Seeking 2 weeks Vermont, NH, Maine must do ideas

[jayco304]

Thinking of about 2 weeks in Northeast during summer of 2019. Will have two girls ages 7 and 9 along for the trip. They want to do Acadia NP.

How much time should we allow for Acadia?
With any remaining time what are other must see items in Maine, VT, or NH?

We will be coming from North Carolina so if there are other must see item and time allows we would like ideas.

Thanks

[mike_brez]

vermilye wrote:
If the campgrounds at Acadia are full, check out Lamoine State Park. About a 20 minute drive from Acadia National Park. Dry camping, but bathrooms with showers. You can get a lobster dinner (cooked or raw) delivered to your campsite:

Looks good. I bet that Scamp gets as cold as a meat locker with that a/c

[mike_brez]

DrewE wrote:
These are somewhat in order of decreasing levels of recommendation.

The cog railway up Mt Washington (or the auto road, but I'd prefer the railway myself) is a good option too. Be prepared for chilly and windy conditions at the top...sometimes very, very windy.

The Shelburne Museum is worth a (full) day. The collection is large and very eclectic, including impressionist and american art, a steamboat, historic buildings and interiors, duck decoys, a carousel, hat boxes, and a whole lot more. This is not far at all from the Vermont Teddy Bear factory. Also not too far away is Mt Philo state park, which has a carriage road and pretty easy hiking trails to the top with very nice views over Lake Champlain. (You really do not want to attempt to take your RV on the carriage road!) Also somewhat in the vicinity is the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, which I haven't seen myself but I understand is a decent museum, though no Mystic Seaport.

If you like hiking, there are heaps of options throughout northern New England, ranging from easy to quite challenging.

The Fairbanks Museum in St Johnsbury, VT is a fun little natural history (mostly) museum, and sort of a museum that time forgot. Some of the taxidermy specimens are usually popular with kids, as are the pictures made from insects.

Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH is a fine medium-sized traditional amusement park.

The Montshire Museum a little north of White River Junction is a decent science museum geared towards children. (The name comes from verMONT and new hampSHIRE.) It's not really much different from many other fine little museums scattered around the country, so I would skip it before some other things.

If you're interested in tools, there are a couple of museums in Vermont that are good stops. The American Precision Museum in Windsor has a lot of machine tools. Kitty-corner across the state, there's the (free, but only open on Saturdays) Arnold Zlotoff Tool Museum at the Apple Island Resort in South Hero, which has an impressive collection of antique hand tools.

While in Shelburne stop in Folino's pizza then step next door and grab a Fiddlehead beer to go along with it. Then right across the street is Shelburne Vineyard.
I'll second Mt. Philo easy hike with a great view.
Apple Island is one of my favorite places to stay.

[vermilye]

If the campgrounds at Acadia are full, check out Lamoine State Park. About a 20 minute drive from Acadia National Park. Dry camping, but bathrooms with showers. You can get a lobster dinner (cooked or raw) delivered to your campsite:

[Crowe]

The Old Sow is in Eastport, about 117 miles northeast of Bar Harbor. It's affected by the same tides as the Bay of Fundy.

[tewitt1949]

I agree with previous posts. One that hasn't been mentioned is the Maine Transportation Museum. All types of transportation. cars, planes, motorcycles, bikes, steam, engine display and more.

Don't know how interesting you would think it is, but the "Old Sow" is one of the biggest whirl pools. Its north east of bar harbor clear at the top of the coast line. Every 6 hours the tide raises and falls about 20ft.


https://www.google.com/search?q=old+sow+whirlpool+map&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS602US602&oq=ols+sow+ma&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l4.7373j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[westernrvparkow]

Make allowancesi n your plans for extremely slow traffic jams if you are driving the Maine highway 1. Also, on the weekends the traffic is horrific in all directions from Boston outward.

[JoeH]

We spend 5-6 weeks for the last 10 years in and around Acadia... but we like to hike,bike,kayak and hand out in Bar Harbor. With your girls, I'd think 3-4 days would be a good introduction, hitting the high points. As other mentioned, Old Orchard Beach is more touristy and will probably be more to the liking of the kids. Nice beach, amusement park on the beach and waterparks and other activities over on US1

[mdcamping]

jayco304 wrote:
Thinking of about 2 weeks in Northeast during summer of 2019. Will have two girls ages 7 and 9 along for the trip. They want to do Acadia NP.

How much time should we allow for Acadia?
With any remaining time what are other must see items in Maine, VT, or NH? Thanks

If I remember, about 5 days was enough for us on our Acadia trip that we did 15 yrs ago. On your way back west might I suggest a few days at Old Orchard Beach ME, Water parks, amusement parks, board walks, beaches and loads of family campgrounds in the area. Your kids will love it! Bayley's, Powder horn, hid'n pines, Paradise park all get great Reviews

Mike

[mkc]

jkwilson wrote:
For mainland Acadia, parking is a mess and getting there early is very important.

also plan your visit to Bar Harbor/Acadia around the cruise ship schedules (choose non-ship dates). Some of them dump a few thousand tourists into the area when they dock and it can overwhelm the area.

