Classic New England

Day 1: Arrive Boston

Boston is the very seat of American history. Only Virginia is older than the Massachusetts Colony. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated at Plymouth Rock. The first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord. The two and one half miles of the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston are likely the most historic blocks in the United States. You can see the Old North Church, Paul Revere’s home and Faneuil Hall, the revolutionaries meeting place that is filled with restaurants and shops.
Standard Hotels: BW Terrace Inn
Deluxe Hotel: Omni Parker House

Day 2: Explore Boston

The list of other most visited places in Boston includes the Boston Common, a public meeting place since 1630, the Boston Museum of Science, Cheers, of television fame, and the Boston Museum of Arts with its world-renowned collection of 450,000 items. The New England Aquarium offers special whale watching trips until October. Also consider visiting the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library or take the City View Trolley Tour to get an overview of all the historic parts of the city.

Day 3: Boston to Kennebunkport

(85 miles)
There are many options and routes between Boston and Kennebunkport. For maximum history and scenery, visit the Saugus Ironworks, established in 1646 and the old sailing ports of Gloucester, Marblehead and Salem, site of the witch trials of 1694 and the Peabody Museum. Locations along the Essex Heritage Area Scenic Byway celebrate the early history of Massachusetts. Stop in the Kennebunks where the National Register Historic District Village walking tour begins at the Brick Store Museum.
Standard Hotel: BW Merry Manor
Deluxe Hotel: Green Heron Inn

Day 4: Kennebunkport to Bar Harbor

(200 miles )
With the constant sound of waves crashing on the rugged coast as a timeless backdrop, the “Down East” region is home to the true culture of “May-nuhs,” the seafarers, tradesmen, fishermen and shipbuilders who built the area. You’ll discover the best of the “Down East” lifestyle, historic villages, and lighthouses as you meander up the Maine Coast. Or take an inland route and arrive faster.
Standard Hotel: BW Inn
Deluxe Hotel: Bar Harbor Hotel/Bluenose Inn

Day 5: Explore Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park

There are two parts to Acadia National Park; Mount Desert Island and Schoodic Peninsula. You can take a bus from place to place or do the scenic drives along the coast of both Mount Desert and Schoodic yourself. Three mainland visitors centers complement the one on Little Cranberry Island reached only by ferry. Explore the serene carriage roads that John D. Rockefeller built for the wealthy out of towners who lived in the area until most of their homes were destroyed by fire.

Day 6: Bar Harbor to New Hampshire White Mountains

(220 miles)
On your way between Bar Harbor and the White Mountains, take some time to explore Maine’s Rangeley Lakes region a Norman Rockwell picture postcard area still hailing from the era when well-to-do “flatlanders,” as the locals call anyone from south of New Hampshire, arrived to establish “camps.” Today, there’s not so much as a stop light to slow you down. Smaller nearby Oquossoc (Native American for “landing place”) is for folks who really like the quiet.
Standard Hotel: BW White Mountain Inn
Deluxe Hotel: The Wentworth

Day 7: Explore the White Mountains Area

It’s what you’d expect in quintessential New England. Cold clear rushing streams reflect the blazing colors of the fall that set the hillsides on fire in their best suit of clothes. Towering granite cliffs and soaring mountains often hug both sides of the road. Discover the history of the White Mountain Trail and beauty of the Kancamagus Highway National Scenic Byway and drive to the summit of Mt. Washington. Many charming villages along the way still look as they did when writer Nathaniel Hawthorne and painter Thomas Cole lived here in the 18th century. The pace of life in many places hasn’t changed much either.

Day 8: New Hampshire White Mountains to Vermont Green Mountains

(140 miles)
It would be hard not to be on a scenic road as you travel from the White Mountains to the Green Mountains today. Even the Interstate highway between Franconia and St. Johnsbury is a scenic drive. Is you like roads less traveled, delightful routes with names like Smuggler’s Notch and Middlebury Gap are sprinkled all over Vermont. Montpelier, Vermont’s capital, the smallest in the nation, had only 113 residents when it was designated due to its central location.
Standard Hotel: BW Windjammer Inn and Conference Center
Deluxe Hotel: Sheraton Burlington

Day 9: Explore Vermont Green Mountains

The lush foliage, white steepled churches, winding roads, and quaint New England towns feel as old as time. Much of the countryside hasn’t changed much since the Green Mountain Boys declared Vermont its own country 230 years ago. 70 years since the von Trapp family settled, “the hills are still alive with the sound of music.” Mountains in the region have interesting names like Camels Hump and Crouching Lion. Divided sharply into east and west sections, early settlers chose their representatives to balance the government from both sides, now known as “the mountain rule.” New England independence at its finest!

Day 10: Green Mountains to The Berkshires

(244 miles )
The Berkshires are home to more Normal Rockwell picture perfect scenery. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown has an outstanding collection of French Impressionist paintings while the beautifully restored Hancock Shaker Village is the premier collection of Shaker buildings, artifacts, furniture, craft and household items exhibited in 20 historic buildings. The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge still looks like it did in Rockwell’s most famous painting.
Standard Hotels: Williams Inn
Deluxe Hotel: Seven Hills Inn

Day 11: The Berkshires to Newport, Rhode Island

(120 miles)
You have several options on your way to Newport today. You can experience the life of the New England pioneers up close and personal at Old Sturbridge Village. Mystic, Connecticut has an authentic 19th century seafaring village of more than 30 England trade shops and businesses moved from around New England. An alternate route through the Blackstone River Valley in Rhode Island takes you through the heritage of America’s first industry, water-powered spinning mills using technology spirited from England in 1797. Samuel Slater’s original mill has been impressively restored to pristine working condition.
Standard Hotel: BW Mainstay Inn
Deluxe Hotel: Inns of Newport Cleveland House

Day 12: Explore Newport

Opulence reigned in Newport during the Gilded Age. Bellevue Avenue was home to the “summer cottages” of the rich and famous from New York and Philadelphia, the same Vanderbilts, Astors and other prominent families who spent part of their summer on Mt. Desert Island. You can pack your day in Newport as full as you would like. The Breakers and Rosecliff are spectacular mansions. Take the Cliffwalk which follows the coastline and the cliffs. A 10 mile scenic driving tour begins at The Elms. And, there’s great shopping and browsing and a Newport Winery.

Day 13: Newport to Cape Cod

( 80 miles)
Distances are short in New England. The whole drive to Cape Cod today is only 80 miles. That should leave time to swing through Providence, Rhode Island where Benefit Street is considered by many to be the best preserved historic mile in America. Fall River, Massachusetts has more early textile industries and New Bedford was once, the whaling capital of New England.
Standard Hotel: BW Blue Rock Resort
Enhanced tour Hotel: Inn at Cape Cod

Day 14: Explore Cape Cod

The scenic drive on fabulous Cape Cod stretches all the way from the beginning of peninsula to Provincetown at the very end. Beautiful white beaches line the Cape Cod National Seashore. Touring Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard requires a side trip by boat to either of the islands. Whale watching cruises are also available.

Day 15: Cape Cod to Boston

(75 miles)
On the way to Boston today, you can experience frontier New England at Plymouth Plantation, where a living history museum features life in 1627, only seven years after the colonists landed at Plymouth Rock.