East Coast USA

[BingThing]

Hi I'd like to go on a 2 week family holiday to the US with partner and 3 kids in May 2027 (they will be 17, 15 and 10). We definitely want to go to Washington DC but would like to stay in 1 or 2 other places including somewhere with a beach. My eldest is ASD and US presidents are one of his special interests, my middle one loves mountain biking and watersports, youngest also loves biking and the beach. They'd all love to see a basketball or baseball game.

Can anyone please suggest a good itinerary?

Budget would be £3k per person for flights/accomodation/car hire and ideally activities too - is that feasible?

We did similar 2 years ago. It was bloody expensive, accommodation and food were both more than I expected. I think your budget is tight but booking in advance you may be ok…. I think we spent about £15k for 4 and that included 5 nights with friends.

We did DC (4 days), Annapolis, Chincoteague (lovely spot with wild ponies), Norfolk/ Virginia Beach, Outer Banks Kill Devil Hills (Wright brothers first flight), Charlottesville, Shenandoah park/drive and back to DC.

Thanks that's great - did you find 4 days in DC was enough to see everything?

Yes 4 days was about right. We did several museums. But you need a balance. Met a friend for dinner. Hired bikes and sweated along the Potomac, Georgetown, Arlington….didn’t see Washington’s birthplace or house which I was keen to. However Jefferson’s house at Monticello made up for it.

Have a look at Snowshoe Mountain https://www.snowshoemtn.com/discover-snowshoe/discover-the-resort-summer It’s not too far from D.C. and it has a great mountain bike park, and a lake with SUPs and canoes.

Boston is great and would be of interest to the politics fan. From there you can do whale watching and also get a boat to Cape Cod which is beautiful. The train to / from NYC is easy and if you sit on the coastal side you get stunning views of Connecticut (think Dawsons Creek)

We are currently on a last minute short break to Boston - and loving it. Lots to see and all vey walkable.

I was going to say Boston. So much history - the Freedom Trail is a genius idea and makes it so easy to see the main sites and understand what you’re seeing too. Baseball at Fenway Park and then up to the New England coast. You can get a train from DC to Boston (might need to change in NY) to cut down on car hire costs and driving time.

For presidents lots of President homes incl mount Vernon and monticello. Williamsburg worth a look too.

Thanks everyone brilliant ideas - I love Mumsnet! X

Hi there, I’m off to Boston for 2 nights at the end of the month. Will be my first time there. Do you mind me asking what sorts of thing you saw/did?

You can book tours of the White House and the Capitol. I went with my family during Trump's first presidency.

The White House tour is difficult to arrange. It says on various websites that foreign visitors should contact their country's embassy. I contacted the British embassy and they wouldn't help. With a lot of googling, I found that there was a particular member of the House of Representatives or a Senator, who was happy to arrange tours for foreigners, so I did it that way.

I was also going to recommend Cincoteague In the opposite direction from DC, there is also a beautiful area with woods and lakes and rivers. Good for white water rafting and probably also mountain biking.

The British embassy has never been able to help with tours of the White House. Interestingly, most other embassies do help their citizens with this. I worked in Washington in the early 90s. When my mum came to visit and I was trying to arrange a tour of the White House for her I was told by my American friends that my embassy would sort this. The British embassy was quite clear they would only help VIPs. I asked them politely, who could possibly be a VIP if not a British taxpayer. I.e. my mum and myself. They had no response to this at all. We queued, like normal tourists and were fine at the time to get in. Probably not now.

DC for historic sights and baseball (the Nationals), then North Carolina for beaches and hills/ hiking.

I recommend going south from DC instead of north because it's still chilly north of DC in May, making beaches less attractive.

Boston and Cape Cod. Fabulous. Can’t wait to go back.

We are going this year for two weeks - me and two teens. We're doing NYC, Shenandoah, Yorktown and Washington DC and it involves a week's car hire, which is already paid. Obviously can't speak for the trip itself yet but in terms of budget I only have the spending money still to pay for, and flights, accommodation and car hire are all paid and have totalled £6k. The biggest single cost other than flights was the 4 nights in the NYC hotel - without that it would be less than £5k. I'm really hoping not to spend £6k while we're there (!) so I think your budget will be ok if you're careful. All our accommodation is 4 stars on trip advisor or higher on Airbnb.

You will be more likely to see a baseball game in DC at that time of year if/when the Nationals are at home. Their baseball park is easy to walk to as well as it has a metro station nearby. NBA season usually finishes in April.

The US Capitol is worth doing a tour of and you can book these online (you will need ID when collecting your tickets).

We followed the Freedom Trail (easily to do as it’s marked out on the pavement) and stopped off at the places of interest along the way which explain the key events leading up to the war of independence. The tour of the harbour by boat was good and the Boston Tea Party museum was fine although reenactment and audience participation isn’t really my thing. The ‘North end’ along the trail was great for Italian food. The art museum was excellent and currently has an exhibition of Van Gogh portraits which we enjoyed. We also visited Harvard’s campus over the river using their online app to navigate the historic buildings and museums. Apart from the trip over to Harvard we went everywhere on foot.

Thanks everyone - really helpful responses - much appreciated!

Boston and over to Nantucket?

We went to NY, Boston and Cape Cod last year. We too the train between NY and Boston - recommend. Cape Cod is great. Beaches were lovely. Good mix of chill and stuff to do.

Great thank you, what time of year did you go? Also do you have any recommendations of areas or accommodation in cape cod?

We went in July. NY was incredibly hot but the other places were manageable. I’ll dm you the link to where we stayed in Cape Cod.

DC and The Hamptons - we did this a few years ago, The Hamptons gives you the beach / countryside aspect plus general fabulousness