maz777

Hi my name is Marion I am looking for lots and lots of help regarding a trip that I have booked for 1 month Starting in Boston then travelling up to all the lovely places in New England.
We are also travelling on the second part of our trip to Jacksonville where we will return to Scotland .
I am nervous for a few reasons I seemed to have picked a very bust time to go ,and also where to actually stop and stay should I start using companies like booking.com etc to plan it out
the thing is I don't really have a plan per say we were just going to drive and see where we end up .but I am now feeling slightly scared as it is our yearly holiday and I am the one who does all t he ground work Aghhh! So please feel free to bombard me with any info
I will be eternally grateful
Thanks

Cranachin

What date do you arrive in Boston and how long will you be in New England?

When do you fly to Jacksonville and how long will you have in the South before you return to Scotland?

Answers to those questions will be of great help to people helping you.

tinaby

I live in Maine, and used to live on the coast of Georgia, so I know a lot about both areas. When are you arriving? You said you have picked a busy time. Pretty much June-October is busy in New England. But don't let that worry you. Where do you want to go in New England? Do you want to do lots of country roads / hiking / B&Bs type of things? Or more city types of things? The coast of Maine is perfect for the B&B/country roads type of thing, as is the White Mountains of New Hampshire. And of course the Green Mountains of Vermont as well. Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine is amazing, if you intend on driving that far up the coast. So, if you headed north out of Boston, it would take two hours to drive to Portland, Maine (awesome restaurants!). Then, from Portland, up Route 1 (the coastal drive), is probably about 3 hours to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Are you driving from New England down to Georgia, or are you taking a flight? I highly recommend Savannah, St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island.

Dukey1

We need to know how you plan to get from New England to the Savannah area. Are you flying? driving? There may very well be more than just Savannah in that area you might be interested in visiting.

maz777

Sorry about the delay in getting back to the forum I! we are coming from Scotland for 4 weeks to do the east coast of America ..and fitting in a week to acapulco near the end
My plans are as follows we arrive in boston on the 24th oct stay 2 days .
..! Hire a car from the 26th oct and just drive we want to go to the following places Marthas vinyard ..the hamptons.., montaux ..newport ,.. the white mountains, Hyannis , marblehead , Salem and rockport and anything else you would kindly suggest love the usual quaint old towns .
..we just can't work out the correct order to do it .managing not to go back on ourselves
.we have made bookings in the following places but not written in stone ..adaptable ..so in no particular order we have got Boston covered .then the hamptons, montaux ..marthas vinyard and a few more up that way we then turn around and head down to savannah and the areas there, in saying that I have not researched that so much but intend to take any advice given

We will then go to Jacksonville and pop off to Acapulvo for a week coming back and spending some days around savannah and whatever is adviced ...we leave for Bonnie Scotland on the 25th of nov so I think I can get a lot done i just want it to be right ..so my knowledgable friends of the forum please advice any wee secret tips .ferries .quaint towns not to be missed nice beaches ...
oh I do ask a lot. forgive me so I hope I have given you all some fuel for thought and I would like to say I appreciate your help tremendously once again Thanks ...Marion

BrendaM

Hi, I live in Maine and am happy to answers any questions you may have. I recommend visiting the coastal areas. They are so scenic and you will get a good feeling for Maine life. Some of my favorite coastal communities...going from the southern most up the coast are Oqunquit, Kennebunkport, Portland, Rockland, Camden, Bar Harbor. In Portland you can take the Casco Bay Ferry system and see all of the islands in Casco Bay, stay overnight on one island if you choose, or just stop for an afternoon leisurely lunch and a walk about. Information is on line at http://www.cascobaylines.com/. You can easily visit an island for the day and hop on a ferry to return to Portland. Highly recommend you think about this.
Happy to help in any way I can......

dfrostnh

I think weather is going to play a huge part in your route. The end of October can be gorgeous or dismal. It can also snow, very unusual, but Halloween was cancelled in NH a couple of years ago because of snow. As far as the White Mountains which should be leafless by then, maybe just a drive around. You can go up I93 right into the mountains. Take one of the east/west routes like the Kancamagus Hwy over to the North Conway area and then over to Maine. Conway to Portland ME is only about an hour's drive.

My favorite quaint town in this area is Center Sandwich NH. It's small and very old. If you take exit 23 from I93 and drive to Meredith (which is on Lake Winnipesaukee) and then head to Moultonboro. You could make a loop that also includes Squam Lakes in Holderness and back to I93 to head further north to the mountains. Friends like having an evening drink on Mt Washington Resort. We have stayed at the Mountain View which is further north but except for being a nicely restored old hotel, it hasn't been our favorite place to stay.

You should probably avoid Salem until after Halloween. I kind of like the drive on Rt 1 thru old towns including Newbury MA or maybe it was Newburyport! The houses are lovely.

I agree that Portland Maine is a wonderful place to visit. There is fun shopping in the Old Port Area and great places to eat. If the weather is good, a ride around Casco Bay on the mailboat would be a nice change from driving.

