Roadtrip US Northeast
A road trip through part of the United States is always fun, especially if you are traveling with adolescents. In the north-east of the US you can visit the big highlights such as New York, Washington and Niagara Falls. You can arrange flight tickets, a rental car, your stay in hotels or airbnb’s and the Esta in advance.
Sample route: Round trip US Northeast (3.5 week)
Day 1: Brussel/New York- West Yarmouth (Cape Cod)
If you are flying to New York you can choose to pick up your rental car at the airport, but driving around Manhattan is not convenient. You can also choose to visit New York without a car at the end of your trip.
We chose to drive to Cape Cod, to the Windrift motel in West Yarmouth, but driving less on your first day makes more sense. https://www.windriftmotelcapecod.com. We found the motel very pleasant and not expensive. You can easily discover Cape Cod from West Yarmouth.
Day 2: Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula northeast of New York. Many Americans celebrate their summer vacation here. Chatham is a fun place to view the lighthouse and walk on the beach. You can visit the visitor center of Cape Cod National Seashore and walk a trail.
Day 3: Provincetown
You can book the whale watching in Provincetown before you leave for the US https://whalewatch.com. Provincetown is at the top of the tip of Cape Cod. It is close to the ‘Stellenwagen bank’, a shallow stretch in the Atlantic Ocean, where many whales are found.
The tour takes 3 to 4 hours. It is truly beautiful.
It is a fairly large boat, but if you quickly get seasick you better sit in the back of the boat, where there are less fluctuations.
After the whale watching tour you can still walk through the cozy town of Provincetown.
Day 4/5 West- Yarmouth- Danvers Boston (147 km)
On your way to your next destination you can view the Cape Cod Potatoe Chips Factory in Hyannis. Here you could see through windows how the Cape Cod chips are made. It is nice and small. https://www.capecodchips.com/about/factory-tour/
South of Boston you can visit the premium outlet shopping mall (outlet)
We had booked a room at the Knights inn in Danvers- Boston. From here you can visit Boston by train. Personally, we would now rather book a hotel in the center of Boston, because it is a bit easier.
Boston is one of the oldest cities in the US and the cradle of the American Revolution. If you follow the freedom trail you walk along all historical sights and at the same time along shops and nice terraces. The trail is literally a red line, which is indicated on the street. You walk past Faneuil Hall, the Old state house towards Boston Common (large park). This trail is about 4 km.
Day 6/7: Danvers Boston- Thornton (White mountains, New Hamshire) 268 km
Take the Kancamagus Highway from Conway to Lincoln. This mountain route is one of the most beautiful in New England. There are all kinds of beautiful viewpoints along this road.
We made reservations at the Gilcrest motel in Thornton. This small-scale motel has very nice rooms and cottages. It is somewhat secluded, so you have to drive for restaurant and shops at least 15 minutes. https://www.gilcrestcottages.com
There is also a covered bridge in the region, as you sometimes see in a movie.
The “Flume Gorge” is located in the Franconia Notch State Park. You walk a beautiful route around and through the gorge. Wooden paths and steps have been laid in this. The entire walk is 3.2 km.
In the Franconia Notch State park there are other attractions you can visit such as Boise Rock (a rock), The old man historic site (a rock in the shape of an old man, only this rock was demolished in 2003) and the basin (rapids that flow into a lake)
Day 8/9: Thonton- Montreal (Canada) 329 km
After the border crossing from the US to Canada, you will arrive in Montreal. Place de Jacques Cartier is a square named after the founder of the city. This square is the meeting place of the city. There are many outdoor cafes and street performers. The Basilique Notre-Dame, a little further on is one of the most beautiful churches in Canada. It dates from 1829, which is of course not old to us at all. There are more old buildings on the square of this church.
What the burger is for the Americans is La Poutine for the Canadians. It’s fries, with pieces of cheddar cheese, topped with a kind of gravy.
Montreal is a city that you can easily discover by bicycle. There is a lot of cycling on narrow bike paths, so you should pay attention.
You can cycle to Île de St. Helena, an island where the world exhibition was held in 1967. Striking is La Biosphère. A dome that was the pavilion of the US at the time. Now it is a museum.
On the other island, Île de Notre Dame, you can cycle on the Formula 1 track, Circuit Gilles – Villeneuve. You can cycle back to the center via the Jacques-Cartier ferry.
Day 10/11: Montreal- Kingston 285 km
When you’ve had enough of the big cities, head to Kingston. This is roughly in the middle between Montreal and the Niagara falls. It is a historic city on Lake Ontario. In the center there is a weekly farmers market next to the City Hall. On a farmers market, people from the neighborhood or farmers sell homemade or cultivated things, such as vegetables, bread, jewelery, bird houses, etc. You can buy homemade maple syrop (Syrup of the maple), lambchops and goatchops for the barbecue. . This city is also known for the boat trips to “The thousand islands” on Lake Ontario in a paddle boat.
