Summer vacations in NE/Midatlantic region?

[wanderingback]

Since I crowd sourced my solo vacation last year and ended up in Alaska after recs from here and had a great time, thought I’d try again
I don’t feel comfortable with airports/flying, so looking for recs for something in the northeast/New England/mid Atlantic region that can drive to.

Not huge huge beach people, especially not US east coast beaches lol, so def don’t want a week in a beach town. Def no camping or a week hiking. Otherwise enjoy things like good food, wandering around towns, museums, art, wineries, etc.

Could probably do a few long weekends and then hopefully 1 or 2 one week trips. Last year we went to Newport, so not there. I go to Baltimore, Philly, DC regularly, so not there either. Boston I feel meh about (been a couple times).

If you rec a location could you please also rec a place to stay Don’t want Airbnb and budget likely under $400/night. I like inn/boutique type places.

Thank you!

[glw]

P-town? It's on the water but not OCNJ-beachy. Great artsy vibe, good restaurants, festivals, etc.

www.visitptown.com/THINGSTODO.html

[waverly]

Portland, ME. On the water, but not a beach town. Cute, small ish, breweries and wineries. Sorry no lodging to recommend because we did an abnb. Art shops and museum.

[jinkies]

Finger Lakes? There is a wine trail. But as I'm typing this I'm remembering that you are pregnant so maybe not. LOL.

New Hope PA is a cute town for a long weekend. There are a lot of B and Bs and New Hope and Lambertville have a fun artsy vibe.

Montreal and Quebec is also a driveable destination.

[cattledogkisses]

Apr 28, 2022 9:21:07 GMT -5 jinkies said:

Finger Lakes? There is a wine trail. But as I'm typing this I'm remembering that you are pregnant so maybe not. LOL.

New Hope PA is a cute town for a long weekend. There are a lot of B and Bs and New Hope and Lambertville have a fun artsy vibe.

Montreal and Quebec is also a driveable destination.

The Finger Lakes were the first thing that came to my mind; I went last summer with some girlfriends and had a great time, but yes, it might not be as fun if you can't taste any of the wines.  Lol. 

I love old Quebec City.  We're going for a long weekend in July.  It feels like being in Europe without having to cross the Atlantic. 

[arielroux]

Lake Placid? It’s beautiful in the summer, some of the resort hotels have really nice spas. There’s the Olympic village and there are things to do in the surrounding areas as far as cute towns, breweries, etc are concerned.

[shauni27]

I was going to suggest Portland as well, or Burlington, VT. You could also do Montreal and tie that in with Burlington. They will all have museums, shops, water but not traditional beaches, delicious food, wine and beer, and distilleries. If you choose to do either, I can give restaurant recommendations and such.

Mystic CT would be fun for a weekend trip, as would Bristol, RI (and Providence.) I think I prefer Bristol but Mystic is fun and cute.

I do also love P town.

The rest of my area suggestions are all beaches, so probably not your cup of tea

[shauni27]

oh, and this might be farther than you want, but Toronto if my favorite city in North America.

[womet]

Apr 28, 2022 9:21:07 GMT -5 jinkies said:

Finger Lakes? There is a wine trail. But as I'm typing this I'm remembering that you are pregnant so maybe not. LOL.

New Hope PA is a cute town for a long weekend. There are a lot of B and Bs and New Hope and Lambertville have a fun artsy vibe.

Montreal and Quebec is also a driveable destination.

We're headed to Montreal this summer for vacation because it's driveable and we weren't sure what would be happening with covid and air travel.

[shauni27]

Apr 28, 2022 9:21:07 GMT -5 jinkies said:

Finger Lakes? There is a wine trail. But as I'm typing this I'm remembering that you are pregnant so maybe not. LOL.

New Hope PA is a cute town for a long weekend. There are a lot of B and Bs and New Hope and Lambertville have a fun artsy vibe.

Montreal and Quebec is also a driveable destination.

wanderingback, DID I MISS THIS ANNOUNCEMENT?!?!

[Velar Fricative]

Definitely Montreal if you're okay leaving the country. You should find downtown hotels well below that price (Old Montreal, Ville-Marie, Mont Royal near McGill) and there are plenty of boutique options.

