Are you looking to take a fun road trip through New England with your family? Would you like to easily find top things to do that are outside of the big cities that kids will love? This is what I was looking for when planning our own family’s big Northeast United States road trip and I would love to share with you what we found.
The Northeast United States is an absolutely amazing area of the country to explore. There are so many fantastic things to do and incredible sites to see here that it can be really hard to narrow it down, especially with limited vacation time like most people have.
In this post, I would like to share with you our top favorite sites from our own amazing road trip through the New England area. These are the sites that seriously impressed our whole family and these are the sites that gave us our best memories. They are our family’s New England road trip highlights, and I hope they can help you in your own road trip planning so that you too create an amazing vacation in the northeast United States.
15 Amazing Things to Do on a New England Road Trip with Kids! (Not in Big Cities)
States in This Post:
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
Northeast Maine
Acadia National Park is an absolutely fantastic site to visit on a New England road trip! Here at Acadia our family loved:
Driving the Gorgeous 27 mile Park Loop Road
- Driving Tip: The Park Loop Road is a one-way clockwise road from the start of the loop until just before Jordan Pond on the southwest end.
- This road can be extremely congested in July and August so you may need to allow anywhere from 2-4 hours to drive it.
Hiking the 1.8 mile (round-trip) Gorham Mountain Trail
- Our kids (ages 5, 7 & 9) absolutely loved climbing over all of the rocks on this fun trail (See Below) and the view from the top was spectacular!
Walking along Ocean Path Trail
- We chose to only walk the portion from Thunder Hole to Otter Cliffs Overlook and absolutely loved our ocean views!
- Highlights for us along this path were Thunder Hole, Monument Cove, Boulder Beach and Otter Cliffs Overlook.
Have a Fun Picnic at Jordan Pond
- This is a beautiful and relaxing area for a fun picnic.
- Be on the lookout for Peregrine falcons and Bald Eagles that live here!
Driving to the Top of Cadillac Mountain
- Cadillac Mountain is one of the first places in the entire U.S. to see the sun rise, it is the highest point on the eastern Atlantic and the summit has gorgeous panoramic views!
- On the top of Cadillac Mountain we found it very windy, so keep in mind that you might need to hold on tight to your hats!
- Cadillac Mountain can also get extremely crowded (know that Vehicle Reservation is required to drive this road during the busy portions of the year.)
Acadia National Park is an absolutely stunning destination and it would be a fantastic addition to any road trip through New England!
WALK THE OCEAN FLOOR TO BAR ISLAND
Bar Harbor, Maine
Walking the Land Bridge from Bar Harbor to Bar Island (near Acadia National Park) turned out to be one of our family’s top favorite memories from our entire Northeast U.S. road trip!
Here, at low tide, you actually have the chance to walk on the ocean floor to an island!
Tips for this Adventure:
- Before taking this adventure, we pointed out to our kids where Bar Island was during high tide, from the top of Cadillac Mountain (and from Bar Harbor itself.) They were amazed when we told them that we would walk there later that day!
- At low tide, park on the north side of town, by West Street and Bridge Street of Bar Harbor. The entrance is at the end of Bridge Street to the west of the dock area.
- It is approximately 1/3 mile to Bar Island and there is about a 3 hour window where you can walk across this natural land bridge.
Honestly, our family actually never made it all the way to Bar Island. Our children were just so excited to see the ocean floor, look at all of the shells and search for all of the little crabs that were scurrying around. We ended up spending the entire time just on this land bridge. And we had a blast here! We even had the chance to watch the sunset from this incredibly unique location and it was gorgeous!
PORTLAND HEAD LIGHT
Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Portland Head Light is my favorite lighthouse in all of Maine and I think it’s absolutely picture perfect!
And for families it’s even more perfect because this lighthouse is part of Fort Williams Park where there is a ton of room for kids to run around, 2 batteries to visit, a beach area, a children’s garden and more!
Aside from getting to view this gorgeous lighthouse, our family also really enjoyed walking the “Cliff Walk” trail along the water and having a fantastic Lobster Roll lunch from the “Bite into Maine” food truck there. It was so yummy!
