Inexpensive summer trip from MA.

[Frwinkley]

I'm looking for a driveable 4 or 5 day trip for a couple in their 20s. We'd like to travel no more than 5 hours. We want to relax. Not interested in any major cities, since we spend much of our time in Boston. We'd like some place where we could do some outdoor activities, maybe a little shopping, etc.

Can anyone compare Lake George and Lake Placid? They may be of some interest to us.

Thanks in advance.

 

[eeyoresmom]

I don't know about Lake George or Lake Placid but the White Mountains of New Hampshire are amazing. So many active persuits, beautiful scenery and I think very budget friendly.

 

[kymom99]

I don't know about Lake George or Lake Placid but the White Mountains of New Hampshire are amazing. So many active persuits, beautiful scenery and I think very budget friendly.

That is so funny you said this. I don't know anything about NH as I have never been there but my teen son spent 4 weeks in Keene with a conservation group. They went to the white mountains on an off day and did some hiking. He enjoyed it.

 

[Princess Minnie321]

The white mountains are beautiful. There are lots of trails to hike, echo lake, and Dina's baths would be fun. There are also some good restaurants up there. It is also very budget friendly. We have been going since our college days since it is affordable. We always found lots to do as a couple and now we visit with our family since there is also so much to do with kids. We are booked for a week in July! I am also from Boston and always loved escaping the city to the quiet of NH.

 

[HeatherC]

Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Newport, RI
Wineries on North Fork of Long Island..take ferry from New London
BLock Island
Stowe, VT

 

[seb65]

We loved Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor.
Boothbay Harbor is very nice.
I loved Peak's Island, off of Portland, Maine. Freeport, ME is nearby.
Ogunquit, ME.
Love NH Mountains- North Conway/Lincoln.
Sebago Lake, ME

 

[Tattylou]

I'm going to say white Mountains in NH too. We live in Mass and go there every summer. There's a ton to see and do and it is gorgeous. @Princess Minnie321 summed it up perfectly.

 

[monorailsilver]

We did a week long vacation of sorts last summer.

We live in southern CT and it seriously felt like we were on vacation for a month!

We went to Gloucester for a whale watch tour, only one of the 5 of us fed the whales...my oldest!, then we went to Salem and decided we never needed to go back!

Dog sat for 2 days (great vacation!).

Yankee game with fabulous free seats.

Kayaking in Old Lyme, CT.

Bromley and my kids want to go back for the alpine slide and I want to do the zip line again.


This summer I am looking, I have seen some amazing pictures from the Ausable Chasm and I thought my kids would hate it because it's just hiking and looking at the beauty but we went on a recent hike on a warm January weekend and they only looked at their phones to take videos or picture. So I am looking at that and bromley/northern VT.

I was thinking D.C. But summer, humid, hot and frizzy miserable kids don't sound enjoyable!

 

[4shinystars]

I live 5 minutes from Lake George, and 1 1/2 hours from Lake Placid. If you like sports and hiking, Lake Placid is the place to go. Lake George has more commercial things to do (Steamboat cruise, parasailing,Six Flags,outlet shopping, etc). Personally I'd go with Lake Placid, but that's probably because I avoid Lake George in the summer like the plague, LOL. Too crowded, and traffic stinks. LP has traffic on the main st, but then again, I rarely go there in summer.
The peaceful northern end of Lake George is beautiful, less crowded, and you can get to LP in less than an hour. The Trout House resort is great, my sister goes there numerous times a year to visit.

 

[kniquy]

We actually are traveling to boothbay ME this summer (this is after seeing the high price tag of our usual cape cod trip). Check out boothbay rental by owner -- it is a lesser known website compared to vrbo/homeaway -- we found a rental l right on the water for pretty cheap. Very cool area that is less hustle and bustle. There are whale watch trips, fishing trips, restaurants.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

If you Acadia National Park is amazing and sooo worth the drive! You can usually get Airbnb rooms at fairly cheap prices as well. Hiking, cycling, climbing and car touring - it's all there with a healthy dose of respect for nature. The busses are great and I wish they'd expand that program to get rid of the cars entirely in large swaths of the park, the way it is at some of the other national parks.

I've had a blast in the White Mountains. I got some really good advice that worked perfectly for us. We stopped at every single waterfall sign, got out and went to the waterfall. There are a million of them. Some were right at the road/parking lot, some were a far piece to hike. Some were easy hikes, some were difficult. We saw a lot of the beauty spread out over so much of New Hampshire this way.

Those would be my two recommendations for local hiking, but with Boston's infrastructure, you could look into going nationally. The USA is blessed to have many, many national parks and all are beautiful and special. I am doing some Southwestern National Parks this year and I'm currently in Louisiana!

 

[KayW]

We went to Lake George last summer and really liked it. Only did 3 nights though. The traffic wasn't too bad as our hotel was right on the main road and we walked into town each evening. Lots of great places to eat too. The ride wasn't too bad, but we are in central MA.

 

[leebee]

Not sure where you are in Mass., but the Finger Lakes in NY are beautiful! I spent several years in Ithaca and love it there! Ithaca is a scenic college town, lots of good places to eat (including Moosewood Cafe). There are lots of small wineries in the area and scenic state parks, waterfalls, hiking, etc. (Buttermilk, Taughannock, etc). From the MA/NY border to Syracuse is about 3 hours, and Ithaca is about an hour or so south of Syracuse. You'd have to add on the drive time from your house to the MA/NY border, but it's an easy drive with fun/scenic stuff to do along the way.