Best resorts/holiday home areas to stay in New England with 3 DC

[MrsMcTats]

We've travelled to New England several times pre-DC. It's one of my favourite areas of America and I'm looking forward to planning a trip there in the next couple of years. Lockdown is giving me lots of opportunities to research, so I'm looking for recommendations on places to stay with 3 under 10's. Ideally coastal. I haven't looked at holiday homes in the US before - do they work the same way as in the UK? Any good websites to look at? Or any family-friendly hotels?

Chatham on Cape Cod is really nice. I’d also mix it up with a trip to Boston.

Falmouth Cape Cod is very nice. Went there with our 2 dc every year for 10 years. It is quite pricey for accommodation though as it’s a popular holiday destination for Americans. Loads to do with kids. We booked through Weneedavacation.com but there’s loads of houses on HomeAway as well.

@celtiethree I wholeheartedly agree. Loved Chatham and would definitely consider basing ourselves here.

@haggisaggis thank you, that's really useful. I'll have a look at those sites and some info on Falmouth. Was there enough to keep the DC occupied for 2 weeks?

We always enjoyed new England but if you fancy somewhere different then have a look at the area around vancover and up into the rockies or we had a fantastic holiday in Oregon. Both areas very child friendly and lots of different things to keep you occupied. just thought it worth suggesting if you fancied a change or couldnt find what you wanted in new england. oregon is less touristy and we found it less expensive staying in amazing log cabins.

We’ve done Martha’s Vineyard before and it was lovely. I want to visit Nantucket next time as well.

I came on to recommend Chatham, but someone got there first. For a bit if. Adventure, Acadia and the Maine coast is bloody gorgeous.

mummymeister tell us more about Oregon please....

Ooh thank you everyone. We do fancy Vancouver at some point, but I've got my heart set on New England. We did a day trip to Martha's Vineyard which was lovely. I do fancy Nantucket too. Just think with DC, it will be easier to have one base and then day trips out. Excited!

I second the mention of Maine. The coast is alright, but even better are the many lakes which have banned motorised watercraft. I did a summer holiday there sailing on lake sebago and it was beautiful. Did day trips to the beach. The ocean there is very cold, but the lakes are clean, warm and you can rent very nice holiday homes with private lake shore, dock and canoes/sail boats included.

Sebago Lake allows motorised watercraft. Just reread my post and was not clear. You have to go to smaller Maine lakes for the motor free ones.

We did a 5 week coastal trip with 3 last year from NYC all the way up to Maine Acadia. Did masses of research and everything was fantastic. Cost a bloody fortune but we did our best to keep budget down alongside staying in a variety of lovely places.

We stayed in

-Affinia Gardens NYC( 1 bed apartment that slept 5)

• a gorgeous house in the woods in Brewster through We Need a Vacstion( v easy)on Cape Cod really reasonable. Brewster so much cheaper than Chatham and better imvho. You’re right near Nickerson State Park which is just gorgeous to swim in and safe unlike the coastline on Cape Cod which is quite shark infested. We loved Brewster General Store, Brewster Scoop, Gobies,Ladies Library has an amazing summer book sale. Brewster is right in the middle of CC so we did whale watching in Province Town, cycled Shining Sea rail trail( stunning), Martha’s Vineyard....
• Irving House Harvard Boston(Really lovely family room, lovely breakfasts, parking and free water bottles/ postcards, snacks and ice. Boston ok but wouldn’t stay long. Boston Tea Party ship really good. Wish we’d visited Littie Women House in Concord(( will stay there next time)
• Kennebunk Port Maine is lovely. We had an apartment in Franciscan Guest House( strange place and quite run down,old high school, religious which we didn’t realise, lovely staff, we had a bat flying around the lounge at night, ‘‘twas a bit creepy)
• Sebasco Harbour Resort amazing!!!! Stay as long as you can. We had a big family room. No cooking facilities unless you get a cabin and meals are expensive. Didn’t get to see Popham but that’s near by. Visited Lobster Shack atTwo Lights which is just lovely.

-Cromwell Harbour motel( family room with microwave, fridge, very clean, has a small pool) in Bar Harbour on Mount Desert Island Acadia which is stunning and blew us away. Do not miss it. Sand beach, Jordan Pond, sea kayaking, Jordan’s Diner, MDI ice cream, Bar Harbour shore path, carriage paths...

• we then went into New Hampshire which was stunning but we didn’t like as much.Kamacagus Highway stunning, Robert Frost Farm for me. We stayed in Cottage Place on Squam Lake. Shabby chic cottages by a lake. Has a highway running through you have to cross to get to lake. Pretty and cheap but odd, never saw owner.
• then went into Vermont which was another highlight. We stayed in Snowdrift Motel Stowe which I’d highly recommend. Had an apartment, cheap out of ski season. They have a pool, free bikes to hire, nice breakfast bar, video library, muffins, coffee etc.We did route 100 down the middle which was stunning, loads of gorgeous places to stop. Dont miss it.Don’t miss Ben and Jerry factory. Our 3 loved it.

Then back to NYC

We’re going back as soon as we can. Want to see so much more of Maine, Portland and Acadia and revisit places. Also want to do more in Vermont. Would give New Hampshire a miss.

Hire a big car, as many cooking facilities, self catering as you can are my tips. Do not miss Acadia!!!!!

Was a bit meh re Salem although dd loved it. We did the mansion walk on Rhode Island as a stop off after NYC. Had watermelon ice on the beach. Good place to stop. Stayed in a non-descriptive motel in NewPort. Think it was a Quality Inn but it had that much needed family room for 5.

This was the main issue hence all our much needed research. Family rooms for 5 go quick so book v early. All our accommodation was as cheap and as many self catering as I could get for 5 that were in good locations but with a bit of interest.

The only place my lot refused to return to was the old high school with bats. It was creepy and very basic. It did make you feel as if you’d entered a setting for a teen horror Netflix movie.😬 The staff were really lovely so I feel a bit bad saying that.

USA was eye wateringly expensive last year.

@WaterCl0se Thank you so much, that's fantastic information. We have visited Brewster, but I'm struggling to remember it. Chatham sticks in my mind as a lovely place, but will have a look again at Brewster as a base. Had no idea about the shark infested waters I'm trying to decide how many moves we'll want to do in 2 weeks. Maybe only two, as don't want to live out of a suitcase. Will def avoid the creepy bats