barbie1570

As a tax preparer I plan a vacation every May-my light at the end of the tunnel. DH and I are both in our late 40's-we enjoy art, history, architecture, dining, shopping and local color. We will be based out of Burlington, MA as we want to spend at least one day in Boston. We have never been to New England.
Her e is what I am planning. Too much? Too little? Good "cross section"?
Monday-Boston (taking subway so we don't have to use the rental in Boston.
I have found Trolley trips in other cities that you can tour/hop on or off-usually gives a good overview of the city since we have such limited time.
Tuesday-Providence RI/New Haven and Bridgeport CT
Wednesday-Salem MA, Portsmouth NH
Thursday Vermont?
Friday-Kennebunkport
Thank you so much for any help!

Cranachin

When you say "based out of" Burlington, what do you mean? If you plan to stay there and do day trips, I would re-think your plan.

Burlington is not on a subway or commuter rail line, so it will be inconvenient for getting into Boston. It is also far enough from everywhere else except Salem and Portsmouth that you will be doing a lot of driving three of those days. Even trying to combine Salem and Portsmouth into a single day is a bit much.

What is in Bridgeport that you want to see? It is not exactly a vacation destination as far as I know.

Why not limit yourself to fewer places and enjoy a more relaxing pace? For example, there is enough to do in the Boston area that you could spend all 5 days here (Boston, Lexington/Concord, Salem/Gloucester/Rockport, etc.). As another example, in May a couple of years ago I did a 5-day trip to the Connecticut coast (Mystic, New Haven) and Rhode Island (mainly Newport) from Boston that was just the right length of time to see and do a lot without being rushed.

Also be aware that May is just the beginning of spring in New England, so the weather can be highly variable. Trees and flowers are budding and blooming, so it is beautiful. BUT — it often rains a lot, especially the first half of the month, and it can be much cooler than you might expect. The latter half of the month sees better weather, although it can still be cool.

Dreamer2

Hi there!
You are trying to do a lot in five days! From where are you coming? And which airport are you using? (You may want to use Providence or Manchester, NH.) I take it you will rent a car for the day trips? Are you planning to return to Burlington every night, or just keep going? I think you'd be better off with the latter, unless you prefer a single home base.

So, I would probably cut the visit to RI and CT - unless you are going to visit Newport. You could visit Newport for a day, then head over to Cape Cod and Boston. Alternatively, you could visit Newport the day before you fly home. If you include Newport, you may want to drop Vermont and keep the trip coastal.

If you go to Vermont, I'd recommend the Woodstock and Queechee area, as you don't want to head too far north or west, if the Maine coast and Boston are to be included.

You can use Rt. 89 to cut east, and then head north to Kennebunkport and Ogunquit, Maine.

Then head south to Portsmouth, NH and Salem, MA; sort of the completion of a loops from the Burlington, MA area.

If you return every night to Burlington, you may want to plan two days in Boston, one in Newport, one for Cape Ann (Salem, Gloucester, Rockport), and one for Portsmouth, NH or Kennebunkport and Ogunquit, Maine.

By the way, Boston does have the hop on/hop off trolley tour, and also a fun amphibious Duck Tour. Also try to take in the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum.

The Newport Mansions are amazing. There are Cliff Walks along the shore in both Newport and Ogunquit. Fun shops and wonderful restaurants in Kport and Ogunquit. In Salem don't miss the House of 7 Gables, and in Gloucester the Hammond Castle Museum is a must. You would love Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth. Vermont has St. Gaudens historical site and the Billings Farm museum.

I'm sure many others will have lots of advice. Best wishes for a smooth tax season and a great vacation!

barbie1570

Thank you! We are staying at a hotel that shuttles you to the subway into Boston. We are staying there nightly. I did more research and I see that I am smack dab in the middle of commencement week for Yale and Harvard. Should I plan around this? I think I am trying to hard to fit in too much. We only get to travel once a year-so I try to pack in a lot in a short time.

Vttraveler

I would recommend cutting out the trip to Providence, New Haven and Bridgeport unless there are people/sights you especially want to see in one of these places. As others have noted, there is lots to see in the Boston area. Concord is full of interesting Revolutionary War and literary history sites. Farther west in MA, you could explore Historic Deerfield and maybe some of the hill towns of the eastern Berkshires.

I don't know about commencement week for Yale and New Haven, but commencement at Harvard doesn't really affect Boston. It does make Cambridge more crowded especially as there are big reunions that week, too.

a slight correction to one of the other posts: the St. Gaudens historic site is in Cornish, N.H., right over the Ct river from Vt.

Bowsprit

You're staying in Burlington? (where's Burlington??)

I suggest staying in Massachusetts too. There's a lot to see there. (Bridgeport CT? Hmm, second time I've seen it on a travel site as a destination and I'm confused as to why).