Although we recently enjoyed a weekend visit to Cape Cod and also Plymouth, I think others are more qualified to recommend beaches.

tenthumbs

Just curious, why Acapulco? It's on the west coast of Mexico, while you'll be on the east coast of the US.....

I can't give you much advice, but a few years ago, my family and I flew into Boston and drove up to Portland, Maine, at the end of March. The weather was dismal and cold, the trees were bare, and we did get some snow.....but it was thoroughly enjoyable seeing all of the quaint little towns along the way.

Grandma

Someone should point out the the Hamptons and Montauk are at the end of
Long Island in New York. Maybe there's a ferry from New England to the north shore of
L.I. but.... whew... things start getting complicated.

nytraveler

While the Hamptons and Montauk are lovely areas they are primarily summer resorts. You will be there in early November and many places (hotels, inns, restaurants) will be closed for the season. Sights may be on shorter off-season hours. And it is definitely too cold for swimming and can be chilly even wandering on the beach.

Ye, there are ferries - you would have to check the times off-season and I think reserve for a car - from CT to the northern fork of Long Island where there are several wineries to tour) but the Hamptons and Montauk are on the south fork - a fairly long drive around.

I would think you would then want to drop the car at JFK and fly to Jacksonville for whatever part of the south you want to tour.

Strongly suggest you get some good maps and check out directions and driving times for the tour you are looking at - you're trying to fit a lot of disparate places into a relatively small time.

Also it seems kind of odd to come to New York and then not see the city - but perhaps you have already spent time there.

suze

I'm also curious about the Acapulco addition? Even if you want to try to squeeze in Mexico, Cancun or the Caribbean coast would make a lot more sense, coming all the way from the East Coast of the US.

Is the Mexico time in addition to your 4 weeks? Or you need to subtract 1 week for Mexico?

tuscanlifeedit

Yes, I too was wondering why you would travel to the west coast of Mexico from east coast of Florida. Why not the many Caribbean or Mexican resorts that are closer.

Jacksonville isnt a favorite of mine.

tenthumbs

And quite honestly~I found Cancun and Cozumel to be much prettier than Acapulco.

suze

And safer.

maz777

Thanks so much to everyone for their input greatly appreciated .. I am absorbing all of it and tweaking the route now .
.in regards to Acapulco that was done on a mad moment .yes an expensive mad moment and cannot be changed ( will loose my money for the flights ) I know ! I should have been on the forum before I booked it but it is done and I have been to las Brisas on a few occasions and it was amazing and I felt very safe I have also travelled to Cancun and I did not like it so much .

If truth be known i must admit to now feeling a wee bit spooked about Acapulco as I have heard a few wee stories now mmm !?
I know that i will be staying in the resort most of the time as it is a beautiful wee place and I think by then I will be needing a rest so what's done is done ...sometimes ignorance is bliss me thinks ..but not stupidity so at the moment I am still on for it ....!

In regards to the weather in Maine and surrounding areas I am not expecting it to be warm in fact I look forward to the late autumn / winter weather it does not bother me unless I got stuck in a snow storm or the likes
I have travelled on the other side of America and have hit sunbathing in the morning in Las Vegas and snow boarding in the evening in Mammoth lakes after having driven through Death Valley weird but wonderful.
Now New England is a whole new ball game though !
I must say i I am extremely excited about the trip ok I admit a bit of a boo boo in regards to my geography re Acapulco ..won't do that again ! So it is back to the drawing board and I will keep you updated on how the trip it is shaping up ..
Once again thank you so much for your kindness in helping me plan my holiday ...cheers Marion

maz777

@ Brenda just going to look at all of your wee towns thanks for that info actually thanks to all for their info starting to dissect it as this goes to print lol !!!

tenthumbs

Since you can't change it, make the best of it.....

suze

Thanks for checking back in with us! If Acapulco can't be changed, then you'll just have to go and hopefully everything will be OK. It's just a bit of a surprise when I saw it as part of an Eastcoast USA itinerary, is all.

(Cancun isn't representative of Mexico. There are lots of great places to visit that have wonderful tourist ammenities, and a bit better reputation than Aca, that we might have suggested instead. But water under the bridge...)

maz777

Hello all don't know if I mentioned that I will be flying from Jacksonville to Mexico em which is not so bad ok granted I have a stop at Charlotte and then mex city so basically I have just added a wee bit extra on
@ Suze I just intend to totally chill when I get there as I will have been map reading for the rest of the journey lol so it will be a bit of me time getting pampered lol
I mean that will make up for me planning the trip from A to Z hee hee
So me thinks ,me deserve it ,lol
Will be checking out what the home office says about Acapulco but I will not be going out much we have seen the divers and all that Jazz and yes there is not a lot to do but the resort has nice places to eat .a lovely bar to watch the sunsets
Actually my most amazing photographs were taken there
It has a beautiful church as well so I will just have to get on with it !!
I am still available for any input
Driving down to Savanah and looking for some nice wee stops there ...
Once again thanks soooooo much for your help it has been great .