Thinking about putting together a family road trip (1 Viewer)

[TheIronSheik]

What's the best way to go about this? I have some destinations (or cities) I want to see, but to be honest, I don't really know anything about the cities or what to see in them. Also, what, if anything, can be seen along the way as we travel from destination to destination?

I want to go to Montreal, then Maine (probably Portland), then to relatives in Newport, RI. I've been to every east coast/northeast state except for ME, NH and VT, so I'm hoping to cross them off the list. The Rhode Island part of the trip is easy, as we'd stay with my family and they'd show us the town.

The real issue would be what to see in Montreal and Maine, while also charting a trip through Vermont and New Hampshire that might have some small interesting stops along the way.

Is there a site that can help?

TIA
TIS

 

[fred_1_15301]

I can't help you much but someone who can will probably also need to know how long you plan to stay in each city. I had a conference in Montreal a few years ago and there is a lot to see and do. However, will need a better sense of how long you have in the city.

 

[Thorn]

Portland Maine Thread

How much time will you have?

ETA: think this is a better thread, more info.

 

[rick6668]

Did New England last year.

Here's my thread

Lots of good ideas posted by a bunch of helpful FBG's here.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Still just in the early stages of thinking about it, but I'd say maybe a day in each city. Nothing major.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Did New England last year.

Here's my thread

Lots of good ideas posted by a bunch of helpful FBG's here.

That sounds like it was an awesome trip.

 

[rick6668]

Did New England last year.

Here's my thread

Lots of good ideas posted by a bunch of helpful FBG's here.

That sounds like it was an awesome trip.

It was. Lots of good suggestions in there. Let me know if you have any questions.

Are you driving to Montreal? Where from?

 

[fred_1_15301]

A day in Montreal, you could see the botanical gardens (probably will kill a couple hours and the Olympic park is across the street) and walk around the historic old town. You'll find some good places to eat lunch in old town. Also, perhaps do a drive/hike/bike ride up Mount Royal. For one meal, poutine is a must. Do some research on the best places for poutine.

 

[comfortably numb]

Still just in the early stages of thinking about it, but I'd say maybe a day in each city. Nothing major.

Where do you live?

When you say a day in each city, are you talking about a 4 day trip or week long?

How many people are in this family of yours?

Do you like outdoorsy stuff? trails/hikes/mountains?

Museums/History?

Do you want to relax on a beach?

 

[TheIronSheik]

Still just in the early stages of thinking about it, but I'd say maybe a day in each city. Nothing major.

Where do you live?

When you say a day in each city, are you talking about a 4 day trip or week long?

How many people are in this family of yours?

Do you like outdoorsy stuff? trails/hikes/mountains?

Museums/History?

Do you want to relax on a beach?

We live outside of Philly. So it says it's about 7 1/2 hours to drive to Montreal. Figure that would be Day 1. And if there's anything to see along the way in upstate NY, we could probably stop and check it out. I'd like to spend a whole day in Montreal. As for the other cities/states, I don't know. This all came about because I wanted to drive to Montreal, but then thought instead of spending a week there, we could spend a week throughout the Northeast.

Family consists of my, my fiance and our daughter who would be 12 next summer. Outdoorsy? I am. I'd rank them around a 5 out of 10. History? Yes. Love historical things. If I can squeeze in some learning amongst the fun, that would be great. Beach? That would be a big yes for everyone. But at the same time, we'd probably still go down the Jersey Shore at some point that summer, too, so beach isn't a requirement.

 

[fred_1_15301]

Still just in the early stages of thinking about it, but I'd say maybe a day in each city. Nothing major.

Where do you live?

When you say a day in each city, are you talking about a 4 day trip or week long?

How many people are in this family of yours?

Do you like outdoorsy stuff? trails/hikes/mountains?

Museums/History?

Do you want to relax on a beach?

We live outside of Philly. So it says it's about 7 1/2 hours to drive to Montreal. Figure that would be Day 1. And if there's anything to see along the way in upstate NY, we could probably stop and check it out. I'd like to spend a whole day in Montreal. As for the other cities/states, I don't know. This all came about because I wanted to drive to Montreal, but then thought instead of spending a week there, we could spend a week throughout the Northeast.

