New England Trip

[JBTX]

Wife and i and another couple are taking a week trip to New England last week of September. Flying into Boston. Most have never been there. I have only a couple of times briefly. Any suggestions of what to see, what not to, where to stay where to eat etc would be helpful. Generally hope to see an area most haven’t been to, visit Boston, maybe see New England coast, eat lots of lobster, see leaves change etc. A week is not enough but that’s what we have.

Thanks in advance.

 

[euro]

It's been a loooong time since I lived in bean town, so most of what I knew is outdated, I'm sure. Definitely walk the Freedom Trail though if you can handle a bit of a hike. Also, driving Vermont, NH, Maine during fall foliage is one of the more spectacular things you can possibly do. However, book accommodations early - it is VERY, VERY, VERY hard to find a place to stay if you don't plan ahead (ask me how I know

 

[JBTX]

It's been a loooong time since I lived in bean town, so most of what I knew is outdated, I'm sure. Definitely walk the Freedom Trail though if you can handle a bit of a hike. Also, driving Vermont, NH, Maine during fall foliage is one of the more spectacular things you can possibly do. However, book accommodations early - it is VERY, VERY, VERY hard to find a place to stay if you don't plan ahead (ask me how I know

Good to know. I like the idea of your trip. I’m not sure how much that other three will want to go too far out of the way to see leaves but I’d like to. Good feedback on getting things booked up.

When would we need to have hotels or air bnb booked? We already have flights and car.

 

[CardsFan]

Grew up south of Boston, but have not been back in twenty years. Just a few thoughts:

- If you have any interest in US history, walk the Freedom Trail, as euro recommends

- Late September could be a bit early for foliage, but keep an eye on the forecasts.

- "If you like the beach and salty air..." this is a great time to visit Old Cape Cod. Take the drive out to P-Town. Stop in Chatham, and at Nauset Light Beach. Probably a little cool to swim, but normally great for a walk on the beach.

- Take the Ferry out to Martha's Vineyard. You can take a car, but reservations are required. We normally would just rent bikes when we get there. Side note, if you are tempted to rent a tandem because they look like fun, DON'T (ask me how I know)

Just a few ideas. Have Fun.

 

[Ronstar]

+1 on the Freedom trail walk in Boston
Route 7 / Route 100 corridor through Vermont for fall color
Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire for fall color
Acadia NP
Martha's Vineyard
Newport Mansions, Newport RI
Mount Washington
Flume Gorge/ Franconia Notch State Park, NH

 

[Midpack]

Wife and i and another couple are taking a week trip to New England last week of September. Flying into Boston. Most have never been there. I have only a couple of times briefly. Any suggestions of what to see, what not to, where to stay where to eat etc would be helpful. Generally hope to see an area most haven’t been to, visit Boston, maybe see New England coast, eat lots of lobster, see leaves change etc. A week is not enough but that’s what we have.

Thanks in advance.

Without any idea what appeals to you, hard to answer. Shopping? History? On the water? Active or relaxing? Restaurants? Museums? Sports? Sightseeing? Parks? Other? We love Newport, the mansions, Ocean Drive, sail charters. We love boating/whale watching. We know lots of good restaurants. Acadia/Bar Harbor. Vermont foliage. Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market were fun, but maybe too touristy these days. Cape Cod.

https://travel.usnews.com/Boston_MA/Things_To_Do/

 

[JBTX]

Without any idea what appeals to you, hard to answer. Shopping? History? On the water? Active or relaxing? Restaurants? Museums? Sports? Sightseeing? Parks? Other? We love Newport, the mansions, Ocean Drive, sail charters. We love boating/whale watching. We know lots of good restaurants. Acadia/Bar Harbor. Vermont foliage. Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market were fun, but maybe too touristy these days. Cape Cod.

https://travel.usnews.com/Boston_MA/Things_To_Do/

We are 4 Texans, 2 by birth. I like limited hiking but no so much the other three. Seeing leaves turn would be a bonus but not primary purpose of the trips. At least 2 maybe 3 of 4 most interested historical stuff. Several want to eat seafood and lobster. Visiting beach or coast (not swimming) would be nice but probably not if weather is miserable.

Clear as mud?

 

[RunningBum]

I'm going in mid-October, with Bar Harbor/Acadia being the destination and turn around point. I've got a couple of routes picked out depending on how the leaves are looking. https://leafpeepers.com/wpleaf/ and https://www.foliagenetwork.com/index.php/foliage-reports/foliage-reports-northeast-us look like reasonable sites to track foliage, and I've also got each state's site bookmarked as well.

