New England with 8yr old AND baby...

[PickUpHopStep]

Would that be mad? This October, 2 weeks. Circumstances have meant this is fairly last minute.

We're not 100% tied to a destination but am wondering if that kind of holiday (bit of everything, 2-3 locations, car hire) would be just as doable as supervising a very active 12mth old in a pool/beach scenario in the canaries (which was my initial plan). It would also tick the boxes of somewhere I've always wanted to go, and most importantly will hopefully be interesting for 8year old. I don't want to create a massive stress or disappointment though. For further context if it matters we are in the 'can comfortably afford holidays but not multiple or big holidays every year' bracket.

Anyway, let me know how naive I'm being! Any further tips will be very gratefully received!

Early or late October?

Homewood suites are great if you have kids, mini suites with kitchen, fridge, cooker with full size oven, dining table and all crockery pans etc.
I would suggest Vermont, which is lovely and has Ben & Jerry's factory that do tours.
I might be biased in favour of Vermont, my DDIL is from there!

I'll reply tomorrow. Just marking the thread as I'm off to bed. I can give you some great country places to go.

I wholeheartedly agree Maine is the best.

Maine is the absolute best for leaf peeping and it'll be early this year as we've have a cold and shit start to the summer.

@Owlbabie5 even I don't tip housekeeping! They get paid a decent wage unlike wait staff.

I was thinking of the last two weeks of Oct drsausage to include half term as I'd need to take DC out of school . From what I've read the best of the fall foliage is likely towards the beginning of the month in most areas (?). Obvs the colour is a big factor but not the only thing to see so I'll have to weigh up whether I can justify longer out of school for the sake of pushing the dates a couple of weeks. Probably not.

I'd really like to get to Maine. I've had a thing about visiting ever since getting a connecting flight there as a teenager caused me to look up where I'd been 😁

£££ for NPs has surprised me, we are spoilt in the UK aren't we!?

I'd prob look to eat out occasionally but to self cater most of the time for ease with baby and ££ so thank you for the detailed info on that and I will treat the motel microwave option with the scepticism it deserves 😁

Will sit down the weekend with dh and get a plan together. Although, the angst about American tipping culture is possibly enough to scare off this Brit - do I/don't I/what if you get it wrong.

Housekeeping tip is just a couple of dollars, isn’t it? Having said that we don’t usually leave one. Apparently the tip on food is meant to be calculated on the cost without tax, which I didn’t know until recently and haven’t been doing.

Some of the comments are a bit over the top OP, don't let them put you off.

It's not going to cost £££ to visit the national parks. The entry fee to Acadia NP is $25.00 per car for 7 days. Hardly breaking the bank.

And although you could spend $100 on breakfast if you really wanted to, it's not the norm and you certainly don't have to.

Any of the pancake houses or good old ihop and you'd feed the whole family for $40 and not need any lunch. A breakfast sandwich, coffee and a couple of doughnuts will set you back less than $10 at Dunkin donuts.

Groceries weren't too pricey at Walmart. At the deli they do a family sub for $8.99. It's absolutely huge and will feed you all. That and a tube of Pringles/bag of apples and you've got a picnic 🤷🏽‍♀️

You're probably going to miss most of the foliage if you come at the end of October.

I’d definitely stay a couple days in Boston! It’s the oldest city and quite lively. Go to Faneuil Hall then down to waterfront (you could go into aquarium or just check out the seals outside). Boston Duck Tours are fun.
The Cape maybe save for summer trip. Lexington about an hours drive west is historic (Paul Revere, Louisa May Alcott museum) and worth it. Head up to Vermont then I agree over to Maine. There are recommended drives to get the best of the foliage so google that.
Washington is a huge detour (a plane ride or over 7 hours by car) so save for another time.
So start in Boston, go west then north then east then back down to Boston!
By the way buying food surprisingly expensive but eating out cheaper. Tax is added to purchases on top of ticket price in stores (though NH has no sales tax)!

Oh no, I was suggesting Washington as an alternative, not a detour!

Maine was our favourite and the best value for NPas I said. We just paid £30 for 7 days in Acadia which was the best value for any park, parking or entertainment anywhere. It was also the most stunning. Not over the top as everywhere else was incredibly expensive. Beaches in CC, RI £20 regardless of how long you stay, ditto the price I quoted re NP in NH. Attractions were pretty much as I said which is a massive amount. Restaurants, cafes, diners are expensive.On top of food, tips, coffees, tolls ( and what you spend on flights, hotels and car hire) and the exchange rate its eye watering.We saved loads before we went but it was really noticeable. We heard several American grumbling who felt the same without the exchange rate. When you are on holiday you want to do things and there are masses of stunning and amazing things to see and do in the USA so you are kind of a slave to said prices so I’d be aware and take masses of spending money. We looked the up the price of everything before we went and saved/prioritised.

Be aware Acadia is a fair trek away and Maine is huge. Utterly worth it though. We weren’t as keen on NH but it’s still stunning(a lady serving us in a cafe said it’s like Vermont with a hangover which we thought summed it up). Vermont is lovely, kind of like a mix of Devon and Austria. We loved Cape Cod too.

Get a paper map to plan your route and as I said the Lonely Planet book of the area. There is a good LP iconic drives book too. We were surprised at how much planning you need to do. You’ll need to book your motels well in advance so your route too and plan a kind of loop to see the most.

We only paid €2-3 for housekeeping but having a steady stream of dollars to hand for tips it does feel endless on top of everything else when you’re not used to it.

Re paying for NP although it’s eye watering as a tourist I agree with it as a policy and wonder if we should do it in the UK. I live near a NP in the UK and think the Americans treat their parks with more respect. They can keep their £20 beach parking though,£7 NT us about as much as I like to pay in the UK.

