Driving from Portland, ME Area (Lovell) to Philadelphia, PA

Hi. In August, we%26#39;ll be taking a long drive from Lovell, ME to Philadelphia. We have about 10 days, kids ages 8 and 10 and will be looking for a nice vacation, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, rafting?, eating in good restaurants where possible and a little shopping. As much as possible, we%26#39;d like to use hotel chain points for lodging. Does anyone have a suggested itinerary that would include areas to stay where we%26#39;ll find some chains? I know that remote scenic areas and chain hotels normally don%26#39;t belong in the same sentence, but thought I%26#39;d try. (We usually prefer not to stay in chains, but we have lots of points from business travel on our hands.)

Thank you!

Robin

Driving from Portland, ME Area (Lovell) to Philadelphia, PA

Not exactly sure what you are asking. Will you be spending time in the Lovell area and then spending 10 days on the way back to Philly? Are you looking for 1 place for the entire time? You are not far from N. Conway which just happens to have chain lodging, nice restaurants, hiking, kayaking, etc.

Driving from Portland, ME Area (Lovell) to Philadelphia, PA

Same question as neslaw1 re:timing and direction. Conway, of course, is beautiful, and close to Lovell.

You have a lot of options in planning your route to Phila. One is to go down I-95, and a stop in Portland, ME and/or Portsmouth, NH will give you chains and seacoast, with opportunities for kayaking, whale watching, beaches, and great dining.

From the N. Conway area, you can either head south toward Portsmouth and then onto I-95. Or you could cross the state and work your way toward I-91. You will find chains in the Hanover.Lebanon, NH area and the VT towns across the CT River. Also down in Brattleboro. These all put you easily within reach of mountains, streams, rivers and all that you seek, including good dining.

You may want to check the state tourism websites as a starting point for finding the activities you are interested in. www.visitnh.gov is NH%26#39;s website. You can Google ME and VT. Also the local Chambers of Commerce will have links to this stuff and more. I don%26#39;t know specific names, but I do know that there will be plenty of opportunities.

Thank you. This was incredibly helpful. We will have been in Portland before Lovell. As for timing, etc., we are completely open. Based just on what you%26#39;ve written here, we%26#39;ll probably start in N. Conway - figure out how to base there a few days and get to the Presidentials, maybe camp one night out there. Then, we%26#39;ll head down 91 and overnight in one of those towns, and maybe to Boston for a couple of days, then home to Philly. We can drive straight home from there, as we go to NYC fairly regularly.

Thank you! Would greatly appreciate any more info, tips, etc.

Robin

This is not how a bird would fly from Lovell to Philly but after N Conway, you could drive over to Stowe VT for a few days then down thru the Berkshires and then the final leg to Philly. All these areas are great in the summer with everything from nature to high culture available. After you decide on an itinerary, we can give some suggestions for sights in the NH (and other areas)

We have narrowed things down considerably. We will stay one night in N. Conway, camp 2 nights in Crawford Notch State Park (unless someone can recommend a better place to camp). Then we will drive to Boston, where we will stay for 2 nights and then stop in NY on our way back to Philly.

What I need now is a recommendation on which town to stop in on our way to Boston. We%26#39;d like to pack up our camping gear and drive somewhere where we can get cleaned up and stay overnight. If I were lazy, I%26#39;d go right back to N. Conway (and maybe that%26#39;s what I should do), but I%26#39;d like to see some other type of town. There is a fairly direct route from the park to Boston with lots of places I know nothing about in between. Please advise.

Thank you!!

I would have to suggest Rockport as being the most fun for kids and for parents. It is a long drive from Crawford Notch but about 30-45 minutes from Boston (or longer depending on traffic).

We camp in Crawford Notch all the time, we love it. I recommend stopping in Portsmouth on the way back...great town, and you could take an Isles of Shoals cruise if you have time. I would recommend driving down Route 1A to get to the highway to continue to Boston.

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