Visit Boston, take a day trip to the North Shore,(or take the ferry from Boston to Provincetown on Cape Cod for a real treat); continue to explore Massachusetts by visiting the Berkshires and going to Lenox, Mass and seeing the nearby Norman Rockwell Museum (outstanding) or the Clark Museum (very great). You can take a look at the Berkshire Art scene here:


http://www.berkshireart.com/berkshire-museums.html

capxxx

I like Dreamer2's plan -- limit your trip to desitnations north of Boston (and into Boston) if you want to sleep nights in Burlington. You could also get up to Lake Winnepesaukee, NH area fairly easily.

(Burlington is a suburb north of Boston, with lots of malls.)

dfrostnh

I would split my stay between 2 areas since I think if you stay in Burlington you are going to get pretty sick of the interstates. I highly recommend a culinary tour of either Boston's North End (Italian) or Chinatown. The Chinatown tour ends with a dim sum lunch which would leave you time to take a duck tour or trolley. For a museum, you should see the JFK library. Book early if you choose a Chinatown tour because they limit the number of people and it's not given every day of the week. We had trouble getting a May date last year but no trouble in June.
Portsmouth/Salem and Kennebunk are so close that you would have more time in each of these if you stayed somewhere around Portsmouth. I keep hearing good things about the Lowell historic mills area which isn't too far from Burlington. Perhaps check out of your hotel in Burlington, spend the day in Salem and Newburyport and head to Portsmouth. Plan a whole day in Portsmouth. The parking garage is near the boat dock for boat tours then you can go over to Strawbery Banke historic area. Portsmouth also has some great restaurants.
From Portsmouth it's about 45 minutes to Concord NH via Rt 4 (more scenic but traffic can be a problem esp in the antique shops area). There's Canterbury Shaker Village just north of Concord or continue to VT via Rt 89 which would get you to the Woodstock/Quechee area of VT.
I think from Burlington MA you can be in Providence in about an hour or less but I would cut the CT destinations from your itinerary.

barbie1570

Oh you people are fabulous.
I should mention-we live in Oregon. So this means we are used to doing a lot of driving. We will do a 2 hour drive(each way) to go to our favorite store. And, we like to be able to say how many states we have been to. We will count it as "visited" even if that means we simply had a layover at an airport. Family rule is you have to use the bathroom in a state for it to "count".

wyatt92

Don't stay in Burlington. It's super inconvenient to get into Boston and it's not a quaint or cute city at all.

You have too much planned. Forget VT as a day trip, it's really too far to do much of anything.

Bridgeport CT is...not nice. New Haven is about a 3 or so hour drive from Boston and you can get stuck in bad traffic. I suppose it does have some charms but I really don't see the point of heading there for a day trip.

I'd base yourself in Boston for 3 nights.
Daytrip to Portsmouth NH and Kennebunkport ME
Then head to RI and stay in Newport for 2 nights. You could visit Providence and Mystic CT.

It would still be packing a lot in but it would be more reasonable than your plan, which is all driving and no seeing or doing anything.

tchoiniere

Bridgeport is on the opposite end of the state from where you will be and it is not a pleasant drive. Just go to Mystic and use that as your state visit. More scenic and closer. There is no reason to go to Bridgeport.

Vttraveler

In my husband's family the rule for counting a state is that you have to touch "real ground," i.e. dirt. Airports are not counted although I have tried to convince them that flowerpots work.

barbie1570

Vttraveler-I am afraid my husband would combine the rules- and "water the plant"!!!! I am stuck staying at the Staybridge Suites in Burlington-I purchase a package through Priceline. I do think I will take your advice and do more time in Boston. If we don't make it to 5 states-we will just have to plan another trip!!!!

Cranachin

barbie--

"We are staying at a hotel that shuttles you to the subway into Boston."

According to the Priceline website for this deal, the "subway shuttle" only applies weekends between 8 AM and 5 PM.

The hotel website says they have a complimentary shuttle within a 5-mile radius, but the nearest subway station, Alewife, is (according to them) 12 miles away ($40 cab ride each way). The nearest commuter rail station, Woburn-Anderson, is (according to them) 6 miles away ($26 cab ride each way).

Well, it looks like the Mishawum commuter rail station in Woburn might be a little closer. And it is possible that the commuter rail stations are technically within a 5-mile RADIUS of the hotel, although they are more than a 5-mile DRIVE - so if they are, you could print out the website and point out what it says and insist they honor their promise.

Otherwise, if you get up early enough you might be able to find parking at the commuter rail parking lots – don't know how many spaces they have, though. The train into Boston will be $4.75 each way for each of you.

The subway costs less to ride ($2.00 per ride, or $1.70 per ride if you buy a stored-value Charlie card). If you plan to ride the subway a total of 9 or more times, though, you will be better off buying a 7-day pass for $15 each.

Cranachin

For more info on the T (subway) and commuter rail, go to www.mbta.com