Good place to stop between Ohio and Maine?

[bobotron3000]

DH and I are driving to Bar Harbor, Maine from Cleveland, OH in September. We're breaking up the driving into two days and I'm trying to figure out a good spot to stop 8 - 10 hours into the drive. Any suggestions?

[Deleted]

6 hours is Syracuse, 8 hours puts you in the Albany area, 10 hours Boston. This of course assumes no traffic and no long stops. I would recommend either Syracuse or Albany. There is nothing in between Syracuse and Albany (trust me I lived there for many years). I think trying to push for Boston is too much driving in a day. On our recent road trip we did 10 hours the last day and I about died. The days we did 6 or so hours were much more enjoyable and we got to have a nice dinner and wander around the cities we stopped in.

[Deleted]

We did this trip this summer.

We stopped in Cleveland for the night (from TN) and then drove the following day to Concord NH. (we actually avoided taking 90 all the way to Boston and then 95 north) We took NYS Thruway to Troy and then got on Route 7 and cut across VT and NH using a couple routes. It was a prettier drive and we still were able to go mostly 55+.

[bobotron3000]

Aug 19, 2013 3:07:11 GMT -5 monsterz said:

6 hours is Syracuse, 8 hours puts you in the Albany area, 10 hours Boston. This of course assumes no traffic and no long stops. I would recommend either Syracuse or Albany. There is nothing in between Syracuse and Albany (trust me I lived there for many years). I think trying to push for Boston is too much driving in a day. On our recent road trip we did 10 hours the last day and I about died. The days we did 6 or so hours were much more enjoyable and we got to have a nice dinner and wander around the cities we stopped in.

I think Albany sounds like a great midpoint. I totally feel you on driving too long - I'm not sure how long DH can sit still!

[bobotron3000]

Aug 19, 2013 7:03:30 GMT -5 @septimus said:

We did this trip this summer.

We stopped in Cleveland for the night (from TN) and then drove the following day to Concord NH. (we actually avoided taking 90 all the way to Boston and then 95 north) We took NYS Thruway to Troy and then got on Route 7 and cut across VT and NH using a couple routes. It was a prettier drive and we still were able to go mostly 55+.

We are going to go through VT and NH on the way back. Looking forward to some beautiful scenery!

[Deleted]

Aug 19, 2013 23:03:20 GMT -5 bobotron3000 said:

Aug 19, 2013 3:07:11 GMT -5 monsterz said:

6 hours is Syracuse, 8 hours puts you in the Albany area, 10 hours Boston. This of course assumes no traffic and no long stops. I would recommend either Syracuse or Albany. There is nothing in between Syracuse and Albany (trust me I lived there for many years). I think trying to push for Boston is too much driving in a day. On our recent road trip we did 10 hours the last day and I about died. The days we did 6 or so hours were much more enjoyable and we got to have a nice dinner and wander around the cities we stopped in.

I think Albany sounds like a great midpoint. I totally feel you on driving too long - I'm not sure how long DH can sit still!

I think Albany is too close you'll have a long drive the next day. We stopped in Albany for lunch when we drove from Cleveland to Maine. Albany to Boston is more like 3-3.5 hours. I went to prep school in Troy and my parents lived near exit 3 on the Mass pike and it was always about a 90 minute drive home. Exit 3 is WMass.

[CloudBee]

Not much to suggest between the two, but I will say you need a day or afternoon in Kennebunkport, ME.

[janegold]

Will you be taking I-90 to I-95? And are you trying to make a side-trip of it rather than just a few hours in a hotel room? If so, I would go a bit further than Albany and stop in the Berkshires if you are trying to do some sightseeing along the way. If you just want a place to crash, I'd look for a hotel in Springfield, MA.

You won't need to come as far east as Boston so I don't think that's a great option unless you really want to go there (95 intersects 90 before you hit the city).

[Deleted]

Aug 20, 2013 5:07:32 GMT -5 @septimus said:

Aug 19, 2013 23:03:20 GMT -5 bobotron3000 said:

I think Albany sounds like a great midpoint. I totally feel you on driving too long - I'm not sure how long DH can sit still!

I think Albany is too close you'll have a long drive the next day. We stopped in Albany for lunch when we drove from Cleveland to Maine. Albany to Boston is more like 3-3.5 hours. I went to prep school in Troy and my parents lived near exit 3 on the Mass pike and it was always about a 90 minute drive home. Exit 3 is WMass.

Albany is pretty much half way between Cleveland and Bar Harbor.  Both days would be about a 7 or 8 hour drive, it all depends on how much time you want to spend in the car and how much you want to stop.  I generally add at least an hour onto whatever Google maps says it will take for the drive to factor in breaks and stops along the way.  

From Albany you wouldn't need to drive into Boston I would take 90 to 495 to 95 it will shave about 30 minutes from the trip and you miss all of the Boston traffic which can be horrible.  

 

[elenetxu]

Monadnock Region, NH.
Stay at the Lane Hotel in Keene. (Although, Sept. could be a problem with the college kids returning.)

Rte. 9 across VT is a pretty drive and if you're up for stopping, Bennington and Brattleboro are neat towns. From Keene, just take 101 across the state to hook back up onto 95.

[magdala]

If you are looking for points of interest Old Sturbridge Village is in Western MA www.osv.org. There are a number of hotels nearby.

I was living at a residence inn in West Springfield M-F while working on a work project. It was pretty nice. www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bdlrw-residence-inn-west-springfield/ IIRC, they accept the AAA discount (if you're a remember).