12 Day New England Itinerary

I'm in the middle of a 17 day New England trip and my itenerary is as follows:
Cape Cod- 7 nights at Nickerson State Park (mid cape, easy access to everything)
Old Orchard Beach, ME- 2 nights (tank clean outs, regroup, resupply, 1 beach day)
Acadia National Park- 4 nights at Blackwoods CG
White Mountains (lost river valley cg)- 3 nights

I've got 4 days left in Cape Cod and still don't feel like I'm going to see it all. I think you have too much planned and too much driving for the time allotted.

We just got back from doing part of your itinerary, although we were in a rental car and tent camped. We spent about the same amount of time as you will, realizing we had to prioritize and miss many places along the way. But it was either go and see what we could or not go at all. We particularly paid attention to the days and time of day we were driving certain stretches of highway. For instance we left Cape Cod and drove north through Boston all the way to Bar Harbor in one day. But it was a Sunday and traffic flowed well the whole way. I would imagine we would have spend four or five or more hours for this same trip if we took it on a weekday. Being stuck in an RV for hours during rush hour is no way to spend a vacation, so plan carefully.

Some places aren't especially RV friendly. Newport RI, for example, might be a challenge to find a place to park your RV. We took commuter rail into Boston from the Kingston station. If you are even allowed to take your RV in, you might have to pay for two spaces with the length of your rig.

I would spend your entire days at Mystic and environs and then head to Newport for a whole day there, rather than the back and forth to Newport that you have planned.

At Acadia, make sure you rent bikes and spend a day exploring the carriage roads. Probably the best day of our 17 day trip out there. There are many easy roads, no cars, and great scenery.

We took the Kancamagus Highway instead of going further north as you have planned. Lots of hikes along here plus some great swimming holes that the kids will love (except during spring runoff). Just an alternative to save some miles by not going so far north.

Too aggressive. Keep in mind miles between stops up here means nothing-it's all about time. 40 or 50 miles can take 3 hours. You also aren't allowing near enough time to thoroughly enjoy yourself. You'll be spending more time cruising between sites than visiting. In answer to your questions, why do you want to go to Cambridge? I'd drop that and stick with Lexington and Concord, but if you take your time and truly explore you can spend a day at each place. Honestly I'd cut the number of places to visit in half. Acadia itself can easily be a day between things to see and do plus traffic. Kennebunkport is a good half-day, if not more. If you like to shop you can easily spend all day in Freeport. Boston? Days by itself depending on what you want to see and do. Make a list, prioritize, and then work it out. You will not do this area justice on that schedule.

Your best bet for Boston is to do it from Normandy Farms. There's little or no parking at T stations. You can't drive the RV in there-no place to park. Not sure what the other campgrounds may offer to access the city.

Thank you so much for the feedback! We were definitely planning to park the RV and use public transportation in Boston.
A few questions:
- What cities/attractions could be dropped (or should definitely be kept in) from the itinerary?
- Where would be a good place to park the RV and pick up public transportation in Boston?

I have no idea how far you're driving. I like to find a spot and drop it for 4 days. Of course I have a 5th wheel toy hauler and explore the area on a motorcycle or truck depending on weather and purpose.

Maybe somewhere between Day 7 and 8 plan a day at Funtown Splashtown in Saco, Maine or Water Country in Portsmouth NH, depending on the weather.

Having been to most of the areas you list on your itinerary, I believe your travel plans are way too optimistic given travel times needed to "get there" and then the time needed to see/do a minimum of activities. I would suggest scaling back and truly enjoying fewer things. In my experience, any of your points of interest can take a day or two just see them superficially. Definitely use public transportation to get to Boston and do not drive in the city.

Take the bus tour of Boston out of Normandy Farms. Do NOT try to drive around Boston to see the sights. The town was designed for horse and buggy's...

Just fyi hampton state requires 3 nite minium and need to make reservation 11 months in advance.

gbopp wrote:
Did you figure out how many miles/hours you will be driving every day?

x2 on this. You have some days with a whole lot of driving and a full day's worth of sightseeing as well. Days 10 and 11 look frankly impossible to me. Many of the others are quite long, and there's not much apparent space for relaxation planned.

Reservations are good to get. Since this is next summer, you do have some time to think things over and don't need to jump on them right immediately (excepting perhaps if you're looking to include Independence Day weekend).

Please don't imagine you'll drive your RV through Boston. Plan on taking public transportation. (Also be aware that you cannot take the RV through the Boston area tunnels due to propane restrictions.)