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Summer East Coast trip planning

Cobh, Ireland
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34 posts
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Summer East Coast trip planning
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We are planning a road trip starting and ending in Boston for 4 weeks from the middle of June. We will be camping as much as possible and hope to to travel between 2500 and 3000 miles.

We have put together a rough draft containing some of the areas we would like to see but it will take over 3500 mile so will need to chop of some of it but can't decide.

Boston

Cape cod

Mystic CT

New Haven

New york

Philadelphia

Washington

Nashville via Blue Ridge Parkway

Memphis

Chicago

Niagara Falls

Toronto

Montreal

Quebec

New Hampshire

Boston

This is only a rough draft and we would probably drop Chicago and Quebec but I would appreciate any help or ideas of places to see in between.

Also Yahoo maps shows 56 miles between Mystic and New Haven but says it will take 4 hours, I know traffic can be busy around there but surely that can't be right.

The places we are most interested in are Boston, New York, Nashville/Memphis, Niagara Falls and New hamshire.

Uden, The...
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1. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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You are packing a lot. The drive between New Haven and Mystic won't take more than 1 hour unless you get stuck in traffic. Also please add Newport RI between Cape Cod and Mystic. That's a great place.

I'd recommend at least 3 days for Cape Cod if you want to explore.

Quebec is one of our favortite cities. Awesome! But it also will be detour and you easily can spend 3 days for Quebec alone. 4 days for NY, 3 days for DC and 2 days for Boston also are recommended not to mentioon the time you need for Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

3500 miles or more are not a problem in 4 weeks but it's the time you need at the destinations. You don't need a car in cities like DC, NY and Boston.

Tet

Cobh, Ireland
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2. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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Thanks for the advice

Newport RI looks worth checking out and we have been to NY before so would be ok with 2 days there. We generally don't like cities that much and prefer smaller towns like Mystic which will also make it easier to stay on campsites.

We have a lot of cities mentioned but it would be hard to drive past them without a visit and we would probably only spend a night or two in some of them. We also hope to reduce our traveling to below 3000 miles which will mean dropping some.

We may drop Montreal but for now we are looking at a route to Memphis and back via Niagara Falls.

Thanks

Cleveland
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3. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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This trip is unrealistic as you have 16 destinations in 28 days, and many of these destinations would merit stays of 3 days or more. You're coming during the summer travel season when school vacations boost the crowds and prices for popular destinations. Consider eliminating or minimizing your stays in the major cities of the Northeast Corridor (Boston to Washington, DC) and saving them for a spring or early fall trip at a later date, especially as you want to emphasize camping on this trip. Ditto, for Chicago and perhaps Toronto and Montreal.

There are some great campgrounds at Niagara Falls, check on the forum there.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/SearchForums?ff=97&geo=154998&scope=2&q=camping&x=18&y=10&s=+

From Memphis, consider the Mammoth Cave National Park, Bourbon Trail and bluegrass horse country in Kentucky.

In Ohio, consider visiting Dayton, OH, to see the excellent U.S. Air Force National Museum, the largest aircraft museum in the world, and the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. In the latter, you can see the Wright Flyer III, the world's first airplane capable of controlled and reliably sustained flight. It was perfected and first flown in 1905 at Huffman Prairie Flying Field, the world's first airfield.

Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH, is the world's roller coaster capital. Camping is available nearby at the excellent East Harbor State Park, right on a beautiful Lake Erie beach, but make reservations ASAP. Short ferry rides will take you to the Lake Erie islands. Kelleys Island has a charming state park campground. Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island is a regional party island dubbed the Key West of the North Coast; it also features the Perry Victory and International Peace Memorial, celebrating the American victory in the Battle of Lake Erie and centuries of ensuing peace between the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. along the world's longest undefended border.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry%27s_Victory_and_International_Peace_Memorial

Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, West Side Market, good mass transit, and an easily visited and excellent downtown professional baseball stadium. A new hostel is scheduled to open there this spring, close to an RTA rail rapid station and the West Side Market.

Ohio Amish country is two hours south of Cleveland with many nearby camping opportunities and a youth hostel at a personal favorite -- Malabar Farm State Park. Or check out Mohican State Park if you like swimming.

As you continue to Niagara Falls, check out Presque Isle State Park, with the best U.S. Lake Erie beach complex. At its entrance is the admission-free Waldameer Park, an old-fashioned "street car" amusement park where visitors pay by the ride. Waldameer features one of the world's best coasters, which travels across a freeway.