Eating out bar Taco Bell and McDonalds really isn’t cheaper.

I'm wondering if Boston and Maine are ridiculously expensive then in comparison to some other states. We've only just returned and I've looked through my monzo app. Not once did we spend £100 on a meal, even in NYC and that's including tip. The average evening meal was $60 for a family of 4 including alcohol and we ate well in nice places.

If you had to go over a £200 a night family room budget then it must be. In NYC we paid £140 a night and the road trip motels were on average $50-60 per night including breakfast.

If OP is on a budget maybe look at my suggestion of Washington (most things are free), Shenandoah $35 per car for a week.

I was thinking of doing a similar trip to yours owl next year but if it's going to be much more expensive then I'll have a rethink.

Wow I’m shocked. We’ve just done NYC for a week, Cape Cod for a week( Brewster house there was good value), Boston 3 nights then RI for a night( pricey but we had no choice as needed a stopping off) then a week in a couple of places in Maine, 3 nights in NH and a couple in Vermont.

NYC was insane but we had an apartment so self catered mostly. We are pretty frugal through necessity and don’t do fine dining with teens when travelling and tried to keep it to one eating out or less per day. We’ve had loads of lovely experiences though.

We had to stay where we needed for the route and needed family rooms to sleep 5. I think x4 would be less but eating out was pricey and if you do it daily or more than one for 3 weeks with other costs the op will feel it.

Ah yes, rooms for 5 would put the prices up. Sounds like a great trip.

The hotel in NYC gave us a a $35 credit for their bar. It bought 2 cocktails . Needless to say we only had the 2!

How did you go about getting an apartment there? I considered it but air b&b is illegal so we ruled it out in the end.

It was an apartment hotel. To be honest the supermarkets were eye watering in Manhatten( taxi driver told us New Yorkers get it delivered from elsewhere cheaper) so not sure how much we saved.

To be honest many areas we stayed in didn’t have many fast food outlets so that probably didn’t help cost wise although aesthetically maybe.

Interestingly in Vermont we just paid £100 including tip for one huge pizza a small and a pasta dish 1 wine and 1 coke . ‘‘Twas the cheapest place in town but v nice(qs outcthe door).

Crikey! A £100 pizza. I might be avoiding Vermont until the bank balance is ready for it.

The best pizza we had was from a takeout place in New York. 8 dollars and it was absolutely huge, fed us all.

Bagels for breakfast from street vendors at $1.25 went down well or doughnuts

I was so aware of the costs of eating out that I think I was being more frugal in NYC than on the rest of the trip.

We went to Tennessee (free entry to Great Smokies NP) and there could eat at any of the breakfast places whatever we liked for less than 50 dollars so I calmed down by then!

I’m going to Tennessee!!!!!We’re planning loads more US trips. Want to do 4 Corners, Deep South....

When we’ve saved shed loads of money obviously.

I was thinking of the last two weeks of Oct drsausage to include half term as I'd need to take DC out of school . From what I've read the best of the fall foliage is likely towards the beginning of the month in most areas (?).

OK - I mainly know Maine so can give advice about that. Maine is lovely in October, and things get a lot quieter after Columbus Day. I believe Acadia National Park visitor center is open till the end of October, and I really think October is the best time to visit - we go every year. Acadia is all about the hiking trails, beautiful mountains, kayaking in the ocean, etc. My kids loved Bubble Rock and Thunder Hole.

You should also see some lighthouses. The classic one is Portland Head Light, which is near some great beaches too.

The State Parks in Maine (many of them are beaches) are usually open till the end of Oct so you'll still have to pay to visit them, but the toilets and changing rooms will be open. My favourites are Crescent Beach, Kettle Cove, Two Lights, Popham Beach and Reid State Park. Popham Beach also has an old fort you can explore nearby.

The Botanical Gardens at Boothbay in Maine are magical for children - there won't be much blossoming in October, but they have a great children's garden, bear cave, fairy garden, meditation garden, lovely hikes, great cafe.

Later Oct you will probably miss peak fall foliage in northern New England, and it might be better to go further south if that's what you want to see.

The weather is more unpredictable than in summer, but it can still be absolutely beautiful - we do things like apple picking in October, go for lovely hikes (no bugs that time of year), and actually the ocean is sometimes warmish in October because it's warmed up all summer.

Boston is much more bearable in October than in the heat of summer - and as a PP said don't try to walk the whole Freedom Trail! When my kids were 8 they adored the Science Museum there (I still do). The Aquarium also is very good, and it'll be much quieter in October than in summer. A boat trip is fun, although check the weather forecast first - I did a quite rough whale watching trip from Boston and half the passengers threw up. My young niece and nephew loved the harbour tour, weren't too impressed by the Tea Party ship, did like the splash pond in the park.

You should read a few Robert McCloskey books before you come out - Make way for ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine.

We bought a National Park pass this year which was $80 and let one car in to all NPs. You can also buy State Park passes - we buy the Maine one every year, but it costs more and is probably not worth it for you.

Agree with others about it being expensive to eat out a lot. I'd stay in AirBNBs, cabins, etc if possible, so you have a kitchen. There is nothing quite so wonderful as a cabin by a Maine/New Hampshire/Vermont lake for a week.

@drsausage don't forget Time of Wonder and Butt Dow!!

DS keeps insisting every time we go sailing we go to bloody Buck's Harbor because of sodding Blueberries for Sal. It's getting old despite the nice restaurant.

I love the Robert McClosky books especially the lost tooth one. They started off my wish to see Maine.