My family of 5 will be taking a trip up 95 through New England. The goal is to get to Acadia Natl Park, and making stops along the way. We also want to visit the Cape, then going up and staying in Salem. We are not quite sure how long it takes to get from points A to B. We are intetested in visiting Salem and Boston as well. We will be visiting friends in Wesport CT, and then heading up to MA. Shall we spend a night in the Cape, then head up to Salem, and spend the night? My father is a spry 80 y.o., and likes to see everything! We could use suggestions on where to stay and eat as well. We were planning on driving up to Bar Harbor from MA. Thanks!

Not sure how long entire trip is, but distances are not that great - longest drive will be Boston to Bar Harbor.

After Westport, go to Cape Cod for perhaps 3 nights. Try not to make drive on Friday or Saturday and not leave Cape at end of weekend.

Then onto Boston for another 2-3 nights. Try to stay in Boston, although it is expensive.

Although I am never sure why people want to see Salem, you can either do that as a day trip from Boston or spend the night there. It is not really on the route to Acadia, and too long a day to try to fit it into the day you drive to Acadia.

Two choices on drive to Acadia - the fast way or the scenic way. I would take the fast way and arrive mid-afternoon.

How is this as a rough time-frame? If it makes sense, I or others can help you fill in the itinerary.

One word of advice for elderly father - in Boston and Salem there are some tourist areas with rough sidewalk and road surfaces - they try to make them look like old cobblestones. No matter how fit, he will need to be careful of his footing. Certainly walkable, just not flat and smooth.

To build upon Gail's caution: Public restrooms in Boston are few and far between.

I also share her puzzlement over visitors' fascination with Salem. IMHO, the time would be better spent in visiting Plimoth Plantation on your way up from the Cape.

We did the 6 N. England states in 2004 and would propose the following having seen all your mentioned items.
Westport- Boston and stay 3 days(take the shuttle, you get a harbour visit too)
Then on to Salem where we stayed only a couple of hours and then drove to Portland.
The next day we went to Bar Harbor for 3 days.Acadia is the only National park in N.England and is wonderful. Try to make a whale watching trip. We were there in September.As I dont know how many days you have <I'll just tell you what we did.
Bar harbor- Rangeley lakes
Then to the white mountains. Try to go up MT.Washington your father will love it.We stayed for 3 days in Jackson(Covered bridge motel)
There's a lot to see in the neighbourhood.
We the went to Vermont and stayed in Shelburne(dont miss the Shelburne museum-great)
Further on to Bennington
Then take the scenic Mohawk trail to Williamstown(visit the Clark art institute)
Then on to the Berkshires
Next day on to Connecticut and Litchfield
Then through the Housatonic valley to New Haven for a short visit of theNew Haven Green and university.
Then on to Mystic for visit of the wonderful Mystic seaport.
Next day on to Newport, Rhode island where we visited the Breakers-
We the went to Cape Cod and stayed in >Wood's hole for a couple of days visiting Martha's vineyard and the cape up to Provincetown-
Then to Plymouth for visit of town and Plimoth plantation
The next day back to Boston airport and back home to Belgium.I hope this may be of help for your planning. Paul

If you want a comprehensive tour of New England, tovarich offers one that makes sense - but it is a rather long trip so not sure if you have that kind of time. Any of the stops after Acadia could be eliminated.

An entire other take on the trip could be to, after Acadia, take the ferry to Nova Scotia for a few days.

Another thought for anyone with any mobility issues - most cities have some version of a hop-on, hop-off tourmobile. What is wonderful about these is that you get dropped off at the front door of everything. In Boston, for example, while it is a wonderful walking city and public transportation is decent, it involves stairs, etc. Easy to get exhausted at age 80.

Your father might get a kick out of a Duck Tour, especially since the vehicles used are WWII vintage craft.

Why would anyone want to go to Salem? In a word, beautiful historic architecture, a pleasant and walkable waterfront, the House of the Seven Gables, and, best of all, the Peabody Essex Museum. It is a truly great museum that just keeps getting better. The focus is on life and the artefacts of life rather than on fine arts (painting and sculpture) as such. They own several historic houses, including one disassembled and brought from China, the only thing of its kind in the US, IIRC. Just don't go in any of the weeks leading up to Halloween, when the place becomes a madhouse.