Boston and New England Adventure

[Lovewhereilive]

Am thinking of a 2 week New England holiday flying in and out of Boston next summer.

Got great advice last year re California so thought I would ask you all for recommendations on places to visit and things to do.

We love nature, cycling, swimming, bodyboarding, waterfalls, national parks, whale watching etc.

Got 3 boys, 2 are teens.

Check out the map for the "T" which is the subway for Boston, you'll be able to get anywhere if you're near a station.
I can't actually remember the aquarium in Boston...though I must have visited as a kid!

Carrotcake, would love to visit Bar Harbor but it looks like we would be doing too much driving if we went up there too.

Went to Boston last year. No need for a car at all, you can walk everywhere.
Felt like a really safe and friendly city.

Compared to the rest of the States, New England is very compact. The Noreaster train from Boston to Portland Maine takes about 2 and a half hours (the bus is even faster) but the train is great, going through all these classic New England small towns and woods. And Portland is lovely too - Lucky Catch is a boat trip where you go to collect lobsters. North End of Boston is worth exploring, oldest bit of the city, still very Italian American. Nearly every weekend has feasts www.northendboston.com/visit/feasts/

I love New England. For cape cod look at Provincetown - right on the tip. It's not the cheapest place I've ever stayed but I really want to go back and it looked like hiring a house/cabin would price around the same as a hotel room.

I'd do half in Provincetown and half in either Maine or New Hampshire. Beautiful scenery and quite different from the cape. Then a few days each in Boston and New York.

Lucky catch sounds great!

Would love to do Maine but just not sure we have enough time. Is there anywhere similar to Bar Harbor but not as far north?

Ok, so on Cape Cod do i book 3/4 nights in Provincetown and then 2/3 nights in Falmouth? Or Hyannis?

Is there anywhere just off the cape and on the mainland that would be good for a night too? I think Bar Harbor is just too far to drive there and back in a few days.

A few years ago we stayed in a house on Plum Island which was great. It's about 40 minutes from Boston. The island is tiny and the beaches were almost empty (in August) because there almost no parking so unless you've got a house with a drive you can't get to the beach. One end of the island is a nature reserve. It was great.

It was by a lovely little town called Newbury port. We went whale watching, walking and ate lots of lobster. We caught the train from Newburyport to Boston a couple of times. We also drove to Salem which our dc enjoyed. We would definitely recommend the area.

That sounds wonderful UsedToBe

Love the name, Plum island, off to Google that now! Thanks.

Not sure I am looking at the right place! Just comes up with pictures of dead dogs and an animal disease centre?!

That's definitely a different Plum Island!!!!

If you Google "Plum Island Newburyport" and then look at images you'll see lots of beaches - without dead dogs!

www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2014/06/14/plum-island-what-see-and/65EQiA5CfivyMHx3UGIkPL/story.html

This is an article I've just found about it. Makes me nostalgic! We went in August 8 years ago and it was great. The house we rented was about half way along the island whereas the car park is further along. There's no parking except in the car park (obviously people with houses have driveways they can park on) so lots of the beach is very empty. I can't remember exactly how long the island is - maybe 5 or 6 miles? - and it's very narrow. On the Newburyport side there is marshland and you can kayak there. The other side is the Atlantic.

The Perseids meteor shower happened when we were there. I remember lying on the beach at midnight with my son aged 11, watching the shooting stars whilst the waves were lapping. It was amazing.

The island is over a bridge from Newburyport, which is a very sweet little town. Lots of restaurants and art galleries from what I can remember but it is 8 years since we were there. There's a station in Newburyport where you get the train to Boston (about 40 minutes i think). You would need a car to get around otherwise.

Phew, am glad about that!

Will google again later! It sounds lovely. I wish we had time to go to Niagara too but again probably pushing it.

Just looked at the article, looks great there. Will investigate further tonight...

This is the plan so far:

3 nights NYC
6 nights Cape Cod (3 nights in Provincetown, 3 in Falmouth)
2 nights Boston
1 night in between Boston and NYC
1 night in NYC - evening flight next day so can leave bags at hotel then.

Any suggestions for the 1 night in between Boston and NY? Was wondering about a theme park or water park.

Why go back to NY? I would stay in Boston for longer. If you are driving, drop the car off in Boston. There is loads to do there without a car and a shorter flight home. Chasing back to NY seems odd as you have already been there.

If you must go back to NY, I would get the train. Definitely leave the car in Boston. It is about 4 hours on the train. A stopping off point could be Newport, Rhode Island if you want to drive.

Boro, that's where we fly home from. And one way drop off fees are usually ridiculous.

Bojo not boro

Will check out Newport, ta.

Last year we did a similar trip. We flew from JFK to Cape Cod with JetBlue (was about £200 for the 4 of us). Picked up a hire car at Hyannis airport then had it for a week in Cape Cod, drove to Boston, dropped it there on arrival as you don't need a car in Boston. We were flying home from Boston (with Norwegian) but you could train it back to NYC. We had a fabulous trip!

Ashers, sounds great! What were the highlights for you?

New York, my highlights were Top of The Rock, Ground Zero memorial (v moving) and the Circle line boat trip. Loved Cape Cod, very laid back. Provincetown is a must, worth the drive. We stayed in Brewster, mid Cape. Nauset Beach was nice. In Boston the Duck tour is a must, the Aquarium was ok, not the best I've ever been to. We went to the Boston Tea Party museum which was fun. Also the Skywalk thing at the top of the Prudential building for views of Boston. We popped into the Cheers bar just to say we'd been! We stayed in Back Bay and ate on Newbury Street every night, lots of nice restaurants. People in Boston were lovely. We had an amazing time, wish I was doing it again! Enjoy

I would def go to Bar Harbor-such a lovely place. We were only there for a day as part of a cruise but it was like a picture postcard town. And the bus that takes you to Arcadia national park was great-we got off at a gorgeous beach and then at another couple of stops. I'm sure you could easily spend a whole day there if you had more time. I would love to go back one day.

Oh also when I was researching my trip before we decided to fly from NY to Cape Cod I found there is a water park called Water Wizz just before you reach the Cape where you could stop off for a day, if your boys like that sort of thing (my kids love a water park)