Independant drive tour after cruise

[aussie jb]

Hi everyone, as usual these boards hold a wealth of information for the researching phase of our trip, (which I might add isn't happening for quite some time, but there's no harm in preparing yourself) So I'm hoping you can help out with a couple of questions we have.

 

Our plan at this stage is to cruise from New York to Montreal, have a couple of days there and then pick up a hire car and go.....

 

1. Is it realistic for us to assume that we can cover a fair bit of the Canada/New England area in say 2-3 weeks?

2. I realise that Autumn is a busy time in the area, but is it going to be so full of tourists that we are going to have difficulty with accommodation when we don't actually want to book anything in advance?

3. While driving in Alaska, we used 'The Milepost', if anyone knows this book, can you tell me if there is something similar for Canada/New England? If not, what can you recommend as a 'travel bible'?

 

Thanks in advance....this is going to take a LOT of planning

Debbie

[margauxNH]

1. You can see a lot in 2 to 3 weeks, we live in small states out here.

2. When are you planning to come? Peak foliage in VT, NH and Maine is generally last weekend in September through mid-October, and I would not travel without reservations at this time.

3. Anything published by Yankee magazine. Also visit the official state websites, http://www.visitmaine.com and http://www.visitnh.com, both have lots of information, and request that they send their guides to you.

 

What do you want to do, what are your priorities and favorite activities? Ocean, mountains, hiking, history, antiques, quaint villages?

 

Margaux in New Hampshire

[aussie jb]

Thanks for the reply Margaux. I subscribed to Yankee magazine at the end of 2005, just waiting for the first issue to arrive.

My priority is history...but between the 4 of us, we cover everything...we're just happy to take it all in.

At this stage of the planning it looks like maybe the cruise will be beginning - mid September and then the driving will come after that.

Thanks for the websites, I'll check them out too.

 

Debbie

[Nitemare]

Gotta agree with Margeaux, don't try to travel in New England during foliage season without reservations. You will see No Vacancy sign after No Vacancy sign, especially on Friday thru Sunday nights. You might get some wiggle room on Monday thru Thursday . . . or you might not.

[Jan_In_Maine]

New England states have some wonderful bed & breakfast inns/homes that are full of antiques and history - there are numerous books on the different inns - New Hampshire & Vermont with the maples and mountains are beautiful in the fall - the western part of Maine has a small part of the white mountain range that NH has - Maine also has coastal with rugged shores and many pine trees with small towns. (I love New Hampshire in the fall - it is glorious!) Jan

[margauxNH]

For history, you can't do better than Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts, suburbs of Boston. The American Revolution began here, and there are excellent monuments, historical sites, visitors centers, museums, walking tours, etc. Concord was also the home of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau (and Walden Pond), and their homes are open for tours. They are lovely country suburban communities in their own right, great to visit in October. Lodging in the Boston suburbs is more geared to business travel than foliage tourists, so you may find better weekend availability. Look for lodging in Lexington, Bedford and Burlington.

 

Another historical spot in the suburbs of Boston is Salem, on the waterfront north of Boston. The House of Seven Gables made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne is open for tours, as well as museums depicting the Salem Witch Trials. Nearby Rockport and Gloucester are interesting waterfront towns.

 

Of course Boston itself is one of the great historical cities of the US.

 

In New Hampshire, Portsmouth has a waterfront historic preservation district called Strawbery Banke, consisting of several city blocks. Manchester has renovated many of the textile mill buildings into offices, apartments, and restaurants.

 

Please let me know if you have any specific questions about this area.

[smoothdancer]

That sounds like one great vacation! I dont know if you are planning to make it down as far as Newport, RI, but if so here is a link to our Newport review during the foliage season.

 

http://WWW.JUSTEATIN.COM

Click on the Newport button to get to the review. And BTY, the first picture was actually taken from our deck in CT. We absolutley love fall, and all the colors we see from our kitchen windows!

 

HAve a great trip.

[aussie jb]

So much to see, in so little time. I'm taking notes :) I know we'll be spending one day in Boston while on the cruise, but nowhere near enough time for me, so we'll be heading back there when we have the car. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

Debbie

[kannna]

How about renting an rv? THen you wouldn't have to worry about where you'll stay every night.

 

For reference try: Boujourquebec.com, Southernvermont.com, The vermont state government site has some great info and links but I can't find the web site in my favorites. If I think of any others I'll be back.

[jrobinso]

Debbie,

We are also planning a drive trip to New England this October. We considered a cruise but we just don't have enough time to do everything. So we are planning a 2 week land vacation only the first 2 weeks of October, our plan is to concentrate on New Hampshire, Maine,Mass. and Rhode Island. Even though it is still months away I already have my car reserved, plane tickets purchased and hotel reservations made. I like the planning portion of the trip, but I also have heard that cars and room can be scarce in the fall and I didn't want to take a chance.Happy planning

Jan

[kenandlaura06]

2-3 weeks would be a good amount of time. What I would do (with a starting point of Boston)--drive up the Maine coast, stopping in Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, Portland, Freeport, Boothbay, and Bar Harbor--cut across Maine to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, stopping in North Conway and going along the Kancamangus highway, over to Vermont (stopping in Burlington, Montpelier, etc.), down to the Berkshires of Massachusetts, south to Mystic Connecticut and Newport Rhode Island and back to Boston...it is a lot to see, but manageable in that amount of time.

[Jan_In_Maine]

Well I started to reply - clicked wrong and it was gone - so to begin (again) -Laura has given you some very good ideas and I will try to add a little bit of information .... probably more than you really want.

