It was a whirlwind trip but so much fun!!
We also included some southern states and stops in case you want your road trip itinerary to take you all the way from Maine down to the Florida .
Here is a summary of the stops we recommend: Stowe, VT | Lincoln, NH | Acadia National Park | Boston, MA | Newport, RI | Mystic, CT | New York City | Cape May, NJ | Philadelphia, PA | Delaware | Washington, DC | Shenandoah NP | Asheville, NC | Charleston, SC | Savannah, GA | St Augustine, FL | Orlando, FL | Florida Keys
Map Of East Coast Road Trip
The first map shows the first half of the trip.
This map shows the 2nd half of the trip.
Vermont – 2 Nights
Vermont is known for its green mountains, maple syrup, cider, wineries, breweries and gorgeous covered bridges. We tried to cover all of that when we visited!!
Ben and Jerry’s ice cream was also started here – we ran out of time and weren’t able to visit. But this is something else you may want to add to your list.
Burlington, Vermont
Church Street in Burlington
This fun college town has the famous Church Street – the street has a church on each end of it. It is exactly what you think a New England town would look like! It also has cool shops, yummy chocolates and a distillery tasting room. Plus a variety of unique shops and high end clothes stores.
Outside of the down is the waterfront with the Maple Creemees stand – you can’t leave without getting one! Plus foam brewers. We love stoping at local breweries.
You can also make a stop at Shelbourne Farm for cheese, syrup and walking trails.
Here is a high-level look of things to do in Burlington Vermont:
Shelbourne Farm
Walk trails
Cheese making at 11am
Get lunch food
Get syrup
Walk on Church Street
Find the Global Pathways Jewelry Store and The Crystal Cottage of Vermont
Find street art
Lake Champlian Chocolates
Smugglers Notch distillery
Waterfront around sunset
Foam Brewers
Creemees Ice Cream (Maple Creemees)
Citizen Cider – Have Poultine for dinner here
More Fun Activities in Burlington
Burlington Scavenger Hunt check out all of Burlington’s landmarks and hidden gems as you answer trivia questions.
Sip for Burlington Brewery Tour Check out Burlington’s world-class brewery scene on this guided tour
For all the details on Burlington, VT check out our post: 15 Fun Things to do in Burlington, VT
Stowe, Vermont
Emily’s Covered Bridge
This gorgeous town located at the foot of the highest peek in Vermont: Mount Mansfield is a must do while in Vermont. There are gorgeous hiking trails, picturesque bridges and beautiful scenic drives – especially in fall when the leaves are changing.
You won’t want to miss a stop at Cold Hollow Cider Place for hot cider and cider donuts. Be sure to head over the brewery for some cider beer!
If you like local breweries the Alchemist Stowe is known to have some of the best beers in the whole US. You will also find the Von Trapp place in Stowe. It is busy so if you are interested in visiting be sure to book a reservation ahead of time.
Here is a high-level look of things to do in Stowe, Vermont:
Smugglers Notch State Park
Hike the Bingham Falls via Mills Trail
Walk Stowe’s Main Street
Auto Toll Road to the top of Mt. Mansfield
Emily’s Covered Bridge (Gold Brook Bridge)
Scenic Drive (90 minutes)
Cold Hollow Cider Place
The Alchemist Stowe
Stowe Cider
Dinner at Von Trapp Place
For more on Stowe, Vermont check out our post: 20 Fun Things To Do in Stowe, Vermont
Where to Stay
We visited the east coast in our RV and choose to stay at a campground where we could visit Stowe and Burlington. There are also a lot of great hotels and vacation rentals in the area.
Campground
Apple Island RV Park Where we stayed
Hotels
Sterling Ridge Resort is in between Burlington and Stowe and would make a good base.
Green Mountain Inn is right in Stowe and would be a great place to stay to explore Stowe.
Courtyard Burlington Harbor is right in Burlington and would be perfect for exploring Burlington.
Vacation Rentals
Close to Stowe and the Mountain
Lake View Close to Burlington
If you are looking for more things to do in Vermont check out our post: 45 Places to Stop on Your Ultimate Vermont Road Trip and 31+ Fun Things To Do In Vermont [2 Day Itinerary included]
New Hampshire – 2 Nights
White Mountain National Forest
New Hampshire and Vermont share a lot of similarities on what they are known for. Beautiful landscape, maple syrup, scenic drives, covered bridges.
Lincoln, New Hampshire
Flume Gorge Hike
When we visited New Hampshire we knew we wanted to do a tram or cog train ride . We opted for the tram as it would take us to the top of Cannon Mountain and one of our kids is named Cannon – it was an easy choice.