I found Lonely Planet's New England Fall Foliage https://smile.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-England-Foliage-Travel/dp/1760340480 a useful guide. I also like this blog: https://www.thegeographicalcure.com/post/fall-foliage-road-trip-new-england . Not having done my trip yet I can't say whether they panned out. I just find that some books and blogs read well and seem to capture my interests, while others do not, so keep searching and find one you like.

I like Ronstar's list above. I won't be doing all of those, but a few for sure and I could flex into others as well.

 

[njhowie]

We liked the Sam Adams brewery tour, and of course the free beer. It's been a few years since we've gone, but it's easy to get to, free, and good for something to do one afternoon for an hour.

https://www.samueladams.com/brewerytours

 

[MichaelB]

The Berkshires are beautiful in the fall. Mystic seaport is a nice visit. Boston has excellent museums if you are so inclined. +1@CardsFan suggestion for the Freedom Trail and RB’s suggestion of the travel guide.

You can’t go wrong in New England in the fall.

 

[njhowie]

As far as where to stay...when we visit, we always like to stay outside of "Boston". Of course during our trips we do go in to the city, but we prefer to park at one of the park and ride lots, take the T in, and not deal with driving/parking within the city.

Last year we stayed at Winthrop Beach and it was fabulous. We stayed at Winthrop Beach Inn and Suites. The price was excellent compared to Boston prices. Few amenities, but for a home base and somewhere just to sleep, again, excellent. Walking distance to the beach, and it was pretty empty. Lots of local places to eat. T station just up the main road.

The previous two years we stayed in Nantasket Beach at Nantasket Beach Resort. Again, right on the beach, excellent seafood nearby. T station/parking is nearby as well, but it's a little further out.

 

[Souschef]

All the previous posters have great ideas. We saw a lot of these places on a tour. I have attached the story with photos to give you some ideas. Bon Voyage!

 

[Helen]

We used to live in Boston right after college but moved 31 years ago. We are going for a month in Sept. to see friends and do a lot of historical sight seeing that we didn't do while we lived there. I would recommend a day trip to Salem, MA, and a day in Boston - Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, the North End, Harvard Square. Martha's Vineyard is a fun trip but we opted to do Nantucket Island as I want to see the Whaling Museum and see New Bedford which is an old Whaling town (the Witch of Wall Street lived there too - Hedy Green) and Fall River (home of Lizzy Borden). The Cape is a good trip after Labor Day when the crowds thin.

Have a fun trip!

ETA - if you want to visit Cape Cod but don't want to drive there is a ferry that leaves from Boston and goes to Provincetown. You can go there, spend about 4 hours and return. I haven't checked the schedule lately so I'm not sure when it stops running for the season.

 

[JBTX]

We used to live in Boston right after college but moved 31 years ago. We are going for a month in Sept. to see friends and do a lot of historical sight seeing that we didn't do while we lived there. I would recommend a day trip to Salem, MA, and a day in Boston - Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, the North End, Harvard Square. Martha's Vineyard is a fun trip but we opted to do Nantucket Island as I want to see the Whaling Museum and see New Bedford which is an old Whaling town (the Witch of Wall Street lived there too - Hedy Green) and Fall River (home of Lizzy Borden). The Cape is a good trip after Labor Day when the crowds thin.

Have a fun trip!

ETA - if you want to visit Cape Cod but don't want to drive there is a ferry that leaves from Boston and goes to Provincetown. You can go there, spend about 4 hours and return. I haven't checked the schedule lately so I'm not sure when it stops running for the season.

Good stuff. If we wanted to visit Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, maybe Nantucket and had a day or two, which would you do, and would you stay in that area or remain outside of Boston? I kind of liked the idea someone else gave of staying in Nantucket and park and ride/train into Boston (but not sure how others feel about that)

 

[JBTX]

All the previous posters have great ideas. We saw a lot of these places on a tour. I have attached the story with photos to give you some ideas. Bon Voyage!

Wow! Thanks for sharing this! Lots of detail in there. I will definitely go through it.

 

[JBTX]

As far as where to stay...when we visit, we always like to stay outside of "Boston". Of course during our trips we do go in to the city, but we prefer to park at one of the park and ride lots, take the T in, and not deal with driving/parking within the city.

Last year we stayed at Winthrop Beach and it was fabulous. We stayed at Winthrop Beach Inn and Suites. The price was excellent compared to Boston prices. Few amenities, but for a home base and somewhere just to sleep, again, excellent. Walking distance to the beach, and it was pretty empty. Lots of local places to eat. T station just up the main road.