 

Maine has over 3,000 miles of coastline and 90% of the state is in forests - I would advise you to pick up a copy of the Maine Gazatteer - look for one at http://www.maineguide.com - it is a wonderful atlas of the state and is a "staple" for Mainers.

 

As you go up the coast of Maine (route 1 - which is mostly 1 lane each way) one of the towns you come to after Boothbay Harbor is Camden which is a beautiful coastal town that has the windjammer cruises - many years ago the show "Payton Place" was filmed there. There is a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in town - http://www.norumbegainn.com/ - my son stayed there a few weeks ago and he said it was rather nice -

 

There are so many other small towns that you will go through - I would stop at Fort Knox which is a really "cool" fort http://fortknox.maineguide.com/

 

Then I would go to Castine which is a lovely town that has a very nice light house and great history to discover.

 

After that Mt Desert Island which includes Bar Harbor and some other small towns with Acadia National Park http://www.acadia.national-park.com/ -

 

After leaving the island one needs to explore Scoodic Point - which is also Part of the National Park but is farther "Downeast" (downeast Maine is actually north of the Bar Harbor area)

 

I'd then had cross country (Route 2) through the state to go over to New Hampshire (Maine does not have a east/west highway so again it will be a lot of 2 lane roads) - you will go by rivers that until the middle 70's had log drives down the river and through some small towns

 

Then cut across over Route 113 In the western part of the state. The road is a beautiful cut through to North Conway New Hampshire and is part of the White Mountain range (the road is closed once winter comes - but until then one has the opportunity to see lovely views and if you hit it right with the colors it is spectacular!)

 

I know I have given you way too much information about traveling in Maine, but I love to write and to talk about the area I live in.

 

"Leaf Peeping" (fall foliage) is very popular and it can be difficult to find places to stay, we went to North Conway New Hampshire 2 years ago around the 15th of October and we ended up getting the very last hotel room in town - I would think about making reservations.

 

I hope you have a wonderful time visiting the North East. Jan

[aussie jb]

Thank you so much for all the ideas, sorry I took so long to get back to you...real life got in the way.

I'll have to get the map out and get my head around it all.

 

Debbie

[kenandlaura06]

Well I started to reply - clicked wrong and it was gone - so to begin (again) -Laura has given you some very good ideas and I will try to add a little bit of information .... probably more than you really want.

 

Maine has over 3,000 miles of coastline and 90% of the state is in forests - I would advise you to pick up a copy of the Maine Gazatteer - look for one at www.maineguide.com - it is a wonderful atlas of the state and is a "staple" for Mainers.

 

As you go up the coast of Maine (route 1 - which is mostly 1 lane each way) one of the towns you come to after Boothbay Harbor is Camden which is a beautiful coastal town that has the windjammer cruises - many years ago the show "Payton Place" was filmed there. There is a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in town - http://www.norumbegainn.com/ - my son stayed there a few weeks ago and he said it was rather nice -

 

There are so many other small towns that you will go through - I would stop at Fort Knox which is a really "cool" fort http://fortknox.maineguide.com/

 

Then I would go to Castine which is a lovely town that has a very nice light house and great history to discover.

 

After that Mt Desert Island which includes Bar Harbor and some other small towns with Acadia National Park http://www.acadia.national-park.com/ -

 

After leaving the island one needs to explore Scoodic Point - which is also Part of the National Park but is farther "Downeast" (downeast Maine is actually north of the Bar Harbor area)

 

I'd then had cross country (Route 2) through the state to go over to New Hampshire (Maine does not have a east/west highway so again it will be a lot of 2 lane roads) - you will go by rivers that until the middle 70's had log drives down the river and through some small towns

 

Then cut across over Route 113 In the western part of the state. The road is a beautiful cut through to North Conway New Hampshire and is part of the White Mountain range (the road is closed once winter comes - but until then one has the opportunity to see lovely views and if you hit it right with the colors it is spectacular!)

 

I know I have given you way too much information about traveling in Maine, but I love to write and to talk about the area I live in.

 

"Leaf Peeping" (fall foliage) is very popular and it can be difficult to find places to stay, we went to North Conway New Hampshire 2 years ago around the 15th of October and we ended up getting the very last hotel room in town - I would think about making reservations.

 

I hope you have a wonderful time visiting the North East. Jan

 

Great tips Jan---A little family history anecdote for you...my great-great-great-great-great-great (there may be a few more greats in there) grandparents founded Camden--Mt. Batty is named after Betty, my great....grandmother...beautiful little town, I don't have much family up there anymore, however.

[Jan_In_Maine]

Laura - Don't you just love history - I've always heard the story about the man that founded the town of Camden had a wife named Betty and how he used to call her and people thought he was saying Battie! (That's one story anyway) -I have sat on top of Mt Battie and thought about them and wondered what it must have been like so many years ago.

 

You will probably find that you have more relatives then you are aware of - DH had a great great etc that was a Mayflower person and it seems that everyone that has a relative that came over on the Mayflower is decended from the same person .. The mother of kids my children went to day care with - teachers, etc. It is so funny, but the state of Maine is really a very small town.

[kenandlaura06]

Laura - Don't you just love history - I've always heard the story about the man that founded the town of Camden had a wife named Betty and how he used to call her and people thought he was saying Battie! (That's one story anyway) -I have sat on top of Mt Battie and thought about them and wondered what it must have been like so many years ago.

 

 

That is the story that we tell in family lore, as well!