Enjoying Lake Erie before visiting Niagara Falls is a good idea because the lake dies violently at Niagara Falls.

Allow at least 1 1/2 days at Niagara Falls, likely two nights, for a June visit, heading to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a Whirlpool jet boat tour (sit in the front on an open-air boat and bring water shoes and a change of clothing) before continuing east.

Check state parks along your route for typically excellent and bargain-priced camping sites. Here's the link for Ohio:

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/tabid/726/Default.aspx

Make state park campsite reservations ASAP, especially for popular locations such as the Sandusky/Port Clinton area of Ohio.

Definitely read through this forum for the last 3-6 months. Most of the posts are for the West and recently for Leaf Turn vacations, so you actually will have a short reading list.

Good planning!

Cobh, Ireland
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4. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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Thanks for some great info TranscendentalEye

IT probable is a bit unrealistic so we could get away with 2 nights in Boston and 2 in NY.

We would be happy to drive through philadelphia and may be one night in Washington.

We could spend a 4 days camping in Shenandoah N.P. and along the Skyline Drive, 3 days in Nashville, 2 in Memphis. I like the idea of heading for Sandusky via Kentucky, Dayton and Amish country. Maybe 4 days to get to Sandusky, 2 days in Sandusky leaving over a week to get back to Boston via Niagara Falls.

I know it is not much time in the major cities but we are really not into them and prefer camping.

We will keep looking.

Thanks

Atlanta, Georgia
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5. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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You will love Nashville if into country music and history and Memphis if you like Elvis, good BBQ, and blues music. There are lots of interesting things to see and do in Kentucky. Here is a list of some that we've done-

Mammoth Cave NP

Corvette Museum

Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill

Berea arts and crafts

Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington

Abraham Lincoln's Birthplace NP

Beautiful scenery and nature and some great places to camp along the way.

Cleveland
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10,853 posts
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6. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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You don't want a car in Boston, NYC or Washington, DC. They have excellent mass transportation systems and parking fees are typically exorbitant. For travel between these cities use Amtrak trains or bus lines such as Bolt, Megabus or Greyhound. I suspect camping grounds close to mass transportation routes are scarce, but I've never looked. Hostels are more likely.

You'll want to go Sandusky after Dayton and before Ohio Amish country. Once you firm up your trip, ask for route recommendations on the state forums.

Good luck with your planning!

Lewes, United...
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7. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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span - please may I ask for some clarification?

I saw your post but didn't originally comment as I've driven between less than half of the places you've mentioned although I've actually been to many of the cities for city breaks, and those I've visited on road trips have been those generally clearly very close together. However, I got the feeling that you were being extremely overambition in terms of time and distance, but hoped somebody else with actual experience would actually confirm this fact. Now I'm puzzled. You've come back and said you're not relly interested in cities, and prefer camping.

So why are you visiting so many cities at all? If you like countryside, scenery, camping, national parks, it's perfectly possible to do a terrific road trip around parts of the country you've outlined, yet avoid the cities you aren't interested in - and seemingly have a better time, more suited to your tastes.

Further, many of the cities don't work well with a car, and some are well connected by trains, so an alternative scenario might be to do the few cities you wish to see without a car, connecting between them by train (or perhaps bus) and then pick up the hire car for a camping and countryside experience as a second element of your trip.

Just a thought!

SWT

Cobh, Ireland
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4 reviews
8. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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Thanks again for all the advice

Our 1st draft had a lot of cities but we sat down with a map, searched this forum and picked all the places that stood out we could see. The distance came to around 3500 miles without detours which we believed to be too much but we decided to post it to get ideas because apart from visiting New York many times, we have not been to the eastern part of the US and so are unsure about where to go.

We are generally not into cities but have been told that Boston is lovely so we can't miss that, we have been to NY but we would like our 3 teenage children to see it (I forgot to mention we had 3 teenage children) and I would like at least 1 night in Washington. I know this is not much but we would rather just see the highlights and get on the road. Chicago would have been nice also but it is not worth the extra travel to fit it in.

From looking at this forum and guide books, the Blue Ridge Park way/Skyline drive, Nashville, Memphis, Kentucky, Ohio and Niagara Falls are sticking out as the places we would most like to see. We may well be over ambitious so we really do welcome peoples opinions on it.

