Trip Help Please

Hi People,

I am an avid Trip Advisor reader and have received loads of great advise in the past. I am at the early stages of planning a trip to New England and New York right now for October and hoping that you can be of some help to me!

We are flying in to New York for a 4 night stay, renting a car and driving up towards Boston. We have 7 nights to explore before spending 2 nights in Boston and flying home.

We would like to visit – Rhode Island, a couple of nights in Cape Cod (I spent a summer here many moons ago), Salem, and after that we hit a wall. We would love to head to North Conway (I hear the outlet shopping here is great)/Vermont area and see as much of the sights as we can – the beautiful foliage, traditional New England towns, anywhere of interest maybe.

Can anyone please suggest a sensible 7 night itinery for us, that will have us back in Boston. I would love also an indication of approx driving times between the places along with maybe suggestions of where else to see.

I know this is all very vague but all help appreciated!!

Trip Help Please

Here are some drive times that may influence your itinereary:

New York City to Boston: 4 hours

New York City to Cape Cod (beginning): 4 hours

Boston to Cape Cod (beginning): 1.5 hours

Cape Cod (from the Canal to Provincetown): 2 hours

Boston to Burlington, Vermont: 4 hours

Burlington, Vermont to Montreal: 1.5-2 hours

Boston to Newport, RI: 1.5 hours

Boston to Salem: %26lt;1 hour

Other places: Rockport, Gloucester, Plymouth (all %26lt; 1hour), Ogunquit Maine (1 hour)

Trip Help Please

Thanks Alanm – that’s a great help. I guess I will just have to get the map out and plan where I want to go and use those travel times as a rough guide.

Just wondering from anyone else that may have done this – what’s the best way to plan – I guess I am really looking for someone to suggest a 7 day itinery for me that takes in all the places and doesn’t waste too much time!

Thanks again!

What you may want to ask yourself is how important is the sightseeing versus shopping versus beach pieces. If the beach piece was a lower priority, for example, you could skip the Cape and go another time. Or just do a day trip to Provincetown from Boston and stay an extra day in Boston.

So far, there are three pieces you%26#39;ve got: Boston and environment, South of Boston (Rhode Islandand Cape Cod) and North of Boston (everything else). Think about that perspective.

This is purely a personal preference but I think I%26#39;d skip Cape Cod at that time of year and drive from NYC to Boston, maybe stay one night in Boston then plan your trip into NH and Vermont etc. At that time of year New England is at it%26#39;s most gloriously beautiful with the fall foliage. Return to Boston for your last couple of days. Boston is a great city for walking around and would give you a few days of relative relaxation before flying home.

...and Alan M%26#39;s times do not fully account for rush hour traffic or the weekend Cape traffic, which will bump them up a bit...

Do you have an approximate time in October? Early October vs late october will effect where to see the best fall folliage.

If you%26#39;ll be here early October, then heading north will be your best best for brightest colors. By late October, Boston and the %26#39;burbs are great color spots.

Personally, I%26#39;ve had some wonderful walks along the Cape Cod National Seashore%26#39;s walking trails in the fall. The Beech Forest and the Cedar Swamp are beautiful, but more yellow rather than the rich reds and oranges of the White Mountain Maples of NH%26#39;s Kagamagas high way.

Also ... if you want to combine outlet shopping with an ocean visit, you mentioned Ogunquit, Maine. Kittery is just south of Ogunquit and also has decent outlet shopping but Maine has sales tax (is it 7% ?? --- can%26#39;t remember!) and NH does not.

Happy planning.

Thanks for all the help so far guys! We are planning on heading early October, is this too early to see colour changes? I have heard that the further north you head then the better chance of seeing leaf change?

The reason for including the Cape is that I spend a summer there about 10 years ago as a student – I really want to go back and visit the old haunts so that’s a must do.

So we are looking like – New York 4 nights, Rhode Island 2 nights, Cape Cod 2 nights then we would head Northwards towards Maine – allow 2 nights in Boston on the way back and maybe a night in Salem on the way back to Boston, where will we spend the other 6 nights – on the way to Vermont and in that vicinity.

Most of my shopping will be done in New York so we just wanna visit one outlet mall – I have heard that there are some great ones in North Conway, other than that it’s purely a relxing, sight seeing trip!

Thanks so much guys!