6-7 days road trip from NY
Replies: 17 - Last Post: Sep 25, 2012 9:26 AM Last Post By: LongIslandBob
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6-7 days road trip from NY
I'm looking for ideas for a last minute (starting next weekend) road trip from New York. We will have roughly one week between moving out / into a new apartment and wanted to use that time for a road trip (by car). And now I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea about the east coast m(-_-)mWe are looking for nature, (maybe some easy hiking), not too much history, not too many cities, maybe just one "must see" (but the trip is rather meant as a big-city break ;-)
staying at motels along the road is fine too.
1
There are many many things you could do in 6-7 days from NY. If you haven't been to Washington DC, you might head down there for a couple days and then go on to Shenandoah National Park and spend the rest of your time exploring the Appalachian Trail. Alternatively you could go on a camping trip throughout New Hampshire's White Mountains.3
I agree, head down to DC area via the Blue Ridge Parkway and the national parks. You can take side roads the entire was if you want, two lane rural roads and towns thru the Appalachians and down to Asheville...4
Assateague Island, the Finger Lakes region of New York state, Cape May...5
head down to DC area via the Blue Ridge Parkway and the national parks
To be clear, the BRP is, at minimum, 2 hours southwest of DC.Finger Lakes.
Adirondacks.
Thousand Islands.
6
ITSIBITSI,Where are you starting from in NY ?
Consider driving to Burlington Vermont
from Danbury CT, take route 7 all the way.
enjoy.
7
C'mon if you're leaving NY and hiking, you've GOT to got to Bear Mountain.8
Northern New England, and particularly northern and central Vermont, should be coming into peak foliage during that week. That also means it could be hard to find lodging. But if you can find places to stay, a loop through Vermont or Vermont and New Hampshire would be beautiful. Burlington is a small city and very nice, with views from the lake shore to the Adirondacks. There are also nice small towns with hiking opportunities all along the Green Mountains. In New Hampshire, the Kankamangus (sp?) Highway is a beautiful if popular drive. Columbus Day weekend will be the most crowded and hardest to find a place to stay.11
I'd suggest doing a loop up to the Maritimes and over into Quebec. You might catch some Fall color there, but you won't if you go south.12
I agree with #8 and #9, go north to see the foliage in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Drive up to Vermont, then over to the White Mountains in NH, they should be at or close to peak by then, then over to coastal Maine. We have had spots of color here in southern NH for a while now, and we have some cold nights coming up, so I expect to start seeing a lot more color by next weekend and the following week.13
Many foreigners assume they should visit Niagara Falls. For you, that (with Finger Lakes and Hudson River Valley on the same loop) might well make sense. Not that I've done the first of those myself, yet.14
Thanks to all of you for the many good suggestions! That really helps a lot. I'm still googling for the details ...I think we will start with 2 days near Provincetown on Cape Cod and go whale watching.
And after that, probably go to either Acadia or White Mountains. Maybe Niagara (I know it's cheesy and touristy, but I'm a photographer and I like Alec Soth's Niagara ;-) and Toronto instead. I'm not sure how to connect this with Washington DC. I guess it will be a 7 hours drive down from Niagara to Washington, right? I'm not sure it's worth it... Is there a nice scenery along the road? Would we pass through Amish country on our way down to Washington?
It's probably better to see Washington another time (could do as a day / 2-day trip from NY, right?)