[huskymom]

Ditto Portland ME. I love certain areas of VT (Stowe, Burlington) but we mostly go for the breweries so that may not be as enticing! In Portland we like the The Press Hotel - great brunch downstairs too. Its technically in the Marriott family but love the ambiance - its got this old-timey newspaper theme. In Stowe we like the Green Mt inn.

[erbear]

Might be a little far but Asheville is amazing.

[devonpow]

We love Stowe Vermont in the summer. Lots to do (great rec path and hiking, excellent restaurants. All the summer mountain things like alpine coasters etc). We love the Stowe Mountain Lodge and The Top Notch. We also rent houses a lot through Beckwith Rentals and have always had a good experience

[devonpow]

We love Stowe Vermont in the summer. Lots to do (great rec path and hiking, excellent restaurants. All the summer mountain things like alpine coasters etc). We love the Stowe Mountain Lodge and The Top Notch. We also rent houses a lot through Beckwith Rentals and have always had a good experience

[shauni27]

Apr 28, 2022 10:05:36 GMT -5 devonpow said:

We love Stowe Vermont in the summer. Lots to do (great rec path and hiking, excellent restaurants. All the summer mountain things like alpine coasters etc). We love the Stowe Mountain Lodge and The Top Notch. We also rent houses a lot through Beckwith Rentals and have always had a good experience

I was going to suggest Stowe, too, but figured it could be part of a larger Burlington trip. Stowe, Burlington, Montreal? Make it a week long trip!

[jaylea]

Apr 28, 2022 9:47:17 GMT -5 huskymom said:

Ditto Portland ME. I love certain areas of VT (Stowe, Burlington) but we mostly go for the breweries so that may not be as enticing! In Portland we like the The Press Hotel - great brunch downstairs too. Its technically in the Marriott family but love the ambiance - its got this old-timey newspaper theme. In Stowe we like the Green Mt inn.

The Press Hotel is in the old newspaper building, thus the name and theme. The Portland Press Herald was there for years. I also like that hotel - I’m a local but have done an overnight there to get out of my house and it’s lovely.

Union, the restaurant, is fantastic.

Portland is second only to San Francisco in restaurants per capita, and was named Bon Appetit’s 2018 restaurant of the year. We also have a great arts scene.

That said, it is ABSURDLY crazy in summers now so you may have difficulty booking at some places already. You’d want to stay in the Old Port or at the Eastland or in one of the inns on the West End. There’s no shortage of hotels.

[huskymom]

Apr 28, 2022 10:16:41 GMT -5 jaylea said:

Apr 28, 2022 9:47:17 GMT -5 huskymom said:

Ditto Portland ME. I love certain areas of VT (Stowe, Burlington) but we mostly go for the breweries so that may not be as enticing! In Portland we like the The Press Hotel - great brunch downstairs too. Its technically in the Marriott family but love the ambiance - its got this old-timey newspaper theme. In Stowe we like the Green Mt inn.

The Press Hotel is in the old newspaper building, thus the name and theme. The Portland Press Herald was there for years. I also like that hotel - I’m a local but have done an overnight there to get out of my house and it’s lovely.

Union, the restaurant, is fantastic.

Portland is second only to San Francisco in restaurants per capita, and was named Bon Appetit’s 2018 restaurant of the year. We also have a great arts scene.

That said, it is ABSURDLY crazy in summers now so you may have difficulty booking at some places already. You’d want to stay in the Old Port or at the Eastland or in one of the inns on the West End. There’s no shortage of hotels.

I feel like I knew that at the time but totally makes sense.  It's one of our favorite couple getaways!

We always go in November though. Its not so busy but COLD.

[meowmaps]

Maybe the Hudson Valley? I’m spending a week there in late September and using Airbnb but when I researched in the past I found this cute place: theforsythkingston.com/ . Lots of farm to table food, cute towns, hiking (only if you want to), art, etc.

[isabel]

Montreal is amazing. We stayed at the Westin, so that may not be useful, but it was such a fun trip. Super walkable and lots of great restaurants. And bagels!

[wanderingback]

Oh yes, Montréal is a good one! Don’t know why I didn’t think of that.