The previous two years we stayed in Nantasket Beach at Nantasket Beach Resort. Again, right on the beach, excellent seafood nearby. T station/parking is nearby as well, but it's a little further out.

This is an interesting idea I kind of like. I’m not sure how others would feel. My guess would be the Winfield May be a bit “spartan” for their tastes but I don’t know. How long is the journey into Boston from each doing park ride and train? Is parking in the city a major pain? For the Winfield options what is the seafood situation nearby? Sounds like Nantasket has lots of restaurants around it. If we later wanted to head to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard is it still a reasonable place to stay and how far?

 

[Bamaman]

We flew into Manchester, NH, rented a car and drove 1000 miles up to Sydney, NS on Cape Breton Island.

On our return, we came down the coast highway in Maine--stopping at the lovely port of Camden. The bay was full of tall masted sailing ships and schooners. And the towns in that area were where the captains of the sailing ships lived. Great B&B's are available too.

Boston is centrally located to many other states and cities going north--Like Portland, Maine. There's a lot to see a relatively short distance north of Boston.

We have flown through Boston Airport 3 times and had to spend the night. Hotels in that city are now priced out of sight.

 

[bltkmt]

Southern Maine is wonderful - York, Ogunquit, etc. Small beachy towns...lovely. Easy drive from Boston. Also, Portsmouth (NH) is a fun little town.

 

[foxcreek9]

We went during August and went whale watching, saw a large number including a full breach.

 

[JBTX]

Southern Maine is wonderful - York, Ogunquit, etc. Small beachy towns...lovely. Easy drive from Boston. Also, Portsmouth (NH) is a fun little town.

Ogunquit looks interesting. Thanks.

 

[Teacher Terry]

So much history in Boston and we really enjoyed walking around. We also took the day tour to the Newport mansions and that was wonderful. We went 4 days early before a cruise.

 

[pb4uski]

A couple thoughts. First, while New England is small, a week is not a lot of time. Second, late September is probably too early for great foliage unless you travel to near the Canadian border which is about a 4 hour drive from Boston.

I think I would focus on the east coast from Cape Cod to Boston to the southern Maine coast up to Old Orchard Beach or perhaps even to Camden/Rockland if you are ambitious. Perhaps base in Boston for a few days with a side trip via ferry to Ptown and then rent a car and venture to Maine for a couple days. JFK Museum was interesting to me. Lunch or dinner cruise out of Boston Harbor? Lunch and browsing for a day in Harvard Yard?

How about a Red Sox game at Fenway? Sox are hosting Orioles and Blue Jays in late September. Or Ravens at Gillette on Sept 25?

 

[marko]

You can take a fast one hour ferry ride from Boston to Salem for a nice day/side trip. Interesting town with tons of history beyond the witch schlock.
But don't confuse Salem MA with Salem NH !!!

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

I lived in Portland, Maine for 10 years. September, after labor day, is one of the best months to be a tourist in Maine. Still warm, summery, but many of the tourists and summercators are gone.

Portland is a lively, small city (but the largest in Maine) and filled with great restaurants, with more than its share of those of national renown, an excellent regional museum, and other attractions, including ferries to several islands in its bay (Casco Bay). There is also a farm team of the Red Sox ("Portland Seadogs") there in a small, intimate stadium with a strong fan base. Games there are nothing like games in big stadiums. It's like baseball of the 1940s again!

The mid coast towns along the Penobscot Bay--Camden, Rockland, Rockport, etc.---are very nice to visit with museums, eateries, great nature, and of course the ever present ocean.

Finally, if possible, I would go all the way to Acadia National Park. It's a treasure!!

Inland, Maine offers a bundle of amazing leaf peeping opportunities. September is a bit early, especially given the warming trends evident this spring/summer. But there are many websites to guide on this.

Best of luck and good leaf hunting...

-BB

 

[NW-Bound]

Lots of things to do in New England. Take for example, Bar Harbor and Acadia NP. We have been there 3 times over the years. Bar Harbor has changed a lot since it became a stop for cruise ships.

The last time there, passing through Maine in an RV trip back from Nova Scotia, I took a detour to drive to Eastport Maine to see what's there.

I also drove to Lubec, the easternmost point of the US, and crossed the bridge to go to Campobello Island, Canada.

Lots of memory, and photos.

PS. If you are there on Halloween, visit Salem. The OP talked about a visit in late September. I think it's too early for fall leaf peeping.