrow bridge to Wiscasset (south). It's really bad on Fridays late in the day. I also recommend the Owl's Head Light. My husband enjoys the Owls Head Transportation Museum; I prefer the Farnsworth art museum in Rockland.

Vttraveler

I definitely agree with everyone who is advising you to cut out the Fort T and Ben and Jerry's day. Neither destination is worth the long detour, and there are plenty of things to see along the coast between Boston and Bar Harbor

In the Boston area I would plan to spend some time in Harvard Square.

What kind of beach are you looking for? one with board walk or more nature?

djkbooks

While I agree that Acadia is a nice place to visit, you can do just as well elsewhere with more time for seeing/doing and much less being in the car/traffic.