Sign Up For A Glass Blowing Lesson
New England is a leading region for artisans. Glass blowing is one such art that you can find being done in many towns.
A lot of glassblowing centers offer demonstrations, including Burlingtons Bern Gallery, where theyll help you create your own glass pipe. And then go enjoy, cause weeds legal here. Weee!
Day : New Hampshire To Vermont
- Today youll climb Mount Washington and traverse the Kancamagus Scenic Byway on your way to the Green Mountains of Vermont.
- Drive Time: 2.5 hours
Eat breakfast at the homey White Mountain Cafe and Bookstore, where you can also pick up trail maps and local interest books.
By now you may have noticed the bumper stickers: This Car Climbed Mount Washington. Unless you have a whole day, and are a seasoned mountaineer, the best way to climb New Englands highest peak is via the auto road!
The narrow, two-lane autoroad, completed in 1864, ascends 6,145 ft through a series of steep switchbacks. There are NO guardrails. If this is too much for you, no shame. Sign up for the guided tour, and let someone else do the driving.
The round-trip lasts about three hours, taking you from the leafy hardwood forest through boreal groves of evergreens and birch, gnarled conifers and blueberries, before emerging onto windswept alpine tundra. Most of the year, the summit is snowy, with thrilling views of nearby peaks poking up through the clouds.
At 6,145 feet, Mount Washington may seem puny compared to peaks out west, but dont be fooled due to its location at the intersection of storm tracks from the south and west, the summit experiences some of the most extreme weather conditions on earth. Winds as high as 230 mph have been recorded at the Mount Washington Observatory. You can be reassured that the auto road will be closed if conditions even remotely approach that.
Day 5 Summary:
Take In A Sea Dogs Game In Portland
With its Fenway-inspired Maine Monster and a lighthouse that rises from center field when the home team belts a home run, a summer Sea Dogs game in Portland, Maine, is one of the best and most distinctive minor league experiences in the country.
Viewers are drawn in by the vibrant colors of Sol LeWitts wall drawings at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts.
Gabriela Herman
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Be Haunted By Art At The Gardner
Goose bumps are guaranteed when you stand before what is arguably John Singer Sargents masterwork, the massive, moody 1882 painting El Jaleo, at Bostons Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Then, head upstairs to contemplate the ghostly empty frames left behind in the worlds largest museum heist, in which thieves vanished with 13 priceless works including Rembrandts Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee. After three decades, the arts whereabouts are still unknown.
Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire, is a New England family-favorite.
Aimee Tucker
Things To Know Before Taking A New England Road Trip
- In New England we have highways not freeways.We usually refer to them by number: 495, 91, etc., except for Route 90, which is simply the Pike. This itinerary avoids the Pike because its full of trucks and potholes.
- Watch for deer, moose and wild turkeys! Flocks of wild turkeys are common even in the suburbs. When they decide to cross the road, spare your horn: no power on earth can make them hurry up.
- Drive times can vary dramatically depending on traffic, especially around Boston. We did warn you about the drivers in Boston, right?
- Dont be fooled by our gruff exterior. New Englanders might not seem friendly, but were secretly dying to tell you all about this place we call home. Just dont get my dad started on the geology of Cape Cods Kettle Lakes!
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Reflections On New England Vacation Spots
There is no doubt there are a lot of stunning New England vacation spots for all kinds of travelers. With so much variation from breathtaking nature to vibrant cities, and charming towns, your set for a wonderful trip wherever you choose to go.
New England is also one of the best places to travel for fall colors, so together with a coastline perfect for summer, you can enjoy this part of the country all year round.
The Best Of Massachusetts
Violet Smirnova / TripSavvy
Massachusetts is a small state with a big personality. There’s so much to do here and it’s not just centered around Boston and Cape Cod.
Boston has its fair share of activities. Some of the city’s hottest attractions include the Boston Public Garden, Fenway Park, and Quincy Market . You can also get a dose of history with the Freedom Trail and the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. There’s almost always an event going on in Boston and many activities are free or reasonably priced.
Cape Cod and the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are another top destination in Massachusetts. This is where you’ll find the Pilgrim Monument, though the actual Rock and Mayflower replica are up the coast in Plymouth. The Cape also offers dining, shopping, and plenty of opportunities to enjoy the Atlantic Ocean.
Just down the coast is New Bedford, “The City that Lit the World.” It has a wonderful history of whaling and whale oil and inspired “Moby Dick.”
Massachusetts’ North Shore includes the coastal areas north of Boston. There you will find a number of great towns to explore. It is also where you’ll come across Salem, the place of the infamous witch trials. While Halloween is the best time to visit, the town is in the spirit year-round, so don’t worry if you can only get there in the off-season.
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Bliss Out With A Maple Creemee
While creemee is merely a catch-all term for softserve, a maple creemee is a uniquely Vermont treat: creamier than soft-serve and shot through with the flavor of real maple syrup. The best maple creemees tend to be a little richer than average, and you can find sterling examples at Vermont Cookie Love in North Ferrisburgh, Canteen Creemee Co. in Waitsfield, and Als French Frys in South Burlington.