I also wanted to do the gorgeous Flume Gorge hike and it did not disappoint. Since we were there in fall we wanted to be sure to do the Kancamagus highway drive to see the changing leaves.
High-Level overview of what we did in New Hampshire:
Cannon Mountain Tram
Flume Gorge Hike
Grab Purple Tomatoe Sandwiches
Kancamagus Highway Drive – great for seeing the fall leaves. Here is a list of attractions located off of the highway.
Mt Washington Auto Road – Highest point in NH
Where To Stay
Campground
This is where we stayed: Fransted Family Campground & RV Park
Hotels
Riverwalk Resort at Loon Mountain A restaurant on site, outside swimming pool, a hot tub and gorgeous scenery!
InnSeasons Resort Pollard Brook In the White Mountain National Forest but a 5 minute drive to downtown Lincoln! It has an indoor and outdoor pool too.
Vacation Rentals
Luxury Loon Mountain Home
For more on New Hampshire check out our post: 14 Best Things To Do In Lincoln New Hampshire
Maine – 3 Nights
Cannon driving a Lobster Boat on the waters around Acadia National Park
Maine is known for its rugged coast, pristine forests, lobster, outdoor recreation and Acadia National park. For our stop in Maine we just did Acadia National Park but we would love to go back to explore more of Maine. You also don’t want to miss the lobster rolls!
Acadia National Park
Picture on the Beehive Hike In Acadia National Park
Whenever we visit a National Park we like to visit the whole park. Those off the beaten path places that most people don’t go to – along with all of the must see stops.
This meant there were 3 areas of Acadia we would visit – the 4th would have been taking a boat to one of the islands but we opted not to do that this time around. But will the next time we go!
The 3 areas we visited were the Schoodic Peninsula, the Main Loop and the Quiet Side. We also spent time in Bar Harbor eating and exploring the town.
Here is a high-level overview of what we did in Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor:
Schoodic Peninsula – Acadia National Park
Sundew Trail
Schoodic Headtrails
Acadia National Park – Main Loop
Cadillac Mountain Sunrise – need tickets
Park Loop Road drive stop at lookouts
Precipice Trail – 2.1 miles 1000 ft elevation gain Crazy Family Adventure Acadia National Park Precipe Trail
Beehive Trail – 1.5 mile 500 foot elevation gain https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/the-beehive-loop-trail
Sand Beach
Thunder Hole – Ocean Path trail to Thunder Hole (.7 mile there and .7 back)
Jordan Pond House (Popovers (open 11am-5pm)) and Jordan Pond Path after dinner if we want to.
Acadia National Park – Quiet Side And Lobster Boat
Echo Lake
Bass Harbor Lighthouse
Hike Wonderland Trail
LuLu Lobster Boat Tour
For more on Acadia National Park check out our posts: 17 Fun Things To Do In Acadia National Park and Acadia National Park Itinerary [Plus Where To stay]
Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor is a super cute town and with its close proximity to Acadia you will definitely want to spend some time here. Here are a few things to do:
Bar Harbor Culinary Walking Tour Taste local foods as you explore Bar Harbor on this 3-hour tour
Historic Guided Walking Tour Learn about the history of this historic town and its historic landmarks on this fun 2 hour tour
For more on Bar Harbor check out our post: 11 Things To Do In Bar Harbor Maine
Where to Stay
Campgrounds
We stayed here: Mt Desert RV Park which was in a perfect location to see all parts of the park. Plus it was close to the Happy Clam Shack!
Hadley’s Point Campground This lovely campground offers a quiet escape from city life.
Hotels
Bar Harbor Grand Hotel in Central Bar Harbor this hotel is located just 1.4 miles from Acadia National Park
Acadia Inn this comfortable hotel has an onsite trail that accesses the park
Vacation Rental
Shannon Cottage in Bar Harbor only a 5 minute walk to the Village Green
Lovely Mayapple Cottage outside of Bar Harbor this is a great option if you are looking for peace and quiet.
Massachusetts – 3 Nights
Boston
Craig and I had gotten engaged in Boston back in 2001 and we were excited to get back to visit again! There is so much history in Boston to take in via the Freedom Trail, the historical streets and the restaurants.
We choose to spend 2 full days exploring Boston and crammed in a lot. Here is what we did:
Freedom Trail – Freedom Trail Walking Tour App
Book a 2.5 hour guided walking tour of the Freedom Trail here.
Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum Interactive Tour
Donut Tour – Book your Underground Donut Tour here!
Boston National Historic Park
Little Italy Dinner – make a reservation
Basketball Game – Celtics Game
Fenway Park Book a 1 hour guided tour of Fenway Park
More Great Boston Activities
Old Town Tolley Tour Hop on and off at one of 14 spots on this great tour. These great spots include the Boston Public Garden, the USS Constitution Museum, Quincy Market, and more.