Family consists of my, my fiance and our daughter who would be 12 next summer. Outdoorsy? I am. I'd rank them around a 5 out of 10. History? Yes. Love historical things. If I can squeeze in some learning amongst the fun, that would be great. Beach? That would be a big yes for everyone. But at the same time, we'd probably still go down the Jersey Shore at some point that summer, too, so beach isn't a requirement.

You can probably stop at Lake George or Lake Placid along the way. My wife and I did that on our drive back from Montreal to Philly.

 

[comfortably numb]

Still just in the early stages of thinking about it, but I'd say maybe a day in each city. Nothing major.

Where do you live?

When you say a day in each city, are you talking about a 4 day trip or week long?

How many people are in this family of yours?

Do you like outdoorsy stuff? trails/hikes/mountains?

Museums/History?

Do you want to relax on a beach?

We live outside of Philly. So it says it's about 7 1/2 hours to drive to Montreal. Figure that would be Day 1. And if there's anything to see along the way in upstate NY, we could probably stop and check it out. I'd like to spend a whole day in Montreal. As for the other cities/states, I don't know. This all came about because I wanted to drive to Montreal, but then thought instead of spending a week there, we could spend a week throughout the Northeast.

Family consists of my, my fiance and our daughter who would be 12 next summer. Outdoorsy? I am. I'd rank them around a 5 out of 10. History? Yes. Love historical things. If I can squeeze in some learning amongst the fun, that would be great. Beach? That would be a big yes for everyone. But at the same time, we'd probably still go down the Jersey Shore at some point that summer, too, so beach isn't a requirement.

Cooperstown... Hall of Fame mean anything to you guys?

Will you do a BnB?

Stupid question...

you guys all have your passport info updated?

 

[rick6668]

You're not too far from Lake Placid if you want to stop on your way. 7 1/2 hour drive is long though and doesn't give you much time to stop.

From Montreal, it depends on what you want to see. I'd highly recommend Bar Harbor, but that's another long drive and sets you up for more driving down the coast back to RI. I did it and it was enjoyable, just depends on you. If you want to hit up Bar Harbor, then check my thread for places along the way and afterward.

I used Trip Advisor to investigate places that were along the way before I left to see what we'd like.

 

[fred_1_15301]

You're not too far from Lake Placid if you want to stop on your way. 7 1/2 hour drive is long though and doesn't give you much time to stop.

From Montreal, it depends on what you want to see. I'd highly recommend Bar Harbor, but that's another long drive and sets you up for more driving down the coast back to RI. I did it and it was enjoyable, just depends on you. If you want to hit up Bar Harbor, then check my thread for places along the way and afterward.

I used Trip Advisor to investigate places that were along the way before I left to see what we'd like.

Yup it is a long drive. We hung out in Lake Placid for a couple hours and then ended up staying over night in Albany.

 

[rick6668]

BTW, I put together a binder for the trip with maps on where we were going each day and printouts of things we may want to do with information on times/etc all broken down with tabs for each day. My family loved this. I actually put a couple of blank pages at the end of each day so each family member could write what they did and what they liked each day of the trip. I saved the brochures we got from the places we visited and the ticket stubs etc. I'm really glad I did this. It's a great keepsake and will definitely be fun to go back and read what each of us wrote.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Still just in the early stages of thinking about it, but I'd say maybe a day in each city. Nothing major.

Where do you live?

When you say a day in each city, are you talking about a 4 day trip or week long?

How many people are in this family of yours?

Do you like outdoorsy stuff? trails/hikes/mountains?

Museums/History?

Do you want to relax on a beach?

We live outside of Philly. So it says it's about 7 1/2 hours to drive to Montreal. Figure that would be Day 1. And if there's anything to see along the way in upstate NY, we could probably stop and check it out. I'd like to spend a whole day in Montreal. As for the other cities/states, I don't know. This all came about because I wanted to drive to Montreal, but then thought instead of spending a week there, we could spend a week throughout the Northeast.

Family consists of my, my fiance and our daughter who would be 12 next summer. Outdoorsy? I am. I'd rank them around a 5 out of 10. History? Yes. Love historical things. If I can squeeze in some learning amongst the fun, that would be great. Beach? That would be a big yes for everyone. But at the same time, we'd probably still go down the Jersey Shore at some point that summer, too, so beach isn't a requirement.