We have slightly over 4 weeks, 32 days, we had hoped to pick our trip to fit into 4 weeks and keep 4 days in reserve to add in an extra day in areas that we may need it (before we make any bookings).

It might look strange flying into Boston and heading sought so far but it was by far the cheapest option for us. When you are talking about 5 people, it adds up quickly. To give an example, we save around $500 flying into Boston instead of NY and will save around $300 dollars in car hire starting an ending in Boston instead of NY. Washington is more expensive again to fly into because it is harder to get direct flights to.

We also looked at traveling by train from Boston to Washington ($245 for 5) but they both take around 8 hours and we don't appear to save much on car hire because we will be charged extra for dropping it back to Boston. We have also looked at the prices of Hotels in Boston and NY and will probably stay in the outskirts of these and use public transport so a car will be handy.

Getting back to the cities, we have travelled a lot of the west coast spending time in San Francisco which was fantastic. We drove through Beverly hills, walked the Hollywood walk of fame, visited Disney land but could not wait to leave LA. We were delighted with what we saw in LA but did not want to see anymore. I know LA is probably not a fair comparison with the likes of Washington but I am just trying to show that we will see enough in 1 day, another day would be good but not at the expense of other areas.

If we do go as far as Memphis, it will rule out a lot of Connecticut and maybe even New Hampshire but Boston is very accessible from Ireland and we would hope to visit them on a shorter trip in the future.

Thanks again

Lewes, United...
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9. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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OK, thanks for the explanation. Now is makes sense. Yes, adding that you have 3 teenagers in tow would be rather important for us all to know, too, for relevance of suggestions, and because it indeed impacts not just where you go but travel methods, thanks to costs x 5!

What I'd suggest - now, or once you've done a bit more investigation and research is to post back here, and either continuing this topic, or starting a new one with more relevant title, if you've made great changes - is to post up an outline, draft itinerary of what your trip now look like. Then those folk who can contribute can comment on how it looks in terms of viability in the time frame, and then you'd get specific opinions and recommendations of places to visit along the proposed route. And now that we know there are teenagers, appropriate suggestions of stuff that may especially appeal to them can be included!

SWT

I entirely agree with you about LA. I personally hope I never have to go back - but each to their own. Washington DC is different, and more compact. For a family, I'd target the terrific, free museums and the famous buildings, and probably no more.

Edited: 12 years ago
Cleveland
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10. Re: Summer East Coast trip planning
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<<We have also looked at the prices of Hotels in Boston and NY and will probably stay in the outskirts of these and use public transport so a car will be handy. >>

This is a good idea, and you should inquire on local forums as to where to stay. You should be able to find park and rides in suburbs that would allow you to use rail or bus transit to reach destinations. Hotels in these suburbs likely would not charge for parking. The only problem (perhaps a big problem with teenagers) is that unless you are within walking distance of the transit stations/bus routes, you might have to get up early to get a parking spot at a station during weekdays.

For Washington, D.C., consider Rockville, MD, although there are other options perhaps closer (check on the forums).

For NYC, likely stay in New Jersey (e.g., Jersey City).

When you get a chance, post a tentative itinerary here using the general format showing where you will be day-by-day. You need to firm things up ASAP if you want to make reservations in campgrounds in popular destinations, such as the Cedar Point region. E.g., check available campgrounds at East Harbor State Park to see what is available even now.

Your teenagers likely will love Cedar Point. You should allow three days there as you might run into some inclement weather, in which case you could visit attractions in Cleveland, such as its very good zoo or the Rock Hall, which is one hour east of Cedar Point. Cleveland also has one of the nation's best art museums with free admission.

Cedar Point can take two days to satisfy roller coaster fanatics (it's huge), especially if lines are long; check on the Sandusky forum for the best days/times to visit the park (likely Wednesday). Your teenagers also likely would love Put-in-Bay, as there's much to do there besides partying. Kelleys Island also is interesting, especially its famed glacier grooves.

If you're going to be camping alot, try to build flexibility into you trip with many options. Keep in mind that you could run into severe storms, even tornado weather. Some campgrounds are in flood plains, vulnerable to flash floods. Personally, I would invest in a weather radio and familiarize myself with websites such as accuweather.com, which has very good short-term and intermediate-term weather forecasts for every zip code in the U.S. With inexpensive, or even with very good camping equipment, getting caught under a major storm front is not fun (from experience).

Does your family have any interest in American history, especially Civil War battlefields? America is celebrating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War at this time.

Good planning!

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