Bar Harbor Cruise Ship impact

[Dick_B]

Do a Google search for `_______ tourism' and put the city, state, or area in the blank space and read what the specialists recommend and let the kids review the info also.

[jkwilson]

Acadia is beautiful, but a 7 and 9 year old may run out of interest after a day or two. Every little Maine coastal town, including Bar Harbor has its charm and interesting sights.

For mainland Acadia, parking is a mess and getting there early is very important. I'd recommend getting to the visitor center before 8 and riding the (free) bus for most of the attractions one day, then doing Cadillac another morning. You can only get to the summit of Cadillac by private vehicle (includes private tour buses) or a pretty vigorous hike, and the lot fills quickly. If you like to hike, do it. I still have my sense of superiority from us old farts hiking to the top and watching the tour buses unloading their passengers up there 😉

The Kancamagus Highway from Conway to Lincoln, NH is worth a drive, even without the incredible fall colors. Several cool waterfalls right on the road or short hikes. Conway and Lincoln are both reasonable drives to the cog railway, which is pretty interesting. Reservations are a good idea for that.

The Lakes Region of New Hampshire is beautiful. Squam Lake is where "On Golden Pond" was filmed. Castle in the Clouds is a bit of an oddball place that is interesting.

Ben&Jerry's is a neat stop.

Vermont Country Stores in Weston and Rockingham, VT might be an interesting half-hour break if you are in the area already. Wouldn't drive far to see them.

IMO, Salem is just a tourist trap. The Boston area has more real history. Lexington and Concord, The USS Constitution, The North Church etc.. Stay well out of Boston and use public transit to get into town. Cape Cod is "nice", but not amazing. Traffic can be bad on Friday and Sunday evening. Fact is I'd plan to not travel near the coast on Friday or Sunday afternoon/evening just because of the mass of people heading out of Boston to get away for the weekend.

Newport, Rhode Island is a very nice day. On an island (with bridges) so it stays pretty cool. Several incredible mansions that will blow you away.

If you want to go further west, upstate New York is a great place. Watkins Glen, Corning and the Finger Lakes region are nice places. Waterfalls, the Corning Glass museum and many other pretty places.

If you want to go even further west, Niagara Falls would be a must-see, but Letchworth state park will be more popular with the kids and is probably prettier but not quite as awe inspiring as Niagara.

You'll run out of time before you run out of things to see.

Plan your route on paper. Your GPS will probably push you very close to New York City, and the tolls and traffic there are tough. Better to drive a little further and stay west of that mess.

Speaking of tolls, an EZPass would be a good investment if you plan to be on any of the toll roads. Mass Turnpike and New York Throughway in particular. It's not just not needing money. In some of those places you'll have to exit to a toll booth to pay, then get back on. EZPass is a big time saver.

[Tvov]

Acadia is all about bicycling and hiking - and driving up to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see the sunrise (first spot on the continental USA to get hit by sun in the morning). Definitely can spend a week there (that is what we've done with older teenagers who are outdoorsy) if that is what you want to do, but... are your girls going to want to do that for 5 days? You might want to think like 3 days - one day for hiking, one day for bicycling and Jordan Pond House for lunch, one day for Cadillac Mountain sunrise and a couple other spots.

In Connecticut, if you can, check out Gillette Castle. Mystic Seaport is good. I wouldn't make an effort to see Mystic Aquarium - it has been years since I've been there, but I thought it was pretty ho-hum.

[gbopp]

Definitely stop in Freeport Maine. It's a nice town and you can overnight in their parking lot.

[DrewE]

These are somewhat in order of decreasing levels of recommendation.

The cog railway up Mt Washington (or the auto road, but I'd prefer the railway myself) is a good option too. Be prepared for chilly and windy conditions at the top...sometimes very, very windy.

The Shelburne Museum is worth a (full) day. The collection is large and very eclectic, including impressionist and american art, a steamboat, historic buildings and interiors, duck decoys, a carousel, hat boxes, and a whole lot more. This is not far at all from the Vermont Teddy Bear factory. Also not too far away is Mt Philo state park, which has a carriage road and pretty easy hiking trails to the top with very nice views over Lake Champlain. (You really do not want to attempt to take your RV on the carriage road!) Also somewhat in the vicinity is the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, which I haven't seen myself but I understand is a decent museum, though no Mystic Seaport.

If you like hiking, there are heaps of options throughout northern New England, ranging from easy to quite challenging.

The Fairbanks Museum in St Johnsbury, VT is a fun little natural history (mostly) museum, and sort of a museum that time forgot. Some of the taxidermy specimens are usually popular with kids, as are the pictures made from insects.

Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH is a fine medium-sized traditional amusement park.

The Montshire Museum a little north of White River Junction is a decent science museum geared towards children. (The name comes from verMONT and new hampSHIRE.) It's not really much different from many other fine little museums scattered around the country, so I would skip it before some other things.

If you're interested in tools, there are a couple of museums in Vermont that are good stops. The American Precision Museum in Windsor has a lot of machine tools. Kitty-corner across the state, there's the (free, but only open on Saturdays) Arnold Zlotoff Tool Museum at the Apple Island Resort in South Hero, which has an impressive collection of antique hand tools.