Buy a Go City All Inclusive Pass This pass includes 40+ attractions including the famous swan boat, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Children’s Museum, Museum of Science, Franklin Park Zoo, and more.
Boston Duck Tour See Boston from a different view with this one of a kind kid friendly tour.
For more on Boston and Salem check out: 29+ Fun Things to Do In Boston With Kids
Accommodations in Boston
Campground
We left our RV at the Sandy Pond campground in Plymouth and went into Boston and spent the night at a hotel. There are not many options for campgrounds close to Boston. From what we could find.
Hotels
Omni Parker Hotel Where we stayed
Seaport Hotel Boston Stay right on Boston’s historic waterfront
Vacation Rentals
Historic Loft Near Boston Common
Townhouse in the Center of Boston
Salem
Salem is usually a nice train ride from Boston. Well when we were there they were working on part of the line so we had to take a train and a bus. Plus we went the opening of Halloween weekend. It was an experience! The bus ride was packed full and felt like it took forever but we made it.
There is so much history in Salem as well as long as all the fun that surrounds Halloween there! I am glad we went and experienced Halloween in Salem. That being said I would really like to come back to Salem and explore when it isn’t so packed with people.
Here is what we did in Salem and was recommended to us:
Walk the Salem Heritage Trail
Stroll along Chestnut Street (Take the time to wander down beautiful Chestnut Street, which was the first planned street in America. Read all of the house plaques to learn about the people who built and lived in the exquisite Federal-style mansions.)
Salem has wonderful, historic cemeteries, including the Old Burying Point Cemetery on Charter Street, Howard Street Cemetery and the Broad Street Cemetery.
The Charter Street Burying Point is one of the oldest cemeteries in Massachusetts. In it you can see the graves of a Witch Trials judge, a Mayflower passenger, and architect Samuel McIntire.
Salem Witch Trails Tour Guide App
Haunted Happenings Marketplace – Salem Commons
More Great Activities in Salem
Ghosts of Salem Walking Tour This family friendly tour will immerse you in the city’s dark past.
Haunt & History Guided Night Tour Explore this historic city at night.
For an extra stop check out this awesome Nantucket Itinerary!
If you want to go straight from Boston to NYC check out this great post on how you can do it via the train! Taking the Boston to NYC Train .
Rhode Island – 1 Night
Newport
When making a stop in Newport, Rhode Island we knew we wanted to try some Oysters! Being that we were there with the kids we knew they would maybe try an oyster but would not appreciate them or how much they cost. For that reason we got some to go and it worked out great.
Here is a list of things to do in Newport, Rhode Island:
Newport to Ocean Drive Historic District
Bowen’s Wharf
Brenton Point State Park (get a kite)
Pawtucket – National Park Site
Providence for lunch
Snake Den State Park
Scituate
West Greenwich
Mantucket Rhodyoyster farm tour and dinner.
For more on Rhode Island check out: 19 Best Things To Do In Newport RI
Where to Stay
Campground
We stayed at the Worden Pond Family Campground.
Hotels
Marshall Slocum Inn this federalist style hotel is conveniently only a 5-minute drive from the Newport Mansions and within walking distance to the Cliff Walk.
Newport Harbor Hotel and Marina Here you can enjoy waterfront views, on-site dining, and an indoor saltwater pool.
Vacation Rentals
Downtown Newport Luxury on Thames
Harbor View Retreat
Connecticut – 1 Night
Mystic
In Connecticut we wanted to check out a cider mill and the cute small town of Mystic!
Here are a few things to do in Mystic:
Mystic Seaport Museum
Olde Mistick Village
Downtown Mystic
Clydes Cider Mill
More to do in Mystic
Glow in the Park TreeTrails Burn some energy high in the tree tops. Great for ages 7+
Downtown Mystic Ghost Tour learn about this seafaring town’s dark past on this 2 hour guided tour.
For more on Mystic check out: 21 Best Things To Do In Mystic CT
Where to Stay
Campground
Sun Outdoors Mystic On-site amenities and activities include basketball, horseshoes, miniature golf, bocce ball, pickleball, volleyball, and a heated swimming pool, among others.
Hotels
Whaler’s Inn This hotel is within walking distance of shops and restaurants and is around the corner from the Mystic River Bascule Bridge.
Taber Inn Only an 8-minute walk from the beach, and 1 mile from the Mystic Seaport, the Taber Inn has everything you need for a comfortable and relaxing stay.
Vacation Rentals
Overlooking the Mystic River
Seaside Getaway
New York – 3 Nights
