Road trip advice needed!
 

Planning a road trip with husband, two kids (7 & 10) & monster-in-law, week before Christmas (sometime between 16th-23rd Dec).
Driving from Manhattan to Niagara Falls, thinking of going via Lake Placid - is this too adventurous? Any interesting places to stop enroute?
We are expats, originally from the UK & trying to see a bit of the states before we return home next year...

I am not sure what you mean by adventurous, but it is certainly a round-about route. Upstate NY gets plenty of snow and Buffalo get lake effect snow. Lake Placid is where the US winter Olympic and the athletes from other countries train.

http://wnylakesnow.weebly.com/

You should factor this into your decision.

If you get snow, it will be beautiful and this is a part of the country that handles snow well. I don't know how you feel about driving in snow, or driving in driving snow :-).

I would want an all wheel drive to do that. Subaru is the car of choice in New England and upstate NY. It has high ground clearance, AWD, and antilock brakes, all in a smallish car outline.

For a longer trip with additional attractions but still only about 150 miles per day driving, consider NYC-Burlington VT-Plattsburgh NY via ferry-Saranac Lake-Lake-Placid-Syracuse-Niagara Falls (Ontario side)-Syracuse-NYC

First of all, you should know that many sights in Niagara Falls are seasonal - open from April to Oct only. Plus - the best views of the Falls are on the Canadian side - so do your visas allow you to exit and then re-enter the US?

Not sure where you have been living - but it's quite likely you will be dealing with snow - possibly heavy snow. Also the entire area will be brown and crunchy - so not a lot to look at (this is basically a summer or winter sports vacation area). If you have plans on seeing specific sights, do check to see if they re open - and what hours - in the off season.

Plus - these are some LONG drives - esp if you are doing 30 mph hour due to snow.

Not something I would do in winter unless going to Lake Placid for winter sports.

Renting an all-wheel can be an expensive proposition. And people who do not have experience driving in snow, which may or not be the case, should be forewarned.

Why not take an Amtrak trip as far as Rochester? Rent a car there to go to Niagara Falls if the weather is good. The best views of the falls many agree are on the Canadian side so plan for everyone to have their passports with them.
The time that I rented a car in Rochester, I got off the train and walked a few blocks south from the Amtrak station and got on a bus out to the airport.
In Rochester you have the National Museum of Play. http://www.museumofplay.org/
The doll collection is fantastic. I also like the George Eastman House on East Avenue.

Thanks everyone, think now may do the following;
Manhattan to Providence
Providence to Boston
Boston to Albany
Albany to Rochester
Rochester to Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls to Binghamton
Binghamton back to Manhattan, or would Williamsport be better?
Any suggestions for alternatives or things to see? Liked the sound of the museum in Rochester.
Don't have a problem with driving in snow, we are used to it, & have hired a large SUV.
We are aware a lot of Niagara is seasonal, & are hoping will be less busy!

Willimsport is too far out of your way between Niagara Falls and NYC. If you didn't want to stay in Binghamton, you could stop in the Scranton area at Montage Mountain for some skiing.
http://www.snomtn.com/
Believe me - I graduated from Williamsport Area Community College (now PA College of Technology).

Providence is a nice small city, but I would skip it on this trip and go right to Boston and spend two nights there. There is a fantastic museum of science there and a nice aquarium for the kids as well as lots of history, freedom trail etc.

Try to time driving into/out of NY and Boston at sometime other than rush hour.

Niagara Falls is likely to be near to deserted - since so much is closed. We went in June and it wasn't even really crowded then.

Just leave yourselves time to cross the border - typically into Canada is easy but back into the US can be time-consuming.

I'd bypass stops in Providence and take the time to experience Boston.

I'd consider adding a stop at Surbridge Village for a little history and some pretty good bbq

http://www.osv.org/

http://btsmokehouse.com/

Or I'd stop in Stockbridge or Great Barrington or Lenox and bypass Albany.

It's been quite a few years, but I always enjoyed the Eastman Museum and the doll museum.

WARNING: Rt 90/Mass Pike and beyond are famous for speed traps.

In my opinion this is too much driving for one week, especially in December when it can be rainy, snowy, icy. And remember, it gets dark early. Boston deserves more than a day or two.

Niagara Falls can be extremely cold in the winter, and as others have stated most things are closed, You can view the Falls. As the best views are from the Canadian side you will need your passports. It would be better to go in the Spring if possible.

Binghampton is not a tourist site.. but you could stay there to break up the driving

Albany has a few things to see, but not really a tourist site either

Lake Placid is very far north and no where on the route to Niagara Falls. It has been the site of the winter Olympics.. you can go skiing and skating there.

Take a look at a map of NYS and MA also take a look at the amount of mileage you are planning on doing.

If you want to go to Niagara Falls, I would suggest going via the Finger Lakes; Seneca Falls for the Women's History, Rochester, and onto Niagara Falls.