East Coast US

crisco10

Okay, this may sound like an obvious question but...

Myself and the missus are thinking of going to the States (the east coast) this summer having never been there before.

We would have about two and a half weeks off work say (so not too long).

OBviously we want to fly home from NY so we can go shopping and all....And we have friends in Chicago so might pop in there.

But that wouldnt be enough to fill 2.5 weeks I don't think. What else is "must see" on the east coast? I'm sure there is loads.

Suggestions? we are quite culture vultury but not ridiculously so and we don't really want to spend 2.5 weeks charging around "ticking the tourist boxes"...We want some R&R too!

Thanks in advance!!

lord lucan

you could pop down to orlando for 3/4 days,you should be able to experience the best of what the theme parks have to offer in that time.

i'd also take 2/3 days to see washington DC,there's loads of smithsonian museums there covering a wide range of subjects. i spent 3 hours just going through the air & space museum.

savannah,georgia would also be a must see,gorgeous town and southern hospitality,can't go wrong.:cool:

Bluetonic

Skip Orlando and fly to Miami and 1) hire a car and drive down Key West or 2) take a ferry to The Bahamas and spend a few nights there.

Theme parks, oh dear.

crisco10

lord lucan wrote: »

you could pop down to orlando for 3/4 days,you should be able to experience the best of what the theme parks have to offer in that time.

i'd also take 2/3 days to see washington DC,there's loads of smithsonian museums there covering a wide range of subjects. i spent 3 hours just going through the air & space museum.

savannah,georgia would also be a must see,gorgeous town and southern hospitality,can't go wrong.:cool:

Yes. I will definitely be going there. Even if I gotta drag her there blindfolded!

metrovelvet

What time of year are you going?

crisco10

metrovelvet wrote: »

What time of year are you going?

Sometime this summer. Could be June, July or August. Its still up in there somewhat.

rossie1977

1 day is plenty in washington DC to see everything. 2 days max

florida is great for a break, unlike Bluetonic i would recommend orlando especially seaworld and universal, disney is very kiddie based. daytona to get away from it all.

there isn't a huge difference between new york and chicago if truth be told, i wouldn't do both if you only have two weeks and it was my first time. maybe a day in Atlantic city (its a bit of a hole but at least the Borgata hotel makes it feel like you are in las vegas :P). its not vegas but its different than chicago and new york

metrovelvet

Given you will be going at the HOTTEST time of the year, Im going to suggest some nice seaport towns.

IN NEW ENGLAND:
Provincetown
Nantucket
Martha's Vinyard
Im sure Maine has some lovely places too but am not familiar with Maine.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

Virginia Beach
Charleston
Miami

As for must sees:

NYC
DC

You could always drive to Montreal too if you stay very north, see Niagara falls.

Andrewf20

I did a road trip of new England in 2007, heres my hilights:

Acadia national park, Maine
Driving to the summit of Mt Washington, New Hampshire. Savage steep, epic views.
The flume, New Hamsphire
Whale watching off coast near Boston
Staying in a traditional B&B in Vermont
Toronto (a bit of a drive in fairness)
Niagara falls
Washington DC
Seneca rocks, West Virginia

Arcee

Boston is a must-se on the east coast IMO. There's tons to do there. You can walk the freedom trail, visit fenway park, home of the redsox, go to the AWESOME science museum and take a walk around harvard or MIT out in Cambridge. And you're also close enough to cape cod to hit some pretty towns and beaches along the coast. Catch the boat out to Martha's Vineyard for a day trip. It's an expensive place but full of character and very quaint.

Sidney77

Boston is good

If your in New York definitely take a trip to Niagara Falls, and do the maid if the mist boat tour

peanuthead

Washington DC and Boston. You could also do Niagara Falls. One day is enough for Niagara, and 1-2 days in Washington DC would be enough too.

Orlando is a bit of a trek to be honest. And in end of July/August it will be wet season, and if its anything like last august you can forget key west, we drove to key west last august only to be evacuated within the hour.

robinph

I'm also looking for a few ideas of how to waste maybe two weeks around the east coast, either starting or ending in DC as I've people to visit there.

You can get to see most of the sights in DC in an afternoon stroll as everything of interest is all in the one place. You can easily waste a couple of days going round the museums though which are all free and also provide some shelter from the weather, which ever extreme might be occurring at the time. Somehow it's always been blistering hot whenever I've passed though the area though.

Sidney77 wrote: »

If your in New York definitely take a trip to Niagara Falls, and do the maid if the mist boat tour

Be aware though that although Niagara is in New York it is no where near New York, New York.

peanuthead

robinph wrote: »

Be aware though that although Niagara is in New York it is no where near New York, New York.

It is about a 6/7 hour drive each way as far as I can remember

crisco10

peanuthead wrote: »

It is about a 6/7 hour drive each way as far as I can remember

So realistically you would do it as an overnight then? What's the public transport like to there?

rossie1977

crisco10 wrote: »

So realistically you would do it as an overnight then? What's the public transport like to there?

greyhound bus from NYC to niagara falls takes a full 10 hours, better to fly from NY LaGuardia into buffalo, greyhound takes about an hour from there to the falls, its another 1hr 30 minutes or so from the falls then to toronto with greyhound