That’s actually the first solo trip I did myself a little over 7 years ago and it was 2 days after my partner and I met. So he knew exactly what he was getting himself in to with my whims to travel and travel alone lol. And I went in the dead of winter so I’ve always said I wanted to go back in the summer. My partner has been there without me but we’ve never been together. Great suggestion!

Keep the others coming

[wanderingback]

Apr 28, 2022 9:40:39 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Apr 28, 2022 9:21:07 GMT -5 jinkies said:

Finger Lakes? There is a wine trail. But as I'm typing this I'm remembering that you are pregnant so maybe not. LOL.

New Hope PA is a cute town for a long weekend. There are a lot of B and Bs and New Hope and Lambertville have a fun artsy vibe.

Montreal and Quebec is also a driveable destination.

wanderingback, DID I MISS THIS ANNOUNCEMENT?!?!

Lol. I mean I didn’t make a whole post about it but I’ve mentioned it a couple of times in random posts. I’m a little over 11 weeks, so still early and taking it day by day!

[shauni27]

wanderingback,congratulations! I am thrilled for you.

[hbtk]

Lake George, NY. Cute little shops, museums, etc. To stay, The Inn at Erlowest - it overlooks the lake, and when I wasn't out doing things I loved sitting on their patio reading a book. Their restaurant is also top notch.

[mcppalmbeach]

I would drive straight to Maine! We absolutely loved bar harbor/acadia. It has a cute town, tons of lobster and great seafood. Acadia has a lot of nice walks in the woods and lovely coastal vistas without having to do hard core hiking. Camden, boothbay, Portland would all be cute to explore. If you felt up for adventure, you could do a little kayaking…or not. we did a whale watching trip (bar harbor) and also a sailboat cruise (Camden) where we saw tons of seals and puffins. A friend did a lobster boat tour that looked really fun.

[msmerymac]

Apr 28, 2022 9:47:17 GMT -5 huskymom said:

Ditto Portland ME. I love certain areas of VT (Stowe, Burlington) but we mostly go for the breweries so that may not be as enticing! In Portland we like the The Press Hotel - great brunch downstairs too. Its technically in the Marriott family but love the ambiance - its got this old-timey newspaper theme. In Stowe we like the Green Mt inn.

Yes, the Press Hotel is so cute! Also a great location for walking to everything in the Old Port. 

[mcppalmbeach]

Apr 28, 2022 10:30:35 GMT -5 isabel said:

Montreal is amazing. We stayed at the Westin, so that may not be useful, but it was such a fun trip. Super walkable and lots of great restaurants. And bagels!

What did you love in Montreal? We went in the dead of winter so maybe we just weren’t there at the right time. I do remember I wanted to return and go to the botanical garden.

[amandakisser]

Apr 28, 2022 11:16:17 GMT -5 hbtk said:

Lake George, NY. Cute little shops, museums, etc. To stay, The Inn at Erlowest - it overlooks the lake, and when I wasn't out doing things I loved sitting on their patio reading a book. Their restaurant is also top notch.

I was going to suggest Lake George as well. Very walkable, though it can get crowded in summer. You can take a steamboat around the island (at least one of them has a working calliope!), leisurely boating, sit and read by the pool, they sometimes have outdoor concerts, lots of shops, some amusement parks (though you may not want to go to those pregnant). Food isn't AMAZING, but you can get lots of local pizza and fish which is pretty good and just enjoy eating outdoors. You can also hike up Prospect Mountain (there was a gondola that would take you up too but it was closed last summer because of COVID), which offers beautiful views of the entire lake.

[Bad Dingo]

Ditto everyone who said Montreal, or Quebec if you want to drive a bit further.

Portland, ME is adorable too.

CT can be fun as well but it's not as much of a destination.

Congratulations!!

[shauni27]

Just knowing what I know of you from the boards, I do not think you would like Lake George. It is very...cheesy. The lake is BEAUTIFUL and we go annually, but we like the cheese factor a bit, and we like to hike and boat.

Though we have stayed at the Sagamore before, which is lovely and beautiful and has great food, but I am not sure a week there is warranted, lol. That is slightly up the edge of the lake away from the crowds, but there is not as much to do up there other than relax.