Travel New England-Must Do's

[walden]

When is lighthouse day?

So have you conclusively ruled out Deerfield and Vermont? If so, I'll refrain from waxing lyrical on Vermont and probably wasted time on telling you about Deerfield. That's OK. Someone else might go there.

Maine Lighthouses are great too. I prefer Nantucket to Martha's Vineyard, but that is just me.

 

[crz4mm2]

So have you conclusively ruled out Deerfield and Vermont? If so, I'll refrain from waxing lyrical on Vermont and probably wasted time on telling you about Deerfield. That's OK. Someone else might go there.

Maine Lighthouses are great too. I prefer Nantucket to Martha's Vineyard, but that is just me.

I am not the OP... I wasn't going to Deerfield. I have not ruled out much. Mom wants to go to Maine... other than that.... no real plan yet, just getting ideas.

 

[beccab]

A lot of good suggestions have already been given. Deerfield also has some very popular white water rafting if you are interested in that type of thing. Also, your DW might enjoy a trip to the Yankee Candle Flagship store in S. Deerfield. It is very large and has a lot more than candles (you might not be so thrilled with it though).

I agree with the Fenway Park tour. We went with a large family group and even those not interested in baseball enjoyed it. What could be better than baseball and history? Also, in Boston go to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Close to this area is The North end. Enjoy a meal at one of this Italian neighborhood's restaurants. Stop for pastry at Mike's Pastry. The children's museum is close to this area and it is next to the site of the Boston Tea Party. Of couse, you'll see a lot of these sites on the Freedom Trail. Consider a walk thru the Boston Public Garden. You can see the Make Way for Duckling statues and ride the swan boats. If you haven't already, check out Trip Advisor, there are some very knowledgeable individuals there.

The New England coast, Maine in particular, is a wonderful area ( a personal favorite). My suggestion for seeing the Maine coast is to plan your drive thru for week days. Traffic is extremely heavy on the weekends. You would be following Rt. 1. If you make it all way to Bar Harbor (5hr drive from Boston), you are in for a treat; beautiful New England area. Don't miss Arcadia National Park and make it (either by tour or drive) to the top of Cadilac Mtn. Since you are a history person, read up on the history of Bar Harbor and Frenchmen's Bay; very interesting. Other great areas along the coast are Ogunquit, Boothbay Harbor, Rockland and Camden to name just a few.

Newport is also a great historic city to visit if you go south. Also, as someone said Martha's Vineyard is a great place to visit. The ferry from Wood's Hole (Cape Cod) to Martha's Vineyard is substantially cheaper than the ferry from Hyannis.

I love New England and would not be unhappy at all if all my future vacations had to be New England. There is so much to see and do and so much history.

 

[crjack]

We recently took some out of town guests on the Fenway Park Tour and it was great! Very affordable too....and that is not a word often used here!

We also took a group of teens on Codzilla over the summer and it was a lot of fun, especially on a hot day. It's a high speed boat ride in Boston Harbor.

After, we walked down to the North End for dinner and a little sightseeing. (Old, traditionally italian neighborhood with great restaurants and historical sights).

Faneuil Hall usually has some fun street performers and I agree that the Duck Tour is a good way to see a lot of Boston and get your bearings.

Enjoy your visit!

 

[HeatherC]

Block Island! It is called the Bermuda of the north. Could tie in with a visit to Newport.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Salem, MA (great for learning about the witch trials and a slice of history a-la The Crucible)

Newport, RI (more history, and very pretty. Can get expensive though--you've been warned!)

Mystic, CT (seaport is cool, nice shopping, and then there's the aquarium)

Boston, MA (just plain awesome and chock-full of history!)

As a native New Englander, just about anywhere in NE is nice. There's smaller attractions, like Sturbridge Villiage (colonial village in MA) and zoos (Franklin Park Zoo, Southwicks Zoo, Roger Williams Zoo, etc). There's museums (the RISD Museum in Providence, RI is very nice, and has free days on every last Saturday of the month) and historical sites galore. Try researching some overlooked attractions--they'll definately make your trip more unique!

 

[Jen414]

My Mom wants to go to New England (specifically Maine) to see Lighthouses... So I am planning a trip next summer.
Can anyone tell me if there are "better" ones to see? I have no clue.
Thanks.

There's a great little lighthouse--Wood Island Light--in Biddeford---about 45 minutes south of Portland that you can take a boat out to AND go up into the lighthouse and in the lighthouse keepers house. It is quite amazing. They only go out on certain days and you MUST have a reservation. If you search Friends of Wood Island Light, you'll find it. My family has been out many times.

 

[clori]

This summer my dd10 and I did some staycation things weekly in Boston though we had to make sure that dd6 would also like them. Some of the places we have been to a lot and some were new. We went to the Museum of Science, Children's Museum, USS Constitution and USS Constitution Museum, Paul Revere's House, Old South Meeting House, Old State House Museum, Duck Boat, Swan Boat, Fenway Park Tour and Prudential Skywalk. We also wanted to go to the Mapporium but will do that on an early release day this year.

Paul Revere's House didn't really hold the girls interest that long. My oldest wasn't that interested in the Children's Museum. I did manage to take just dd10 to the Prudential Skywalk. I thought it would just take 30 minutes or so but we ended up there over 3 hours. There was an audio tour included in the cost that came in both a kid and adult version. I mainly did the adult version but the kids version was fun when I checked it out. It points out nearby landmarks and tells about history. There is also two movies and a small freedom museum. If your kids enjoy history it was a lot of fun.