Listen To Buskers On Church Street In Burlington
Church Street in Burlington is where the action is. This pedestrian-only thoroughfare stretches several blocks, and is lined with shops, restaurants, and lots of street performers.
Its a great place to people watch and listen to local musicians. There are even jugglers, and who knows what else you might see.
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Be Romanced By A Covered Bridge
Back in horse-and-buggy days, covered bridges with lengthy spans were known as kissin bridges, because of the moment of privacy they provided. While we cant recommend such activities in todays faster-moving vehicles, you can sense the interlude that might have been while traversing the 1866 Cornish-Windsor bridge, which crosses the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire, and Windsor, Vermont. Until an Ohio bridge stole the crown in 2008, this 449-foot-long span had been the countrys longest covered bridge. Its still terrifically scenic, as are New Englands other 200-odd covered bridges.
Candy colors and whimsical trim mark one of the gingerbread cottages in the Oak Bluffs Campground on Marthas Vineyard.
Elizabeth Cecil
Whats The History Of New England
We all know the rather truncated and not-always-accurate version that we learned in school: in 1600-something, a bunch of English Puritans seeking religious freedom sailed across the sea in the Mayflower and arrived at Plymouth Rock, some close to death and with absolutely no clue what they were doing. Thanks to the generosity of the Indigenous peoples, their ancestors, and millions of others who followed, they thrived enough to subsequently take over the entire continent. The rest witch hunts and revolutions and all, see Hamilton and The Crucible for details is history.
But what about the history of New England BEFORE the arrival of the Mayflower? Thousands of years before the US declared itself a nation, this northeastern tip of Turtle Island was cared for by the Nipmuc, Massachusetts, Mohegan, Mohican, Narraganset, Nauset, Niantic Schaghticoke, Pocumtuc, Pequot and Wampanoag nations, and the affiliated tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy.
Today, New Englands Native peoples identify as 16 distinct Nations and Tribes. They continue to hold their ground, despite ongoing challenges to their sovereignty, such as in 2020, when the US Department of Interior attempted to revoke the trust status of the Mashpee Wampanoag homelands.
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Check In At A New Hampshire Grand Hotel
Time was, trainloads of wealthy Bostonians and New Yorkers would arrive in New England each summer in search of fresh air and more than a little pampering. Of the castlelike getaways that sprang up to serve them, only a few remain, all in the Granite State. Theres the Mountain View Grand in Whitefield and New Castles Wentworth by the Sea, but the grandest of all is the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods . Step into its Great Hall, replete with soaring ceilings, Tiffany art glass, and crystal chandeliers, and youll immediately fall under the propertys turn-of-the-century spell.
New England In August
Hi all, thanks in advance! Now, I know this is VERY BROAD and might seem rushed, but here it goes: we are car travelling with a 2 and a 4 year old. Very used to travelling on road trips, and coming into the New England area from the midwest. So, here is the sort of question: while we know that the area encompasses potential weeks for travelling, we are not interested in an in depth visit. Just see the highlights and glance through the rest. What you you advise, for a sort of itinerary, considering:
-goal is a coastal trip
-we are allocating 7 days for the area, ideally starting in RI , finishing in Bar Harbor
-some areas considering are Cape Cod, MV or NT, choosing CC for a whole day and one of MV/NT in the interest of time, Newport, Bar Harbor, and then unclear what to see in between
-we have already been to Boston so nothing to see there
-we cannot do long hikings with our kids. It is more of a car and get out to walk around
-we tend to start early AM, nap a bit for the kids, and then the PM
-we are not into museums for the area , but we would like to see little towns, maybe sometime at the beach in some spots, and coastal drive kind of thing
-we budget a full day in Acadia NP, based in Bar Harbor, and consider 1/2 day for Bar Harbor itself
-we are not interested in shopping or nice restaurants
-this is a coastal trip, not inland which we will reserve for a fall trip to include “inland” CT, NH, VT, MA, etc
Thanks again for your valuable input!
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New England Weather In August
Average temperatures for the region stay in the low 80s Fahrenheit, with average low temps dipping into the mid-60s .
Average August Low/High Temperatures
- Hartford, Connecticut: 63 / 82 F
- Providence, Rhode Island: 63 / 81 F
- Boston, Massachusetts: 65 / 80 F
- Burlington, Vermont: 59 / 79 F
- North Conway, New Hampshire: 55 / 78 F
- Portland, Maine: 58 / 78 F
Other Destinations To Consider If You Have Time On A New England Road Trip
If youve got more time and want to see more that New England has to offer, consider visiting these other cool places below:
Providence, RI: The capital of Rhode Island, home to Brown University, historic architecture, and a cool art and nightlife scene.
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH: The largest lake in New Hampshire, located in the heart of the Lakes Region.
Woodstock, VT: A quaint town in central Vermont with historic buildings and beautiful scenery.
Lubec, ME: The easternmost town in the United States. Dont miss the iconic lighthouse that hugs the shoreline!
