Road trip from Boston

[nonni2]

We will cruise Boston RT in early fall, sailing as far as Quebec City. Afterwards, we’d like to take a short (3-4 day) road trip, wanting to get “the feel” and history of New England, and, hopefully, see some fall colors that we might not experience in our cruise ports. I’m looking for suggestions for a leisurely trip for a late 70s couple, who won’t want to hike or engage in strenuous activities. We’ve considered going back toward Canada, perhaps to Montreal, versus staying in the States, but still going inland. Or, go to well-known coastal cities. We’ve been to Newport and Boston, previously. Otherwise, no previous NE experience, and may not get there, again. Any and all suggestions are most welcome. Thank you, in advance, for your help!

[Nitemare]

How early in the fall?  Foliage is dependent on the weather all year (heat, rain), but there are general rules as to where you can hope to see great colors, and they vary throughout the fall.  For late September you'd want to go pretty far north.  For late October, you'd be better off heading south.

[nonni2]

Thank you, Nitemare, for responding. Our cruise will be 9/23-10/5, and the road trip, about 10/5-1/8 or 9, depending on flight pricing.

[princeton123211]

12 hours ago, nonni2 said:

I’m looking for suggestions for a leisurely trip for a late 70s couple, who won’t want to hike or engage in strenuous activities.

Another option, since you've been to Newport and Boston before, would be to head inland a bit to Vermont. A little less than 3 hour drive from Boston puts you in Woodstock VT where there is a wonderful resort, The Woodstock Inn, and a picturesque town right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. 

[Nitemare]

Green Mountains of Vermont or White Mountains of New Hampshire would be my suggestion

[realnice46]

So many choices, driving distances from Boston are fairly short. You could travel to Cape Cod, ferry to Nantucket or head to Vermont as previous post. Depending on time of year the colors are beautiful. another choice would be driving up the coast thru Maine. Have a wonderful trip, my favorite place in fall is east coast. I'm currently looking to do 2021 New England cruise. What ship are you sailing with?

[Earl Rosebery]

I presume your cruise ends in Boston.  To try and see New England in 3-4 days would be the same as seeing all of Oregon in the same period. A lot depends on whether your car rental is one way or not .  If not you will spend most of your time driving on interstate highways.Pick one of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts.  When We were younger we drove Montreal to Boston about 40 times. It’s a long drive. 
I like the idea of Northeast along the coast to Kennebunk for the coast or Northwest to Woodstock and beyond for the green mountains.  Problem is you probably want to return to Boston for your flight home. Can you stretch your road trip to 6-7 days?

 

[cefm]

If you are looking for Montreal and New England, I suggest go up to Bangor, ME (Route 1 Coastal road), then cut through Skowhagen, ME up to Montreal through the Sugarloaf/Lac Magantic route, then back through Burlington, VT and NH to Boston.

[BarbinMich]

2 hours ago, cefm said:

If you are looking for Montreal and New England, I suggest go up to Bangor, ME (Route 1 Coastal road), then cut through Skowhagen, ME up to Montreal through the Sugarloaf/Lac Magantic route, then back through Burlington, VT and NH to Boston.

We've driven to Bar Harbor twice from Michigan:  once with the kids, visiting Boston on the way; once by ourselves cross-country thru Ontario and southern Quebec to Skowhegan ME, then on to B. H.--essentially the reverse of "cefm".  Northern Maine is very desolate, as in no people and all woods.  Probably no cell service (we didn't have such a phone back then), but it's an attractive place.

Edited February 2, 2020 by BarbinMich

[Jan_In_Maine]

On 2/2/2020 at 11:45 AM, cefm said:

If you are looking for Montreal and New England, I suggest go up to Bangor, ME (Route 1 Coastal road), then cut through Skowhagen, ME up to Montreal through the Sugarloaf/Lac Magantic route, then back through Burlington, VT and NH to Boston.

