Southeastern Connecticut

The southeastern corner of Connecticut is home to the state’s number-one tourist attraction and the country’s largest maritime museum, Mystic Seaport. Built on the site of a former shipbuilding yard in 1929, the museum celebrates the area's seafaring heritage, when fisherers, whalers and clipper-ship engineers broke world speed records and manufactured gunboats and warships for the Civil War.

To the west of Mystic, you’ll find the submarine capital of the USA, Groton, where General Dynamics built WWII subs, and, across the Thames River, New London. To the east is the historic fishing village of Stonington, extending along a narrow mile-long peninsula into the sea. It’s one of the most charming seaside villages in New England, where Connecticut’s only remaining commercial fleet operates and yachties come ashore in summer to enjoy the restaurants on Water St.