Second American location to add onto New York holiday?

[Pinkpeanut27]

I really fancy a week in NYC next August .
There will be 5 of us . Kids are 13,13 and 6.
I know it's going to be hot and hectic .
I'd like another week somewhere but am struggling to find somewhere . My knowledge of the U.S. Is limited to main cities and tourist places .
We did think Florida but it is going to be super humid and hot .

Has anyone got any brilliant suggestions ? I prefer not to go to another city .

Boston. I love Boston.

Washington is a great place to visit with lots to see and do, it's a nice train ride from Penn Station too.
Funnily enough, just last night we were looking at getting back to NY with our sons (18 and 15) but with uni and school and all that goes with those we're pretty much stuck to going in the Summer and it's far too hot for us then.
Niagara Falls is worth seeing, a trip on the Maid Of The Mist would be very nice in August! The US side is pretty to visit with nice park land, the best views are from the Canadian side but it's very glitzy, touristy and quite tacky when you cross over the road from the Falls. Niagara On The Lake is lovely. And of course you're only 80 or so miles from Toronto so that opens up another possibility.

Google the Castskills. They're beautiful and an easy drive from NYC. You can hire a lake house and swim, hike, zip line, horse ride, go antique shopping, go white water rafting. The list goes on. And, at night, BBQ and see the most amazing night skies.

Vrbo andAirbnb have loads of Catskills rentals. Or stay in one of the many BnBs. Some are seriously kooky!

Oh I was going to say Boston too but see everyone's beaten me to it! Maybe take a half-day trip over the river to Massachusetts and visit Harvard - it's more spectacular in the autumn, because of the trees, but still worth a visit (especially if your children have watched Monsters University, because although the buildings in that were based on other universities as well as Harvard, the MU campus really does remind me of Harvard!)

In Boston, you could do the Freedom trail as well, which includes a visit to Paul Revere's house (the oldest left in Boston) and historical sites and monuments. I thought it was very interesting when I went, but I guess with 2 13yos it might be a bit hit or miss! HAve a look at the link to see what you think. :)

Obviously Boston is also in MA, don't know why I put that bit!

I'd do Washington only cos that's what I'm actually planning!

Niagara on the lake (Canada side) isn't 'european' as such, but it's a lovely place. Everything is oldy worldy with timber cladding - even Starbucks. They have horse carts taking you around town too.

Boston has loads to do, but if you want to avoid another city after NYC...

Vermont - you can catch a train/plane up from NYC...or it's about a 5 hour drive to the middle of the state. Beautiful scenery, lots of lakes (reasonable lake houses on VRBO website), Burlington is the biggest city with a population hovering around 90,000 & is right on the edge of Lake Champlain (which has its own version of Nessie, called "Champ"), some of the ski resorts double as hiking/mountain biking/alpine single track sled courses etc in summer. There's miles of forests and hiking trails, rock climbing, etc. Burlington is also about an hour's drive from Montreal iirc, if you wanted a day trip...

Upstate New York & New Hampshire are similar.

Cape Cod/Martha's Vineyard are lovely but a bit overrun with tourists that time of year.

I'd rent a car and drive to Newport, RI. It is an interesting town and interesting to imagine what it would have been like to summer there in the late 19th century. I'd then continue the drive up to Boston for a couple days. Although it is a city, is is much smaller than New York with a very different feel. It is neighbourhood based and each one has a different feel.

Another option is to go south. Take the ferry from New York to Monmouth County NJ (where The Boss and John BonJovi live). Travel onto Princeton (a lovely town), Bucks Country PA including New Hope and it's sister town across the river, Lambertville NJ, then Philadelphia including a gander around Main Line. You could continue on to one of the nice coastal towns in NJ (Cape May, Ocean City) for time at a beach.

We were in NYC last August too and I was prepared for the worst, but it was not humid at all, weather was great. I really wanted to go to The Hamptons, didn't get there in the end, but that would be my choice, it looks lovely, big wide sandy beaches and dunes, quaint towns that would be lovely to cycle around, great restaurants and shops, I know most New Yorkers avoid it like the plague in the summer though..

Washington will be hot but we did new York and Washington recently and I much preferred Washington as did DD.