Boston to New York (road trip)

El Camino

I'm starting to plan a trip for later in the year with my girlfriend and we are considering flying into Boston for a few days driving to New York and then returning home. I'm pretty sure that we will have plenty to do and see in both cities but I'm not sure about the drive down. Has anyone else made this journey and could you recommend some stop off's, places to see, things to do etc. I've heard that it is a nice part of the country and that it should be a nice drive. I hear upstate New York is a nice place so just looking for some pointers. I figure i have 3/4 days to make the trip.

onemorechance

I have driven from boston to New York city and it only takes about 3 hours. New York state is huge and most of it is actually west of Boston, Mass. New York city is actually in the bottom right corner of New York state, so if you are wanting to drive for 3 / 4 days you really could drive half way accross the country and back! If you want to pass these days driving, probably head west from Boston, and you will travel through North New York state, then hit Pennsyvania, maybe head to Pittsburgh, then down to West Virgina, Virginia, head up to Washington, then New York, then back to Boston.

Benedict XVI

onemorechance wrote: »

I have driven from boston to New York city and it only takes about 3 hours. New York state is huge and most of it is actually west of Boston, Mass. New York city is actually in the bottom right corner of New York state, so if you are wanting to drive for 3 / 4 days you really could drive half way accross the country and back! If you want to pass these days driving, probably head west from Boston, and you will travel through North New York state, then hit Pennsyvania, maybe head to Pittsburgh, then down to West Virgina, Virginia, head up to Washington, then New York, then back to Boston.

Yea it's only a short drive bteween the cities but If you don't want to spend the 4 days driving as suggested above, you could try the following, all involve just a hour or two on the road

First option
Head west from Boston to Western Mass, lots of forests, hills and old New England villages, very relaxing place apparently, lots of spas etc around

You could go to Six Flags Theme park just outside Springfield, or the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.

Further West are the Catskill Mountains in Upstate NY (more Mountains and Forests) and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown

You could keep going to Buffalo (6 hrs from Boston) which is a bit of a dive but it's only 20 min from Niagara Falls.

Western Mass and Upstate NY are beautiful in the fall with the leaves changing color but this is also very busy time for tourists 'foliage watching' so if you are going that time of year I would advise booking accommodation and car hire now

Second Option
Head South from Boston to Rode Island and spend a day and night in Newport, beautiful town, well worth a visit.

Keep going south to Connecticut and stop of in Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, two of the biggest casinos in the world.

Stop off in Mystic Seaport which is also quiet nice and then on to NYC

peanuthead

Upstate New York is lovely, and the drive from boston to New York looks straightforward enough, although we didn't do it when we were in the states. We were going to do it, and keyed it into the GPS. GPS said it would take 4 hours, but I would say 3 would be more like it. We never ended up going to Boston as we were too tired because we had road tripped from San Francisco to New York. It was an amazing experience, and we did it comfortably in 2 months.
We went San Fran-Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Boulder City- Grand Canyon- Colorado-Roswell - Dallas - Mississippi-Alabama- Everglades - Key West - Miami - Daytona - Washington DC - Niagara - Pennsylvania - New York.

metrovelvet

If I were going to do something like this and wanted a bit of a road trip, Id fly into Montreal or Maine and drive down stopping in a few places along the way. You are either going to hit the berkshires or the adirondacks, mountains and trees. Depending on what time of year you are going, you could stop into martha's vinyard on your way down to NYC. I would skip Albany. Saratoga Springs is very pretty, home to SPAC and Yaddo and a faamous race track in July/August.

There are some lovely seaports around connecticut also, Nantucket it particulalry nice, Provincetown is gorgeous too [MASS].

Autumn is a stunning time to do this kind of road trip.

El Camino

Ok guys,

Thanks very much for all of the ideas. It seems that it is not such a journey then from Boston to New York. 3 days seems like plenty of time to explore some of these places. I'm going to look further into it and plan my trip. I still want it to be somewhat relaxing so I'm glad i won't be stuck in the car too much then.

When it comes to hiring the car what's the best way to go about it. I'm obviously thinking convertible but will i get the weather for it. Not really sure what to expect. I know Boston and New York can have extreme weather very warm or very cold.

Also, is it best to book the car here or wait and source one locally. Any recommendations - I'm sure what I'm being offered through Aer Lingus website will not be the best value...

Benedict XVI

El Camino wrote: »

Ok guys,

When it comes to hiring the car what's the best way to go about it. I'm obviously thinking convertible but will i get the weather for it. Not really sure what to expect. I know Boston and New York can have extreme weather very warm or very cold.

What time of year are you going ?, you would be fine in a convertible anytime between May and mid Oct.