New England vacation ideas

[greatbigbeautifultomorrow]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for fun and interesting spots for a family vacation in New England. It's something I've been considering for next year or the year after - maybe in the late spring/early summer months. We would want to go for a long weekend.

It would be myself, my dad, my brother, my SIL, and my niece. She would be a little over one or two years old depending on if we went next year or the following.

My family has been going to Disney since I was 10 and we've gone almost every year since. (My parents are DVC owners). And at my age now - early 30s - going to Disney has felt kind of... stale? I want to see and do different things. Plus, with genie+ and all of the additional expenses, not to mention the rising costs of the annual passes, I'm beginning to feel as if the cost isn't worth what I'm getting out of it.

So! I'm intrigued to find a fun little vacation to do around my general way. Does anyone have any suggestions?

In terms of what we would find interesting (and by no means do we need to find something that has it all; that would be unrealistic):

• Access to the beach
• Access to restaurants
• Whale Watches or other nature tours, etc.
• Activities that my niece could enjoy

I really appreciate the help! Thank you!

(Also, I apologize if this is in the wrong form! I saw a few posts in here in regards to traveling to other places, so I thought this is where it would go.)

 

[Suger Mag]

Salem MA... Plymouth Ma, add in a little Boston and you got all those on your check list. If you go late summer closer to the fall, Salem has lots of extra going on, esp. on the weekends.

 

[VicarJT]

Acadia National Park in Maine. So much to do for adults and littles, gorgeous spot, good restaurants, We have gone to Acadia each summer for about 32 years. We still discover new things to do.

 

[greatbigbeautifultomorrow]

Acadia National Park in Maine. So much to do for adults and littles, gorgeous spot, good restaurants, We have gone to Acadia each summer for about 32 years. We still discover new things to do.

When doing some googling, I came across Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor! Is there anywhere in particular you like to stay when you go to Acadia? Or do you camp there?

 

[Sheree]

When doing some googling, I came across Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor! Is there anywhere in particular you like to stay when you go to Acadia? Or do you camp there?

ellsworth me on the way into Bar Harbor is a great place to stay
Acadiia is beautiful
Bar Harbor very quaint and has whale watching
Trenton Lobster pound is excellent (also on way to BH

Also look into Old Orchard Beach or a few days, on the ocean
also Sebago Lake

 

[karmic]

Your list of musts scream Cape Cod

 

[Minnie1222]

In terms of what we would find interesting (and by no means do we need to find something that has it all; that would be unrealistic):

• Access to the beach
• Access to restaurants
• Whale Watches or other nature tours, etc.
• Activities that my niece could enjoy

Boston has many excellent restaurants. Your niece may also like the Children's Museum, Museum of Science, or the New England Aquarium. The aquarium also offers whale watching tours.

View Boston is a new attraction at the Prudential tower: 3 levels of bird's eye views, with a restaurant and gift shop

 

[Jimsig]

When doing some googling, I came across Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor! Is there anywhere in particular you like to stay when you go to Acadia? Or do you camp there?

I was spoiled as a kid as my grandparents owned a house on Deer Isle ME, from their front porch we could see the top of Cadillac Mountain. Even though we were only 20 miles in a straight line to Bar Harbor it would take over an hour to drive due to the way the coast is.

This past summer my DD and I spent a week with my parents in their motorhome at The Narrows Too Campground in Trenton.

If you want to drive up to the top of Cadillac Mountain you will need a reservation for that time of year as they limit the amount or cars up there. Cadillac Mountain Reservations

As a PP said the Ellsworth are is a good place to stay there are also a number of places in BH.

 

[VicarJT]

When doing some googling, I came across Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor! Is there anywhere in particular you like to stay when you go to Acadia? Or do you camp there?

I am *so* not a camper. We go through a realty company and rent a house by the week. We do not like staying in Bar Harbor proper as it can get quite crowded. If you don’t have dogs, we’ve stayed at Edgewater and loved it there. Feel free to PM me if you want more info!

 

[Rogue1677x]

Massachusetts can certainly fit what you are looking for. Salem can be fun in the spring and summer. If you head north to Cape Ann area, you can get on a whale watch. There are some great beaches in this area, but a lot of people only think of Cape Cod.

You can take a ferry into Boston from Salem if you don't want to deal with trains.

I think you'll get great advice with lots of options to choose from.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Gloucester, MA has whale watches. Probably other places, too, but that's where we went out of. Very cool! The crew can identify a lot of the whales, and they are friendly--they swim right up to the boat!

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

Newport, RI?