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Ride The Nostalgia At Canobie Lake Park
It began in 1902 as a lakeside botanical park, but Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire, is still going strong as a beloved old-timey amusement park that hits all the essentials: small-kid-friendly, immaculately clean, a bit homespun, but with just enough legit thrill rides to satisfy adrenaline junkies.
Sip Strawberry Rhubarb Wine At Nashoba Valley Winery
Speaking of romantic, New England is not just about beer, but about wine, too! There are an abundance of wineries producing exceptional wines. One standout is Nashoba Valley Winery in Massachusetts.
There are many unique and even fruity varietals, but strawberry rhubarb wine may be the most distinctive.
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New England In August 2022
I’ve read loads but am still unsure where to book. A family of 4 we are travelling from London next August for 15 nights. The first 3 nights are booked in Boston to help us settle in. We will hire a car and head off on a road trip ideally with 2/3 or 4 nights at each stop over. I like the idea of seeing both Vermont to the north and Rhode Island to the south.
So I’m going to ask you, the good folks of Trip Advisor for some ideas. Please help!?
5 replies to this topic
A bit of all of that! Ideally finding two bases, one towards the coast and one up in vermont
For Rhode Island the obvious choice would be Newport with it’s fun downtown, nice beaches and it’s mansions. However there are other little towns near the coast.
Nearly all of Vermont has what you are looking for, depending on how far you want to drive. I assume you will be driving up I-91. Realize that most towns are quite tiny with minimal dining and lodging. Some towns in the southern part of the state that have restaurants and such would include Guilford, Grafton, Chester and Ludlow. Brattleboro is a fun little city if you want a more urban setting. Springfield is not particularly interesting, but like all of Vermont the surrounding countryside is beautiful. A bit further north is the very popular and picture perfect town of Woodstock.
Catch A Glimpse Of The Underground Railroad
Starting with Vermont, where slavery was outlawed in 1777, New England was an early leader in abolitionwhich meant that when federal fugitive slave laws were enacted, it was at the fore of the now-legendary interracial, interfaith effort that helped slaves escape to freedom. The Underground Railroad passed through more than 80 of the regions cities and towns, and today there are dozens of historical sites tied to that era. Among them: Bostons African Meeting House, the David Ruggles Center , and Rokeby Museum , which stands out for exceptional storytelling and a beautiful rural setting.
The undisputed star of northern New Englands wildlife-watching scene: the moose.
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Take In A Concert At Tanglewood
Right up until rocker Melissa Etheridge hits the last note of her encore on September 3, you havent missed your chance to hear a performance at New Englands most famous fresh-air concert venue. At 80 years old, Tanglewood is as spry as ever, with a summer lineup to enrapture fans of diverse music genres: classical, contemporary, chamber, choral, opera, pop, rock, folk, cinematic. And with ample covered seating and lawn tickets for all shows, sold-out performances are rare, so you can almost always make a spur-of-the-moment decision to pack a picnic and go.
In the span of five days in August, you can watch E.T. on big screens as conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops perform John Williamss Academy Awardwinning score spend an hour doing yoga with an instructor from Kripalu as the Boston Symphony Orchestra rehearses allow the familiar melodies of Beethovens Symphony No. 9 to stir your emotions and sing along with one of the most distinctive voices of a generation, Sting.
Aboard The Maine Steamboat Katahdin
History and wilderness beauty converge during a cruise on the 1914 steamboat Katahdinaffectionately nicknamed the Katewhich once towed tons of logs across New Englands second-largest lake, Moosehead, during the spring log drives that fueled Maines forest economy. Hailed as the last steamboat on Moosehead , the Kate takes you past islands and vistas of the North Woods you wont see any other way.
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Boston Harbor Sightseeing Cruises
Tour Boston by boat – the best way to see the city! Check out these fun sightseeing, music, and entertainment Boston Harbor cruises on the Yacht Northern Lights and Schooner Adirondack III:
Popular Cruises on the Northern Lights:
- Brunch Cruise on the Northern Lights – Savor a delicious 3-course brunch on this relaxing sightseeing cruise around Boston Harbor
- Boston Harbor Cruise on Northern Lights – Soak up Boston’s unique sites and rich history on this comfortable sightseeing cruise around the Harbor – perfect friends and family experience! Refreshments are available for purchase at the bar
- Northern Lights Sunset Cruise – Grab a refreshments from the bar and then relax as you watch the sun set on this sail around the Harbor, just in time to catch the USS Constitution fire its cannons as the sun dips down past the horizon
Sails on the Adirondack III
- Adirondack III Day Sail – Enjoy cool breezes and the afternoon sun on this relaxing sightseeing sail around Boston Harbor and the Inner Harbor Islands
- Adirondack III Sunset Sail – Relax as the setting sun turns the sky brilliant colors
- Adirondack III 90-Minute Mimosa Day Sail – Soak up the sun on this afternoon sail through the Inner Harbor and Harbor Islands with drinks available for purchase at the bar – Starts June 4
Fireworks Cruises
