The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
3-4 week trip to the US East coast in September
Anarchy Rules!
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I'm planning a 3-4 week trip to the US in September (coming from the UK).
I'm thinking of visiting New York, Washington and Boston. I'm a museum/history kind of guy so I should be pretty sorted out with these cities!
How long would you recommend staying in each city really? Are there other cities you'd recommend, I want to make the most of the time, but not spend all my time traveling around!
This year I had planned on hiking the Appalachian trail, but unfortunately life got in the way. If possible I'd love to be able to see some of the country itself (not necessarily the AT). I've heard New Hampshire is nice? Is there somewhere you'd recommend that is accessible via public transport?
I'm thinking of visiting New York, Washington and Boston. I'm a museum/history kind of guy so I should be pretty sorted out with these cities!
How long would you recommend staying in each city really? Are there other cities you'd recommend, I want to make the most of the time, but not spend all my time traveling around!
This year I had planned on hiking the Appalachian trail, but unfortunately life got in the way. If possible I'd love to be able to see some of the country itself (not necessarily the AT). I've heard New Hampshire is nice? Is there somewhere you'd recommend that is accessible via public transport?
0
Posts
If driving isn't an option, another option might be to look for outdoors or camping clubs (AMC?) and see if any are organizing group trips during your vacation.
If you want to see some cool stuff - rent a car and do some of the following:
If you really like mountains - NH is the place - go up into the whites and climb Washington for the views (actually an easy but long hike if you go off the backside) or Chocorua on the Champney Falls trail if you want a really cool rock scramble. Lafayatte-Lincoln is also good.
Additionally - hit up Portland Maine for awesome waterfront eats, Portsmouth is also ok (but not at the level of Portland)
Lots of other cool stuff in the area, let me think on it and get back to you.
Other than history - anything you're into?
Personally I would aim to drive as little as possible. There is an abundance of stuff you can do within subway/walking/cab distance in each of these cities.
DC to NYC train is $100-150 each way. It's not cheap, unfortunately.
Compared to the cost of renting a car and gas, it seems to be cheaper though, yes? And I imagine they'd only be taking it one way. It's about the same price from NYC to Boston, maybe a bit more.
Megabus is cheap has wifi and is not as shady as Chinatown bus.
From the UK do not drive in DC or NYC you will crash.
For accommodations in DC Stay in northern Virginia near a Metro stop. Reagan National or Tysons corner are both metro accessible, with a good number of hotels. Hilton Marriot Raddison are all decent.
And if you're not going to run up the escalator to get to the DC metro, stand on the right.
The DC metro is pretty straight forward, and takes you to most of the museums, zoo, etc. There's tons of buses too, but they're a bit more complicated.
It's like a neighborhood of Downton Abbys that were built before income tax was a thing, and you can audio tour them all.
Generally when I visit a city I'll visit the main landmarks, as many of the museums as I can fit in. Other than that I generally enjoy just wandering around and getting a feel for the place.
Places I'd recommend then:
NYC - lots of good neighborhoods - I'm no expert, but there's a ton there
Boston - Plan some time for wandering about the South End, then Cambridge & Somerville
DC - Don't know enough to comment
Portland Maine - if you get the chance, stay at least 1 night on a weekend or thursday - huge restaurant & night scene in the old port
If this is your very first time in DC, this is my short museum list for those coming for the first time.
National Mall Museums. You can hit 2 or maybe 3 in a long day. It's a lot of walking to go from one end to another.
Air and Space Museum (it's awesome once afterwards it doesn't really change).
National Museum of American History (This one is pretty good even a second time).
National Museum of Natural History.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (This is neat, I check it out every time I'm in the area but I like Sculptures)
While you are there, might as well check out the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Washington Monument
Wear comfortable shoes, you'll put 10-20 miles on your pedometer
Non National Mall Museums you should hit
Spy Museum (costs money but it is my favorite museum, I've been numerous times)
National Portrait Gallery (Not near anything but quiet and enjoyable)
*Holocaust Museum* I'm putting asterisk on this because it is fucking brutal, understand that before going, it will bum you out a lot.
National Zoo, even though is not a Museum is a really great zoo.
And as I said before spending a day in downtown Annapolis is fun.
There are a variety of Colonial-era recreation / living-history places between the two, if that's your thing. It's been a long time since I was a kid and obliged to go to them, but they're mostly still there.
While you are in Boston, even if you're not an aquarium guy, see theirs. It's pretty remarkable.
The Museum of Fine Arts there is really impressive as well. One of my favorite spots to visit back when I was in college.
Most of the other really exciting-to-see collections in Boston are really across the river in Cambridge at Harvard, but they have a pretty good science museum.
You could literally spend that entire time in New York City and not run out of stuff to see by any reasonable standard, however, and I'm going to say if you're not interested in getting sucked in there you might actually be better off skipping NYC in favor of just staying in New England proper for a good while then going to the DC - Maryland area.
Also, I recommend the Isabelle Gardner museum (near the MFA in Boston) if you like looking at old books.
And I'll second Auralynx's suggestion to stop in Providence, RI at some point, especially if you can aligning it with a WaterFire exhibition.
There's a similar, irregular-of-access facility in slightly-upstate NY: Storm King Park.
It's been on my radar a while but I have yet to talk myself into going alone or anyone else into coming.
Yeah, if you get a chance while in New England, take a trip up to the Maine coast. It's absolutely beautiful, and the lobster is (hopefully still) pretty cheap.
Another thing to hit while visiting DC is the Arlington National Cemetery: Kennedy's flame, the Challenger monument, Iwo Jima Memorial, the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. Metro stop right there, or a nice walk across a bridge from the Lincoln Memorial.
If you're at all interested in baseball, Nationals Park in both easily reachable on the metro and a really nice stadium to boot. Took a couple of visiting Brit friends there a month+ back, and got one of them hooked. He's still complaining about intentional walks.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Hey I drove in both NYC and DC when I visited the east coast (needed the rental car anyway) and didn't crash once.
I mean I still have literal nightmares about it but it's not like its Rome levels bad.
Driving in Boston is worse than the others it feels like.
Boston occupies some sort of 8th dimensional space.
But yeah avoid driving as much as possible. Trains, planes, buses. Use them liberally unless you've got someone from the US with you that is willing to drive you around.
http://www.strawberybanke.org/
There's also Odiorne Point State Park not too far from there, if you want more nature:
http://www.nhstateparks.com/odiorne.html
EDIT: it's like an hour/hour and a half away from Boston proper, with most of that time getting out of the city itself.
Nope! Sadly.