Cooperstown... Hall of Fame mean anything to you guys?

Will you do a BnB?

Stupid question...

you guys all have your passport info updated?

Cooperstown is going to be a separate trip. Don't know about BnB. Like I said, I really am starting at 0 here and just trying to get ideas. The 7 1/2 hours isn't too bad. This summer we're driving out to Cincinnati to see my brother and that's like 9 hours.

Passports are all good and ready to go.

 

[TheIronSheik]

BTW, I put together a binder for the trip with maps on where we were going each day and printouts of things we may want to do with information on times/etc all broken down with tabs for each day. My family loved this. I actually put a couple of blank pages at the end of each day so each family member could write what they did and what they liked each day of the trip. I saved the brochures we got from the places we visited and the ticket stubs etc. I'm really glad I did this. It's a great keepsake and will definitely be fun to go back and read what each of us wrote.

That's a cool idea.

As far as what we want to see, I'm not even really sure. Like I said, I've never been to those three states, so it's all new to me. We had talked about wanting to go to Maine a while back and then we thought, "Umm... I'm not sure why, though." I just know we wanted to go up there, but no idea why.

It doesn't have to be the must see thing of each state. We take a lot of road trips and so did our families as kids. We just really enjoy seeing new places. So the journey is just as much fun as each destination, if that makes sense.

 

[rick6668]

BTW, I put together a binder for the trip with maps on where we were going each day and printouts of things we may want to do with information on times/etc all broken down with tabs for each day. My family loved this. I actually put a couple of blank pages at the end of each day so each family member could write what they did and what they liked each day of the trip. I saved the brochures we got from the places we visited and the ticket stubs etc. I'm really glad I did this. It's a great keepsake and will definitely be fun to go back and read what each of us wrote.

That's a cool idea.

As far as what we want to see, I'm not even really sure. Like I said, I've never been to those three states, so it's all new to me. We had talked about wanting to go to Maine a while back and then we thought, "Umm... I'm not sure why, though." I just know we wanted to go up there, but no idea why.

It doesn't have to be the must see thing of each state. We take a lot of road trips and so did our families as kids. We just really enjoy seeing new places. So the journey is just as much fun as each destination, if that makes sense.

Perfect sense. That's what we tried t do as well with our trip. Lots of driving along the coast and such and then, Hey, that looks cool. Let's stop and take a look.

I can't think of anything we did on our trip where I'd say, I wish we didn't do that. So I'd recommend it all. Really depends on what you want to do.

 

[comfortably numb]

Just spit balling destinations/ideas

Day 1 Philly to Montreal

spend night in Montreal see city etc..

Day 2

Wake up do more Montreal things til the afternoon then drive to Burlington VT (under 2 hours) Spend night in Burlington

https://www.google.c...iw=1680&bih=965

Day 3

Wake up do some Burlington stuff and take a 30 min ride to Shelburne museum

https://www.google.c...iw=1680&bih=965

Drive to Franconia NH state park within 2 hours and spend night

https://www.google.c...ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg

Day 4

Wake up go see the park, then drive over to Boothbay Harbor (3 hours) and spend the night

https://www.google.c...iw=1680&bih=965

Day 5

Wake up in the morning and take a Ferry from Boothbay to Monhegan Island https://www.google.c...iw=1680&bih=965

Spend a nice relaxing night there. The Island is beautiful and seems like a throwback to 100 years ago.

Day 6

Wake up get on Ferry back to Boothbay drive to Portland for an hour spend day there in evening drive 3+ hours to Newport, RI with family

Day 7

Wake up go to beach do Newport things and in afternoon drive home to Philly and get back home late

or....just forget this all and go plant your ### in Wildwood for the week

 

[E-Z Glider]

Have you checked Tripadvisor? Just enter your destination and click things to do.

 

[Bull Dozier]

Weird, I normally go places that I already know what I want to do instead of picking cities to cross off a list and then trying to figure out what to do once I'm there.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Have you checked Tripadvisor? Just enter your destination and click things to do.

I did, but I was looking for maybe first hand recommendations. Plus, the destinations are the easy part. The points between are the tough ones.