We have a trip planned to Acadia next week. We were supposed to be traveling with friends who live north of Boston. The original plan was to drive to them and spend a night there before completing the rest of the drive to split up the travel. They’ve had a family emergency and will no longer be joining us.
We were thinking about adding on a day to the trip and driving up further west (91 through MA and VT) before cutting over and heading east. Having just spent last weekend sitting in a 270 mile traffic jam from Boston to NJ, we’re eager to avoid that corridor. Looking for a great place to stop along the way for a night or two. We will have our bikes with us, and love a good ride, interested in breweries and wineries, antique shops and places with a good food scene. I know it is so last minute and accommodations might be tricky, but figured I’d ask. Suggestions for a good town to visit?
Vermont is wonderful. If you’re road biking check out Burlington and the Island Line Trail. If you brought MTBs, look at Cochrans. Burlington itself is right on Lake Champlain and has a great food, wine, and beer scene.
Burlington might be a little too far west…for folks who are just adding a day on their way to Acadia.
Woodstock VT is lovely. And a nice stop.
You might want to look for something near here. Hildene is amazing.
The Lincoln Family’s summer home, known as Hildene, is located in Manchester, Vermont. Several lodging options are available nearby. Kimpton Taconic Hotel offers a package including tickets to Hildene, while the Riverbank Motel & Cabins and Indian Head Resort in Lincoln, NH, are also relatively close and offer a variety of accommodations and amenities
We did the drive from New Jersey to Massachusetts not all that long ago. We usually take the Tappan Zee / Mario Cuomo bridge to 684 to 84. However, for some reason our GPS instead sent us up 87 to 84 on the New York side, then crossing the Hudson and over to Connecticut on 84. This is slightly longer in distance, but might have been to avoid the traffic that you mentioned. 87 was fine and 84 wasn’t all that bad. From the Mass Pike I would then take 495 up to 95 rather than 128. Whether to cut through Worcester is optional and we go either way from time to time, mostly depending upon what the GPS tells us to do.
One option might be to stay in Portsmouth New Hampshire on the way up. I do not know about wineries, but there are breweries and restaurants and antique shops, and comfortable but cute hotels. It is a bit quaint and old and a bit touristy, but we have stayed there and liked it.
I did also wonder about Woodstock VT. You could then take 89 to 202 to 95 to Maine. I am not sure how 202 would be (we took it once, but it was a long time ago).
For all of this you might want to pay attention to the time and day of the week and what the traffic is likely to do. We had a recent trip from somewhere near Boston to somewhere near Brunswick and as we were driving north we noticed that the traffic going south at one point was pretty close to a 50 mile parking lot, but we were doing fine driving in the other direction. Then on the way back the southern direction was fine. We don’t do the drive northbound on Friday unless we leave Boston very early (ugh) or late (at least after dinner), and don’t do the drive back south on Sunday for most of the day.
We have done the drive from NJ to Bar Harbor several times. We have stopped in Boston (my daughter lives there). We have also stopped in Portsmouth NH (mentioned already by somebody).
We like the route mentioned with the saw mill to 684 to 84 to 95. If you wanted to do something different you could do the NYS thruway north to Mass Pike and spend a night in the Berkshires (Normal Rockwell museum is excellent there). I believe there are wineries there and biking places.
Keep in mind that if you are heading north you will get off the Mass Pike and take 495 and miss some of the Boston area traffic.
We have 15 years worth of several times per year travel between NJ and Boston and have done every variation known to man and had it take as little as 4.5 hours and as long as 9.
Given that we don’t need to actually be in or near Boston, we’re completely willing to go far out of our way to avoid it, as well as I-84, the Mass Pike east of Sturbridge, I-95 between NYC and Boston, or the Merritt. If I could avoid the GSP I would, but alas, that’s the only must travel on our route. Do I sound like a person who just endured a weekend in Boston bookended by two separate 7.5 hour drives (!) to and from? Yes, yes I do.
We are thinking 87 to 90 to 91 to 2…lots of extra driving, but hoping it is a quiet route. Woodstock, VT looks like a good option.
Are you referring to Tourists Welcome (inn and restaurant)? If so, it’s not on Route 2, it’s in North Adams. We’ve been there twice. It’s a great place to stay and the restaurant is quite good too. North Adams is home to two great galleries–Mass MOCA and the Clarke Art Institute.
The hotel I stayed in was simply called TOURISTS and it was on Rte. 2 just outside of town. Yes, it has a North Adams address. And yes, it does have a restaurant.
We just spent a night in Manchester VT at the Wilburton Inn, after attending a play at the Dorset Theatre Festival.
We had the expansive grounds of the inn to ourselves on a beautiful Wednesday.
I can highly recommend The Silver Fork restaurant in Manchester.
I’m a little foggy on how far out of the way this would be for you, but consider stopping in Shelburne Falls on Route 2. Route 91 also takes you right by Northampton MA, home to Smith College. Amherst MA, with the Emily Dickinson Museum, is about a 25 minute drive from 91 (or Route 2, for that matter). Route 2 is a very pretty drive.
The Shelburne Falls area and Amherst are hidden gems, IMO.
Check out Shelburne Springs near Shelburne Falls as possible accommodations.
Just drove from Peterborough NH to Saugerties NY as part of a road trip - no use of 95 for that. Message me if you want info about things to do around Peterborough.
After being closed for a year for renovations, the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls has reopened. Must see for gardeners and flower lovers. Lots of funky shops in town as well. There is a knife factory that has a true factory store on the river that carries all kinds of very nice cutlery and kitchen gear.
Having also just done the NJ to Boston trip last week, I recommend avoiding driving through CT as much as possible. The trip north took over 6 hours for a predicted 5.25 trip while the return took more than 7.
This is so true! Connecticut traffic is worse than New York’s. At a minimum, avoid lower Fairfield County. Take 684 up to 84 East or take the Taconic up to I-90.
Remember that going west-east across New England gets increasingly more complicated and time consuming north of the Mass Pike and the slower but scenic Route 2.
Vermont is wonderful, but boy, is it hard to get to/from there from Maine. It will take you a lot longer than you think by looking at the map. We don’t go to Vermont often just because of the hassle. Summer traffic will be tough, too.
Are you originating in NJ? I might want to break the trip in half. The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, MA is quaint and you could investigate concerts at Tanglewood. It’s still a long drive to Bar Harbor from there though.
