Hi
The husband and I are planning a trip to the US east coast next year and would appreciate any suggestions!
We plan to fly from the UK to New York and spend approx 3-4 nts there and then drive onto Niagra Falls, spending 1 night there. We would like to go to Maine, via Vermont and New Hampshire and then onto Boston for our last 3 nights flying back to the UK from Boston. Our trip will be for 14 nights and we would like any advice as to if this will be a feasible route.
Is is really worth going all the way to Niagra for just 1 night, I have read other postings on the forum and realise that the best way to see the falls is from the Canadian side and that getting back into the US can take a long time. Should we skip Niagra and do the southern side of New England instead?
We are ok about long drives, have done a few road trips in the US and Europe.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks

It's a five hour drive from Boston to NYC. It might be worth it to avoid a one-way drop-off fee on the car rental. Since flights to the UK are usually overnight, you could drive on the same day you fly, avoiding spending the night in NYC. Or stop overnight in Mystic CT to visit the maritime museum and then drive to NYC on the day of departure. On the other hand, the cost might even out considering that you would be paying for the car rental and parking during your stay in Boston where you would be using public transportation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57623081257993

Instead of driving all the way to Niagara Falls, fly from Newark to Buffalo and either rent a car or arrange a tour on a bus. Either fly or take the train from Niagara Falls (ON or NY) to Boston. Rent a car in Boston and return it there for your flight home. Do you have any desire to see Toronto?
You can easily get from New York Penn station to the Newark airport on and Amtrak Northeast Regional train.
I don't know what you want to see in NYC but I think 3 days would be enough.

I think the standard first question is can you take a rental car into Canada?
You plan to spend 6 nights in NYC and Boston combined which leaves 8 night for seeing VT, NH, and Maine. You didn't mention what in Maine you wanted to see. You might be happy with beaches on the southern coast for a week with forays into Portland ME and Portsmouth for museums, events or dinners.

You could take the long way to Maine with a drive from NYC to Hartford CT and then up thru western MA to VT to spend the night. Then cross over into NH for a visit to the Lakes region and mountains. If you don't mind a lot of driving you could be in Portland ME by evening. But, if you want to do some hiking and visits to tourist sites, you could also spend a night in NH. In Maine, if you want to go to Acadia, then that's another itinerary.
Any personal interests or hobbies that you might like to include? Visits to wineries? Baseball games?

Niagara Falls is not a 1 day trip from NYC - not driving anyway. It is more than 400 miles and about 8 hours 'car time' w/o any stops. So you'd spend the entire day getting there and leave the next morning driving an entire day to get to your next destination.

So either fly or skip Niagara Falls.

I would say definitely not "worth it" to go all the way to Niagra Falls. As others said, it's a long, long drive, and not all that scenic, without really good stop overs. The finger lakes region is nice but not compared to things you'd be missing in New England.

After NYC you might consider taking the train to Boston and renting the car there to avoid drop off fees. Check and see what they are, if not too bad then it makes more sense to rent the car as you leave NY, do your driving tour of New England and drop it before your time in Boston. But if there are drop fees then the train is pretty painless and not all that expensive (there are also some really cheap buses - Bolt, Mega Bus). The 'best' parts of New England, the one's most tourists want to see are the coast of Maine, the lakes and white mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont. But there's also Newport RI, and the Berkshires and Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. In Maine you should try to go at least as far as Camden/Rockport and if you prefer coast to mountains/lakes then go all the way to Acadia National Park. You'd still have time to see some of NH/Vt even if you went as far as Acadia. And also the north shore area of Boston - Gloucester area - is very nice.

What time of year is this trip?

Thanks everyone for your comments, much to think about!
We want to do so much and with only 2 weeks to fit it all in advice like this is valuable in our planning!
Had thought about getting the train from NYC to Boston or vice versa so may think about that if it is inexpensive. Wont need the hire car in either of these places as we would use public transport.
In Maine we want to see the beaches, Portland and Acadid NP. We would love to go to a Boston Red Sox game - we are Liverpool supporters in the UK and have the same owners so to go a game would be great - see how the atmosphere differs to Anfield! Would like to go to the lakes and mountains of New Hamphire and Vermont and do a bit of hiking (white mountains area). Have also thought about going to Newport and the Berkshires - theres so much to see and not enought time!!
We are thinking June or September for the trip - much saving to do between now and then!
Will have to look into the hire car T&C when booking to see if we can take it into Canada to see Niagra.
Thanks again for your comments.

I'm with all the folks who say that :Niagra is not worth it", but if it is a priority then go for it.

For Red Sox tickets, about 2 weeks before you go check stubhub.com They are a legitimate reseller of tickets and last year I got tickets for my son's family for $16 per seat in the bleachers, they met someone who was leaving the box seat area where there were 4 empty seats and were offered them gratis. Seats are not usually that inexpensive and they enjoyed the view from the bleachers also.

emalloy - thanks for the tip re the Red Sox. I wondered how easy it is to get tickets - in the UK it is impossible for one of the big football games unless you are a season ticket holder. Will look into that, thanks.