Advice on New England itinerary

[Wismgari]

I am planning a New England road trip for end of Sept/ start of Oct to see the fall colours, as well as everything else in New England! We have 2 weeks and it is just me and my partner, both mid 30s. We like to keep busy, have early starts, are happy to have one night stays and busy days to fit in as much as we can! With that in mind I have come up with a rough itinerary, but would love any input from those of you that have been before! (I have read through quite a few trip reports, but it is so confusing after a while!)

Sat Sept 28th: Arrive into Boston about 1.30pm. Pick up car (part of a flydrive) and drive to airbnb. Explore some of the city to keep us awake!
29th: Boston (probably freedom trail)
30th: Harvard, Rockport, Salem (stay in Portsmouth area maybe?)
1st Oct: Portsmouth, Ogunquit, nubble lighthouse (stay in Portland area?)
2nd: Drive up to Acadia national park and spend day there (spend 2nights here)
3rd: Acadia
4th: Drive the white mountains area and spend the day here (spend 2 nights here)
5th: White mountains area
6th: Burlington and ben&jerrys factory - can probably add something else into this day but not sure what? (stay in Burlington area, but happy to change this)
7th: Visit Dartmouth and the green mountains (stay in green mountain area)
8th: yankee candle shop, bridge of flowers and Hartford (stay in Hartford)
9th: Yale and Providence (stay in Providence)
10th: Brown, ocean drive and cape cod (stay in cape cod for 3 nights - is this too long?)
11th: Cape cod
12th: Cap cod, plymouth, back to airport for 10.55pm flight.

So, for those with more knowledge than me... anything obvious I have missed? Anything I am spending too much/ too little time at? I want to see everything I can in 2 weeks as we are unlikely to be back any time soon (too many other places on the list, that just seems to get longer not shorter! ).

Thanks in advance all

[anji]

Hi - we are doing an extremely similar trip - starting tomorrow! Have just put pre-trip report up - yes I know it's a bit late Can't wait!

[Wismgari]

Originally Posted by anji

Hi - we are doing an extremely similar trip - starting tomorrow! Have just put pre-trip report up - yes I know it's a bit late Can't wait!

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Ooh amazing! Off to find this now Have an amazing time! Feel free to pop back and offer me any hints and tips on your return

[mouli1]

Take the ferry to Martha's vineyard or Nantucket when you are on Cape cod
Not sure you will see the leaf colour end of September is a little early
We are off next month starting in NYC then Boston kittery Cape cod and Newport RI

[amy56]

Originally Posted by mouli1

Take the ferry to Martha's vineyard or Nantucket when you are on Cape cod
Not sure you will see the leaf colour end of September is a little early
We are off next month starting in NYC then Boston kittery Cape cod and Newport RI

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Agree with this - we loved our New England road trip last summer, but much preferred Martha’s Vineyard to Cape Cod 👍

[Wismgari]

Originally Posted by mouli1

Take the ferry to Martha's vineyard or Nantucket when you are on Cape cod
Not sure you will see the leaf colour end of September is a little early
We are off next month starting in NYC then Boston kittery Cape cod and Newport RI

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I had considered these, but I am really scared of boats so I am not sure I can do it... getting to Alcatraz in San Francisco was bad enough... I am slightly stressed out that you think we will not see the colours since that is the main point of our trip! Hopefully we will - I had looked it up in advance and it says mid September to end of October, so I accept it may not be the peak time, but hopefully there will be enough. Maybe I should consider reversing the direction of my trip (doing Maine last) to give myself more chance of seeing them...

Originally Posted by amy56

Agree with this - we loved our New England road trip last summer, but much preferred Martha’s Vineyard to Cape Cod 👍

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Thanks! I may look into this again, but I am not good at boats so we shall see... What did you like about Martha's vineyard? What made it better than cape Cod? Thanks!

[amy56]

Originally Posted by Wismgari

Thanks! I may look into this again, but I am not good at boats so we shall see... What did you like about Martha's vineyard? What made it better than cape Cod? Thanks!

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I think Martha’s Vineyard was how I expected Cape Cod to be - don’t get me wrong, there were some lovely places on the Cape - Chatham for example was lovely. We also enjoyed our time in Provincetown, but Martha’s Vineyard was just a lovely place to wander around.

I think it was mainly the area near our hotel in Cape Cod which felt quite tacky, we stayed at the Bayside Resort, (which I know a number of other dibbers have stayed in). The hotel itself was the best we could find at a reasonable price and tbh I don’t think we’d of found better for the money we were willing to spend, (we passed a few of the places that we’d also considered and felt happy with our choice), but it’s definitely not in the prettiest of locations!