 

Sounds like a perfect idea .... Don't go interstate - route 1 will be longer, but there are beautiful areas along the coast.  Jan

[Traveling Library]

I'd take Rt 2 out of Boston to the Berkshire's. Once outside of metro-Boston it becomes less of a highway and more of a lovely "drive." On your way stop in Shelburne Falls to see the Bridge of Flowers.  Stay in either North Adams or Williamstown. From there you can do day trips to Bennington, Vermont or cross the border into NY. In Mass. visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mt. Greylock (you can drive to the top), Hancock Shaker Village, The Mount (Edith Wharton's home) in Lenox, or Mass MOCA and the Museum of History and Science in North Adams. For your return to Boston you can take the much faster Mass Pike back (from Stockbridge to Boston per James Taylor). 

[nonni2]

On 1/30/2020 at 6:53 AM, Nitemare said:

How early in the fall?  Foliage is dependent on the weather all year (heat, rain), but there are general rules as to where you can hope to see great colors, and they vary throughout the fall.  For late September you'd want to go pretty far north.  For late October, you'd be better off heading south.

We would start the road trip on October 5, and have decided we could extend our trip for up to a week, the itinerary entices us enough, and I think it will.

 

[nonni2]

On 1/31/2020 at 1:01 PM, realnice46 said:

So many choices, driving distances from Boston are fairly short. You could travel to Cape Cod, ferry to Nantucket or head to Vermont as previous post. Depending on time of year the colors are beautiful. another choice would be driving up the coast thru Maine. Have a wonderful trip, my favorite place in fall is east coast. I'm currently looking to do 2021 New England cruise. What ship are you sailing with?

We will be on the Celebrity Summit.

 

[nonni2]

On 2/1/2020 at 1:25 PM, Earl Rosebery said:

I presume your cruise ends in Boston.  To try and see New England in 3-4 days would be the same as seeing all of Oregon in the same period. A lot depends on whether your car rental is one way or not .  If not you will spend most of your time driving on interstate highways.Pick one of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts.  When We were younger we drove Montreal to Boston about 40 times. It’s a long drive. 
I like the idea of Northeast along the coast to Kennebunk for the coast or Northwest to Woodstock and beyond for the green mountains.  Problem is you probably want to return to Boston for your flight home. Can you stretch your road trip to 6-7 days?

 

We could stretch our time for a week or so.

[Earl Rosebery]

in that case,  Boston to Montreal via Concord New Hampshire,  and Magog Quebec.  There are many country inns to stay at along the way.  Allow at least 1 full day in Montreal concentrating on the Old City and area below the mountain. 
Return to Boston by way of Burlington Vermont or through the Lake Champlain islands.

Alternatively via upstate New York and western Massachusetts.  It’s all delightful 

 

[Mtngirl2]

Assuming you are ending in Boston, here is what I would suggest:  Boston--Portsmouth, NH--North Conway, NH (White Mountain area--gorgeous)--Littleton NH--St. Johnsbury VT--Burlington VT--Woodstock VT--and back to Boston.

 

Time and distances:  *Boston to Portsmouth--1 hour.  *Portsmouth to North Conway--1 hour and 20 minutes--north on Rt. 16.  *North Conway via Littleton to St. Johnsbury--2 hours--travel through Crawford Notch via Rt. 302.  *St. Johnbury to Burlington VT (Lake Champlain)--1-2 hours.  *Burlington to Woodstock--1-2 hours.  *Woodstock to Boston (depending on route 2-3 hours).

 

Foliage is gorgeous.  All places mentioned are popular tourist areas with lots of places to stay.  I would recommend a day in Portsmouth, two days in North Conway, two days in Burlington, a night in Woodstock.  All depending on what you'd like to see and do!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Have fun and enjoy!!!!!!  New England is so beautiful!

[nonni2]

MANY, MANY THANKS to those who have responded to my original post. We've decided that we're, definitely, going to extend our trip beyond the original 3-4 days post-cruise. With your suggestions, we'll dig out the maps and put our itinerary together, so we can book our flights. Some folks hate planning, but I get almost as much excitement in that as I do on the trip, itself. I hope all of you enjoy whatever travels you have coming up!