New England Trip

I am arriving in Boston on 29th September and travelling around New England with my partner and 70 year old but fairly active mother.

We are staying in Boston at the 9zero hotel for 3 nights and then we head up the coast to the Acadia National Park...then a circle back round??? We have 15 nights.

Any suggestions of places not to miss or good places to stay...we are splashing out in the Boston Hotel and do not want to pay that amount $300 a night at other places.

Any help welcomed

New England Trip

Check our GoList for some possibilities...

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New England Trip

You%26#39;ll be here during fall foliage. Your trip should be spectacular no matter what route you take. I would suggest driving straight through to Portland, Maine from Boston. A stop in Portland for a walk around the Old Port and a bit of lunch would be great. Then it%26#39;s just 20 minutes up the Interstate to Freeport where a stop at L.L. Bean%26#39;s flagship store is always interesting. From there you could get off the Interstate and take Highway 1 up to Camden. I%26#39;d spend a night in Camden. It%26#39;s a lovely seaport with shops, good restaurants, and a nice view from on top of Mount Battie just north of town.

After that there is Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. You can easily find any number of places to stay for well under $300. The two luxury waterfront hotels are The Bar Harbor Inn and Harborside. Both have suites. There are also numerous Bed and Breakfast places in turn of the century mansions where you could get two rooms and still stay under the $300 limit. A few are Hearthside Inn, Cleftstone, Aysgarth Station, and Bass Cottage Inn.

After Bar Harbor you might consider this itinerary which I wrote up for someone here on trip advisor this past winter who wanted a scenic inland route back to their home state. Some of the things mentioned below you could do on your way up to Bar Harbor:

When leaving Bar Harbor the only choice is to head to Ellsworth. From there, you can go directly west and a little north to Bangor and from there take Highway 2 across the state of Maine. But I don%26#39;t recommend that because Highway 2 is pretty boring.

Rather, I suggest you head south on Highway 1 from Ellsworth. The first town you get to is Bucksport where there is a brand new, high bridge over the Penobscot river. There is an old fort after you cross the bridge. You can park there and then go up one of the two towers of the bridge for an unbelievable view of the entire area. This is a brand new attraction.

After leaving the fort, don%26#39;t continue down Route 1 but take highway 174 to Prospect, highway 1 north to Winterport, and then highway 139 across the state to Benton and Interstate 95. This is pretty country, including the town of Unity, famous for the fall Common Ground Fair for organic farmers. There is a train ride concession there in the summer.

Just after Benton go ahead and take I-95 down to Portland. Stop there for lunch at Duck Fat -- incredible little restaurant with panninis and french fries (cooked in partial duck fat), and milk shakes. Portland is Maine%26#39;s largest city but it isn%26#39;t really all that big. Walk around the Old Port to enjoy the cobblestones and the small shops.

Get back on the road and find highway 302 which will take you directly west from Portland and into New Hampshire. While still in Maine, you will travel through a pretty area of many lakes. When you are in New Hampshire you will quickly come upon Jackson which is filled with lodging and outlet malls. You can totally avoid that and continue on west on the Kancamagus Highway, also Route 112. This is marked as a scenic highway and truly is. It crosses through the White Montains. People see moose along the highway. Lots of scenic overlooks, hiking trails, and picnic areas.

After it is no longer the Kancamagus, highway 112 crosses over Interstate 93 and continues to the border of Vermont. It crosses the Connecticut river and intersects with Interstate 91. Cross over or under the interstate and you are on highway 302 again. Vermont has a unique beauty of unspoiled little towns with white church steeples and village greens. There are still dirt roads here and there. The Green Mountains are gorgeous. Unlike New Hampshire, the highways are not lined with outlet malls. Wind your way through Vermont, maybe on highways 12 or 17.

The next state is New York. Separating much of Vermont from New York is Lake Champlain, which some people think should be the sixth Great Lake. It is large and even has a ferry that you can cross over on.

If you took highway 17 in Vermont, you%26#39;ll cross into New York State just south of Lake Champlain and north of the Adirondacks. You can take Interstate 87 down to highway 28 and take that through the Adirondacks and then down to Interstate 90 and back to Boston.