As it was the summer, the beaches were also packed - something we’d expected to a degree, but they really were heaving, so we didn’t bother stopping or taking any photos (guess we are used to the empty Floridian beaches!)

All in all we loved our New England trip, and whilst Cape Cod for us wouldn’t warrant a repeat visit - Maine and New Hampshire were particularly wonderful and we’d love to go back!

[Wismgari]

Originally Posted by Libby

We loved New England last summer. I think you just need to find things you want to do and forget the many, many others you won't have time for.

If you've read my trip report you will see what we did. I'm glad we visited Martha's Vineyard but it is just one thing we did and I'm sure you will find a lot of other things to fill your time.

Looking back my favourites were Flume Gorge in the White Mountains, Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, Billings Farm Museum in Vermont (we avoided Ben and Jerry's because of DH diabetes ) and Gray's Beach near Hyannis. We found we spent too long in both Boston and Cape Cod and should have stayed longer in the mountains.

Whatever you do I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

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Thanks for the tips - I think I read your report as I think that is why I added Flume George... I will go and check it out again though. I only have 1.5 days in Boston and I may change it around to just have a day in Cape Cod. Will also take a look at what else we could do in the mountains - thanks!

Originally Posted by amy56

I think Martha’s Vineyard was how I expected Cape Cod to be - don’t get me wrong, there were some lovely places on the Cape - Chatham for example was lovely. We also enjoyed our time in Provincetown, but Martha’s Vineyard was just a lovely place to wander around.

I think it was mainly the area near our hotel in Cape Cod which felt quite tacky, we stayed at the Bayside Resort, (which I know a number of other dibbers have stayed in). The hotel itself was the best we could find at a reasonable price and tbh I don’t think we’d of found better for the money we were willing to spend, (we passed a few of the places that we’d also considered and felt happy with our choice), but it’s definitely not in the prettiest of locations!

As it was the summer, the beaches were also packed - something we’d expected to a degree, but they really were heaving, so we didn’t bother stopping or taking any photos (guess we are used to the empty Floridian beaches!)

All in all we loved our New England trip, and whilst Cape Cod for us wouldn’t warrant a repeat visit - Maine and New Hampshire were particularly wonderful and we’d love to go back!

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Thanks for the information We are not really beach people - prefer the nice scenery and pretty little towns so I am thinking we don't need too much time in Cape Cod. I might take a look and see if there is anywhere else I want to go in Maine whilst we are up there

[Buzz242]

Thanks! I may look into this again, but I am not good at boats so we shall see... What did you like about Martha's vineyard? What made it better than cape Cod? Thanks![/QUOTE]

I'm one of the worst sailors too, I felt so sick going to Acatraz and it was as calm as a boating lake. Last year I was desperate to go to Marthas Vineyard so dosed myself up with 2 Dramamine and sat outside facing forward - I didn't even feel queasy.
I would definitely recommend you visit, it was one of my favourite places on our trip. We also took a whale watching trip from Province Town, I was extremely nervous but only felt sick if I looked down into the water, looking ahead was fine. Worth feeling a little queasy to see these amazing animals.

[Wismgari]

Originally Posted by amy56

We too found Salem to be disappointing.

Absolutely loved Ogunquit - funnily enough I though Maine would be a tick box to say we’d been to another state, but not somewhere I was overly bothered about before we went, and actually it’s the main place I’m desperate to return to and experience more of!

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I think I may take a look at what else there is to see in Maine - thanks!

Originally Posted by kazzykay

We did 3 weeks 2017, absolutely loved it. Bar harbour, Mt Washington, Acadia National Park, Provincetown, Plymouth, White Mountains, Maine, Portland and Oqunquait, Salem (big disappointment) - Enjoy

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Thanks - it is reassuring that all of those places are on my list!

Originally Posted by Buzz242

I'm one of the worst sailors too, I felt so sick going to Acatraz and it was as calm as a boating lake. Last year I was desperate to go to Marthas Vineyard so dosed myself up with 2 Dramamine and sat outside facing forward - I didn't even feel queasy.
I would definitely recommend you visit, it was one of my favourite places on our trip. We also took a whale watching trip from Province Town, I was extremely nervous but only felt sick if I looked down into the water, looking ahead was fine. Worth feeling a little queasy to see these amazing animals.

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I have done a whale watching trip once and never again... I took tablets and still felt awful for about 24 hours afterwards... didn't even see the whales as I was too busy staring at the horizon! I don't think we will be doing Martha's Vineyard, but I will consider it. I think we may spend extra time in the mountains/ Maine instead. Thanks for the advice