 

[Dakota731]

Just back from Acadia last week. We hiked, did a seal watch cruise, and the usual tourist stuff in Bar Harbor like souvenir shop and eat lobster! Plenty of stuff for the kids too like mini golf and even a lumberjack show. Beautiful scenic drives for the grandparents and nice temperatures in the summer. We rented a lovely ocean front house in Trenton and we were only a twenty minute drive to all the attractions. We all had a great trip!

 

[QueenIsabella]

If you do Boston, there's the Children's Museum, and also the science museum has a large children's section that's fun for all ages. The New England Aquarium is also nice--the centerpiece is a huge tank with a spiraling ramp up the outside.

We also loved the Duck Boats! They're amphibious--you get a street tour, narrated by a proper Bostonian, then go into the Charles River. They usually let a little kid drive/steer for part of the water tour--on our trip, they picked my husband! They even gave him a sticker afterwards! He was insufferable for the rest of the day!

 

[AZMermaid]

We did a long Boston/ Acadia/Bar Harbor trip in 2021. It was amazing. We got an AirBNB just north of Bar Harbor, but still on that island. Acadia was absolutely beautiful. We used the Island Explorer bus a lot to get around. It helped with parking stress and was easy. It was somewhat limited still in 2021, but offered the main routes.

I still dream about the ice cream from the place across from the mini golf in Bar Harbor.

 

[VicarJT]

We did a long Boston/ Acadia/Bar Harbor trip in 2021. It was amazing. We got an AirBNB just north of Bar Harbor, but still on that island. Acadia was absolutely beautiful. We used the Island Explorer bus a lot to get around. It helped with parking stress and was easy. It was somewhat limited still in 2021, but offered the main routes.

I still dream about the ice cream from the place across from the mini golf in Bar Harbor.

Udder Heaven! Best ice cream ever.

 

[AZMermaid]

Udder Heaven! Best ice cream ever.

Yeeeessss!! I would go back just for that and we are all the way in Arizona!

 

[LoveDaisy]

I’m from New England. Since your bulleted list was prioritizing the beach my first suggestion would Cape Cod and I would recommend the shoulder season, May or early June avoiding Memorial Day weekend.

My second suggestion would be Rhode Island.

Those are the two areas I go to go to the beach. Both will offer whale watching and good seafood restaurants. The Cape will have more things like mini golf. If you went to Rhode Island you could easily go to Mystic, CT which has a fun little “Main St” shopping area with a drawbridge and the drawbridge ice cream shop area, a seaport, and the aquarium. Great seafood in this area.

I love Maine but the water is very cold. Connecticut beaches are just ok.

Happy to answer question.

Edit: if you do go to Mystic I do not recommend Mystic pizza. I get it was in the movie but there are way better options in that area. CT has amazing pizza but you’d be disappointed if that was your CT pizza experience.

 

[DJFan88]

I’m from New England. Since your bulleted list was prioritizing the beach my first suggestion would Cape Cod and I would recommend the shoulder season, May or early June avoiding Memorial Day weekend.

My second suggestion would be Rhode Island.

Those are the two areas I go to go to the beach. Both will offer whale watching and good seafood restaurants. The Cape will have more things like mini golf. If you went to Rhode Island you could easily go to Mystic, CT which has a fun little “Main St” shopping area with a drawbridge and the drawbridge ice cream shop area, a seaport, and the aquarium. Great seafood in this area.

I love Maine but the water is very cold. Connecticut beaches are just ok.

Happy to answer question.

Edit: if you do go to Mystic I do not recommend Mystic pizza. I get it was in the movie but there are way better options in that area. CT has amazing pizza but you’d be disappointed if that was your CT pizza experience.

Being from Massachusetts I would agree with all this. I also would agree with the Boston suggestions, and we have great public transportation like commuter rail that can get you in and out of the city easier. There is also driving over to Newport if you like the gilded age mansion type tours. RI beaches are the best bet.There's also Casinos in lower CT. All of this is driveable from wherever if you stayed in RI.

 

[QueenIsabella]

The nice thing about New England is, it's small, so getting from one state to another is a short distance. When we lived in New Hampshire, it was a 2-hour drive to BIL's house in Connecticut. We would head west into Vermont briefly, to pick up I-91, then head south across the "belly", if you will, of Massachusetts, then into Connecticut. Four states, 2 hours. It's similar going from, say, Maine, south through New Hampshire, then into Massachusetts, hook a left through Rhode Island, and you're into Connecticut. That jaunt would be more like 4 hours, depending on where in Maine you started.

My point is, it's easy to go state-hopping, and do the things that are important to you.

All the states have much to recommend them--beaches in Rhode Island, cultural stuff in Boston, fall foliage in Vermont, lobster in Maine, and so forth.