Help for 2009 Holiday

We are considering travelling to Boston from Ireland in late June/early July 09. We have 2 teenagers (14 and 18) with us. We plan to hire a vehicle and do some travelling around the tourist spots. Possibilities are Cape Cod, Salem, Newport, Biddeford (excuse spelling). We would also welcome suggestions for pretty and picturesque towns - maybe off the beaten track a little (and less expensive too) along the way. We are not sure if we should rent a holiday cottage for a week and use hotels for the rest of the time (holiday is approx 20 days). Any advice would be most welcome - as this is our first trip to the area. We like - beaches, pretty countryside, towns with character, local architecture and water. We are also major foodies too!!!!

Thanks

B

Help for 2009 Holiday

You might want to narrow down the list a little bit and focus on one area or the other as you are looking at some serious driving during the very busy summer driving months here. Biddeford is up in Maine and quite a distance from the Cape, Salem and Newport. You have chosen some wonderful spots but they aren%26#39;t close to one another. Newport is in Rhode Island and about 1.5 hrs south of Boston. Salem is under an hour from Boston but is above Boston. The Cape is about 2 hours from Boston to the bridge only, then depending how far down into the Cape you are going, add another hour plus. My suggestion would be to look through all the posts here and in Mass and either focus on Cape Cod, with a day trip to Newport, or focus on Newport and see the state of Rhode Island or stay north of Boston in the Salem area with day trips up to Maine or New Hampshire. Plan on heavy traffic everywhere on the weekends- weekdays should be ok though. Plan on renting a cottage, hotel room, whatever by early Spring.

Bottom line, if you stay on the Cape, you won%26#39;t end up leaving the Cape too often as there will be enough to see there and too much traffic and mileage to make it worth going off-Cape.

Are you sure you want to leave wonderful Cork county (home of my ancesters??) Only kidding, you%26#39;ll be happy here too!

Help for 2009 Holiday

I think considering you have 20 days, if you want to see and drive alot- the Cape, RI, Boston, and even a two day trip to Maine is certainly doable- you just may want to avoid weekend traffic.

In general, the RI coast is less hectic than most of MA, north of Boston for instance. If you like to swim in the ocean, the waters of the south coast are considerably warmer than points north of the Cape.

My favorite off the beaten path places are the Westport, MA and Little Compton, RI areas: farms, wineries, ocean. Next to Newport is Jamestown (island), and Wickford (quaint harbour and shops). Block Island is beautiful. In MA: Marblehead, Salem (great museum) and many towns on the Cape.

Thanks everybody for all the tips. I agree - we need to narrow our search down. My hubby would have us driving to Canada - he just gets carried away behind a wheel - doesn%26#39;t know when to stop and relax!!! We had thought about renting a house - but I gather they can be quite expensive in the Summer. I was thinking over the weekend if we divide our trip into say 4 segments - pick some nice places and do day to day exploring from our base.

Still can%26#39;t make our minds up. Busy reading up on places and looking at web.

Would love to hear any good suggestions all the time.

Karrieb - you must tell me where your ancestors come from. My Gran was related to half the county it seems. We love Cork - so many people emigrated to Boston - we always felt we would love to see it.