 

[Jen414]

If you're planning on doing the Freedom Trail, your younger child (and maybe older??) might enjoy reading "The Freedom Trail Mystery" by Nancy Speck. I read this to my 5th graders every year before we do the Freedom Trail. It's a realistic fiction book set in modern times. My kids really love listening to it.

 

[3boymthr]

If you are planning on doing the Freedom Trail then I strongly recommend going the next day to Lexington and Concord and hitting Minuteman National Park. It really makes the whole experience complete and gives a much fuller picture of the "Midnight Ride" and "Shot heard round the world". We did both on Labor Day weekend this summer and it was awesome. The beautiful thing is that most of the attractions on the Freedom Trail and at Minuteman National Park are free. In additionk I would strongly recommend if you go on the Freedom Trail and plan on boarding the Constitution allow for the extra time to take the guided tour. As we found to our regret, if you take the self directed tour you will only get about 5-10 minutes on the ship and will not be allowed below deck.

For Red Sox tickets. Tickets go on sale for the season in early February - right about the same time spring training starts. You can get regular price tickets if you are willing to spend some time on the computer or phone the day they go on sale - check the Red Sox website in January and it will tell you when they are going to go on sale. In addition, DH and I were amazed to find out that tickets can be had at the Red Sox Box office on Landsdown street on game day, but call ahead to find out what time they go on sale and what type of availability there is. When we were there two week ago they had tickets available at game time in every seating level, but not necessarily all together.

 

[npmommie]

here is a good website that may help you in your planning
http://www.visitnewengland.com/

 

[nickyb720]

I agree with the Tennis Hall Of Fame. Plus the mansion tours and the cliff walk. Also agree on Ben Mondor. The PawSox are one of the few gems RI has.

 

[dakcp2001]

If you can push your vaca out to fall or early October, Salem Ma is a fun place to visit- full of history and Halloween for the entire month of Oct. It is best the first week or two of Oct after that it gets crazy busy. But Boston/ New England foliage is AWESOME!!!!!!!

If you go in summer I recommend a Duck Tour (not superducks, the real Duck tours) they are a great time. And the Museum of Science is a good time, their Omnimax theater is one of the best I have been to. (www.mos.org)

If you drive out to Western Ma to stop into Deerfield, you can take rt 2 and pass right by Old Sturbridge Village on the way. Oh, and S Deerfield has the flagship Yankee Candle store which is super fun!

 

[Jalva22]

OP here! Thank you for all of the suggestions so far! I am getting ready to print the thread to this point and make notes of all the suggestions!

In answer to an earlier question, we DO plan on doing Deerfield and are planning to swing up into Vermont from that point.

So, basically flying into Boston, seeing as much as we can there and hopefully catching a Sox game, then out west to Deerfield and north into Vermont, New Hampshire and on to the Maine coast.

Anyone have anything specific to recommend seeing or doing in Vermont and New Hampshire? Or just a pleasant driving route across them?

Thanks again for the suggestions and by all means keep them coming!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Anyone have anything specific to recommend seeing or doing in Vermont and New Hampshire? Or just a pleasant driving route across them?

What we've done is to try and see as many waterfalls as we can. Doing that gets you out of your car, and into the mountains. We got to see spectacular waterfalls, and the mountains. The hikes to the waterfalls are usually short, and most are free. It will take you as far as you'd like to go up into the mountains and back, and is a very leisurely, non-stressful way to make it through Vermont and/or New Hampshire.

 

[caytlyn]

If you like history then http://www.strawberybanke.org in Portsmouth, NH might be fun.

 

[dakcp2001]

In Vermont there is Lake Camplain Chocolates, The Vermont Teddy Bear factory and some breweries that all do tours. There are ferry rides etc too.

WARNING: vermont teddy bears are uber expensive, so dont fall in love with any

 

[BELLE1109]

Anyone have anything specific to recommend seeing or doing in Vermont and New Hampshire? Or just a pleasant driving route across them?

)

In Vermont, Manchester is very charming.

I'd opt to spend time in Kennebunk and Freeport in Maine.

 

[walden]

OP here! Thank you for all of the suggestions so far! I am getting ready to print the thread to this point and make notes of all the suggestions!

In answer to an earlier question, we DO plan on doing Deerfield and are planning to swing up into Vermont from that point.

So, basically flying into Boston, seeing as much as we can there and hopefully catching a Sox game, then out west to Deerfield and north into Vermont, New Hampshire and on to the Maine coast.

Anyone have anything specific to recommend seeing or doing in Vermont and New Hampshire? Or just a pleasant driving route across them?

Thanks again for the suggestions and by all means keep them coming!

On Vermont, Bennington is nice and there are a quite a lot of things for people of all ages to do in the area. http://www.bennington.com/attractions/ I'll leave NH attractions to others, but Route 9 is lovely (while scary driving at times) and will take you from Bennington right through NH to Maine.

 

[CharliNye]

If you're going to hit New Hampshire I suggest visiting Rye/Rye Beach on the seacoast. It's absolutely gorgeous, charming, laid back and brimming with history.

There have actually been a couple bestselling fiction novels that pertain to Rye-one of them being Weight of Water. Isles of Shoals is such an incredibly interesting place to read of and learn of.

My husband is NH born and bred and we go out there a few times a year to visit his family, we always spend a week in Rye during the summer. A friend of mine is in Vermont and we drove to visit her from NH and it was a quick ride and just gorgeous. Coming from Chicago I have to say that I witnessed some of the cleanest, sparkling bodies of water in Vermont. Blew my mind.