New England

(Ontario, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Quebec, Maine)

 

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Yes, I know that a few of those aren't in New England but we had to pass through them on the way. [Page numbers refer to the Lonely Planet guide to Canada (lp) and Fodor's New England guide (f)] This is from our four week trip to the region starting mid-September 1996. Sights in bold are the 'must sees'. Those included in [square brackets] are from variations that we considered for our route (it isn't possible to cover all of these without a lot of backtracking). Prices are presently way out of date but the links are current as of 2007.

Overview & Highlights

New England is quite different to other regions in America in that it's both relatively historic and compact. We spent almost three weeks within 150 miles of Boston and it would be quite viable to base yourself there and do most of the sights here as day trips.

To my mind the most informative place, revelational even, is Concord Massachusetts which is where the American war of Independence started. Whilst us brits feel very much like America is "home" everywhere else, Concord is where our history books diverged and it feels very much as though you are intruding and shouldn't be there if you're British. The events in Concord are portrayed using the language of the American history books, of course, so it was "American patriots killed two of the occupying British forces" rather than "American terrorists murdered two British soldiers" as we would put it in the language of today. I say revelational because it is the first time that I really understood the position of the Irish Americans in respect of Northern Ireland: essentially they are taught that, as in Concord, "British out" is a good thing and haven't realised that this is far from a universal law.

As you'll be able to tell from the following, I loved the living history museums and the best of these is probably Old Sturbridge Village. Ironically, given the feelings of Concord, this village set in the style of a New England village of the 1800s feels very much like an English village. As an alternative to this, if you're interested in nautical things, you could go to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut which offers a similar experience. Plimouth Plantation is set in the days of the earliest English settlement of America and is quite a different experience.

Although a historic spot, the site of the Boston Tea Party itself isn't that interesting and I found the nearby Computer Museum much more interesting (it's now incorporated into the Boston Museum of Science). Fans of Cheers will find that the bar is laid out quite differently inside but the outside retains the familiar look from the series.

In Rhode Island you'll find a number of the mansions grouped in a loose co-operative with discounts applying depending on the number of mansions that you visit. To be honest, once you've seen one, the rest are quite similar. The exception to this is Astor's Beachwood which isn't in that group and therefore has to be paid separately. Whereas the others are very much "look, but don't touch", this one is set up as a living experience whereby you are treated as invited guests for a dinner party that evening. Consequently, the experience is much more enjoyable though the decorations aren't nearly so grand as in the other mansions.

The forests of Vermont contain both the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory and the new home of the Von Trapp family from the Sound of Music which has very much the feel of a Swiss alpine resort. Neither are worth a major detour to see them.

Although it's not in New England, if you're in the area the Thousand Islands Parkway in Ontario is highly recommended.

Interestingly, the research for this trip was done pre-Internet and few of the places listed here have the kind of profile that they received in the guidebooks hence, if you confine your holiday research to the Internet be aware that you're likely to miss out on some fantastic places.

Ontario; lp423

1. Toronto. lp461

2. Brantford. Six Nations Indian Reserve. Weekdays. lp526.

3. Fort Erie. C$2. lp525.

4. Smiths Falls. Hershey Chocolate Factory. Mon-Fri. lp445.

5. Upper Canada Village. lp445.

6. Kingston. Thousand Islands Parkway. lp453.

7. Pickering Nuclear Plant. Daily 09.00-16.00. lp503.

8. Toronto. lp461 Getting to/from airport. lp499.

Connecticut; f21

1. Middletown. Dinosaur State Park. Tue-Sun 09.00-16.30, $2. f45 (f38).

2. Hadlyme. Gillette Castle State Park. Daily 10.00-17.00, $4. f37 (f38)

3. Old Lyme. America’s foremost impressionist art colony. f69 (f71)

4. Mystic. Mystic Seaport. Daily 09.00-17.00, $15. f70 (f71).

5. [Norfolk. Hillside Gardens. Daily 09.00-17.00, free. f54 (f53).]

6. [New Haven. Avoid. f68.]

7. [Bridgeport. Barnum Museum. Circus museum. Tue-Sat 10.00-16.30, Sun 12.00-16.30, $5/$4. f26 (f23)]

Rhode Island; f90

1. Newport; f115

  • Cliff Walk, f118 (f121)
  • Breakers. Grand mansion. Daily 10.00-17.00, $7.50. f119 (f121)
  • Astor’s Beachwood. Mansion brought to life. f119 (f121)

Massachusetts; f141

1. Pittsfield. Hancock Shaker Village. Museum. f258 (f257)

2. Springfield. Old Sturbridge Village. Working 19th century New England town. Daily 09.00-17.00, $15. f246 (f243)

3. Plymouth. Plimoth Plantation. Daily 09.00-17.00, $15. f182 (f181)

4. [Cape Cod. Provincetown.

  • Spectacular beaches and dunes; first-rate shops and galleries. f192 (f189)
  • Dolphin Fleet. f206 (f189)
  • Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises. f206 (f189)]

5. Boston Freedom Trail. f141, f179 (f145)

6. Lexington. f175 (f141)

7. Concord. f176 (f141)

8. Salem. Salem Witch Museum. Daily 10.00-17.00, $4/$3.50. f229 (f228)

New Hampshire; f351

1. Exeter. American Independence Museum. Wed-Sun 12.00-17.00, $4/$3. f353 (f353)

2. Concord. Mount Kearsage Indian Museum. Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00, $5. f404 (f401). This is an absolutely wonderful place to go!

3. [Charlestown. Fort at No. 4. Wed-Mon, 10.00-16.00, $6. f399 (f400)]

4. [Canterbury. Canterbury Shaker Village. Shaker community. Daily 10.00-17.00, $8. f367 (f366)]

5. [Conway. Conway Scenic Railway. Daily 09.00-18.00, early reservation required, $7.50. f376 (f377).]

6. [Mount Washington

Vermont; f280

1. Woodstock. Billings Farm and Museum. Daily 10.00-17.00. f304 (f305).

2. Quechee. Quechee Gorge. Weekdays 10.00-17.00. f304 (f305).

3. Brookfield. Floating bridge. f307 (f305)

4. Montpelier. Vermont State House. Tue-Fri 09.00-16.30, Sat 09.00-16.00, $3/$2. f323 (f325)

5. Waterbury. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory. Daily 09.00-17.00, $1. f324 (f325)

6. Stowe. Trapp Family Lodge (Sound of Music). f324 (f325)

7. Mount Mansfield. Scenic view. Toll road, daily 10.00-17.00, $9. f324 (f325)

Quebec; lp325

1. Montreal; lp331 Tourist office.

  • Old Montreal Walking Tour booklet; lp333
  • Pointe-a-Calliere (Museum of Archaeology & History). Tue-Sun 10.00-20.00, C$6. lp334
  • Underground City. Tourist office has a good map of the entire system; lp336
  • Biodome. Good gift/bookshop. Avoid mid-day. C$8.50/C$6 (combination ticket C$12.50). lp340
  • Laurentides Satellite Station. Daily. lp361

2. Quebec.; lp369 Citadel.

3. [New Richmond. British Heritage Centre. lp411]

Maine

[1. Freeport. Shops. f438 (f426)

2. Bath. Maine Maritime Museum and Shipyard. Daily 09.30-17.00, $6.50/$5.85. f439 (f426)

3. Bethel. Pure New England. f472 (f471)]

 

 

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