You can also visit Fort Henry, built during the war in 1812. In the fort you can see how the soldiers lived during that time. The employees wear traditional costumes and there are various activities, such as dressing up as a soldier and a musical performance.
Day 12/13: Kingston- Niagara Falls 378 km
You arrive in Niagara Falls on the busy highways along Toronto. We had booked with the Bleu Moon motel. The motel is nicely decorated with lots of flowers and an outside seating area for each room. http://www.bluemoonniagara.com
The famous falls are about a 10 minute drive from the motel. You will soon be overwhelmed by the spectacular waterfalls.
There is a beautifully landscaped boardwalk along the falls (The American falls and the horseshoe falls). Nearby is the Skylon tower. A 236 meter high tower, which offers a beautiful view. You can buy a combination ticket with a 3D / 4D movie. The 4D effects are great fun. For example, you get water splashed in your face when the waterfall is in the picture.
The street “Clifton Hill” is a real fairground attraction.
Day 14/16: Niagara Falls (Canada)- Lancaster (560km)
You cross the border back to the US at the bridge, which offers a nice view of the falls.
The village “Bird in hand” and “Intercourse” in Pensylvania are villages where many Amish and / or Mennonites live. They sell their wares in roadside stalls, in shops or at a farmers market. In “Intercourse” is also the “Ketchen kettle village”. 40 unique shops together, which sell the local specialties. There are kettle korn (popcorn) and shops with leather, fudge, wine and household goods.
If you drive into some side roads you will arrive in a rustic hilly area with many farms. You will regularly come across an Amish carriage.
Hershey is a city known for chocolate. There is an amusement park, a Hershey museum, Hershey gardens etc.
You can take the free tour in Hershey’s Chocolate World. It is very busy there. You get a tour in a cart, through the counterfeit production process of the chocolate. At the end you get a chocolate and you can buy even more chocolate in the gigantic shop.
Day 17/19: Ronks Lancaster via Gettysburg naar Washington 104 km + 131 km= 135km
Gettysburg was the largest battle of the Civil War in 1863. You can visit the Gettysburg National Military park. There is a museum and you can drive around in the territory, where the battles took place. There are many memorials there.
Washington DC is the capital of the US. In Washington DC is the famous mall, a kind of park / boulevard of 3 km with many important monuments and museums. We had booked an airbnb.
Here you can find the National museum of the American Indian, National Air and Space Museum and the National Gallery of Art. The mall continues to the Washington monument. This monument is the famous marble obelisk. Washington’s tallest structure. Ahead is the White House. You can take pictures in front of the fence.
The Capitol houses the House of Representatives and the Senate. Buy tickets purchased online in advance for the tour. Then you walk through a tunnel to the “Library of Congress”, a beautiful library, which was founded in 1800.
At the Lincoln Memorial you have a nice view of the obelisk of the Washington Monument and the reflecting pool. The Memorial features a large statue of former President Abraham Lincoln.
Along the mall you will also visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial.
Day 20/24 Washington- New York
Today you can return the rental car. We chose to do this in Manhattan. That is an experience. It is busy, there is a lot of honking and the navigation does not work optimally due to the many buildings.
We walked across Broadway towards Time Square. You lack eyes. There is so much to see.
The 9/11 memorial is beautiful and impressive.
You can walk south. Then you walk past St Pauls Chapel and to Wall Street with the New York Stock exchange. From Wall Street you had a very nice view of Trinity Church.
The Staten Island Ferry is a free pedestrian ferry that sails past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. On Staten Island you can immediately take the boat back.
Many museums can be found near Central Park, such as The Museum of Natural History.
The famous Central park is loved by many people. They walk, cycle, row a rowing boat, laze under a tree. There are also people roller skating to music.
5th Avenue is the street where the shops of the expensive brands such as Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc. are located.
It’s an experience to go to a New York Yankees baseball game. Buy your tickets in advance. You can take the subway to the Yankee stadium in The Bronx. Visiting a match is mainly a family event here. You will not come across any hooligans here. On a large screen you can see the date and place of birth of each player who is hitting.
If you take the subway to Brooklyn you can walk back over the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan. You have a beautiful view of the bridge, of Manhattan and you even see the statue of liberty from the bridge.
To summarize on this tour:
In this road trip through the north-east of the US, you travel through many cities. We find this side of the US less spectacular than the west side. There you have many special landscapes and a lot of desert. That gives you more of a wild west feel. But you must have visited New York and Washington once.
Cape Cod and New England in the northeast of the US are very similar to Scandinavia.
We found New Hampshire with the White mountains very laid back and friendly, while in Montreal we had more to do with French arrogance.
We stayed to visit New York in New Yersey. You better stay in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Then you can do everything with 1 metro card. We had to spend $ 6.20 pp on the bus in New Jersey every day. You are there close to Manhattan, but it is a different state and therefore you need a different ticket for public transport there.
The game at the Yankees and Central park are highly recommended.