So if you are looking to visit a lighthouse in Maine on your New England Road Trip, Check out Portland Head Light. We thought it was Fantastic!
THE FLUME GORGE
Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire
The Flume Gorge is our family’s absolute favorite hike in the entire Northeast United States!
Stunning waterfalls, historic covered bridges, fun small caves and absolutely spectacular scenery! Flume Gorge completely blew us away on this breathtaking 2 mile loop through Franconia Notch State Park.
Flume Gorge Trail is especially great for families too! The path is easy, the dramatic scenery is constantly changing and there are a variety of fun natural features scattered throughout this trail that kids will love! Do they dare enter the “Bear Cave?” Can they wiggle their way through the “Wolf Den?” Will they be able to hold up the “Glacial Boulder?”
Hiking The Flume Gorge seriously impressed our family and we think it would be an amazing trail to add to any road trip through the New England area!
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BEN & JERRY’S FACTORY TOUR
Waterbury, Vermont
The Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour is a fantastic place to see how their ice cream is made! This factory alone produces 300,000 pints of ice cream per day. And on this tour you’ll get to see the step-by-step process of how Ben & Jerry’s ice cream gets created, mixed and packaged to be sent to your local grocery store.
Our kids really loved this tour and getting to see all of the ingredients being put together. (They were making Chocolate Fudge Brownie on the day we were there and we were able to watch them dump lots and lots of brownie bits into a huge vat of ice cream and then mix them together.) Just thinking about this is making me hungry.
At the end of the tour, we each received a huge “sample” to taste test. And it was a decent sized scoop of ice cream, not a small spoon-sized sample or tiny little cup like some places give. On the day we visited we were able to sample the flavor “American Dream” which was vanilla ice cream with waffle cone pieces and fudge. It was amazingly delicious!
So, if you’re looking for great road trip stops in the Vermont area, be sure to check out The Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour. It’s a Ton of Fun and Absolutely Delicious!
COLD HOLLOW CIDER MILL
Waterbury Center, Vermont
Cold Hollow Cider Mill is an amazing hidden gem that I would never had known about or gone to, if my friend (who grew up there) hadn’t suggested it.
Located just 5 minutes down the road from the Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour, Cold Hollow Cider Mill at first glance looks just like a local bakery and gift shop. But it’s so much more!
Here, we were thoroughly fascinated to watch dozens of delicious cider donuts being made by their robot donut machine. They make over 800 dozen per day! And aside from the donuts, we were also able to watch their pastry chef make beautiful pies and other pastries through a glass viewing window. They looked spectacular!
We also had the chance to watch their apple cider being made the old-time way! Here, we watched the apples get pressed and I was amazed by how much juice came out from them. And on top of this, they let us sample the fresh apple cider! It was amazing!
At Cold Hollow Cider Mill we even were able to observe their own bee colony in action! This bee colony was behind glass, in the store itself, and had a tube that ran out to the outside for the bees to come and go as they pleased. It was incredible to watch these amazing insects as they built their comb and created their honey.
I was completely shocked by how much we learned and saw at this small bakery/gift shop. And on top of this, it was all Free! Ok so you may want to buy a cider donut or two or even a dozen while visiting or maybe some delicious apple cider, but they are all so incredibly tasty and worth every penny!
MORSE FARM MAPLE SUGARWORKS
Montpelier, Vermont
Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks was a great place for our family to learn all about where maple sugar comes from. Here we watched an informative video on the sugar making process, toured the sugar house, hiked to see the maple trees (all hooked up with lots of tubes and collection tanks) and then finished off our tour with some absolutely fantastic maple ice cream!
The Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks was really wonderful and we learned so much! I honestly had no idea just how much work went into making maple syrup and I was shocked to find out that it takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make just 1 gallon of syrup! Just knowing this makes me appreciate every single delicious drop of maple syrup so much more now.
ROCK OF AGES QUARRY TOUR
Graniteville, Vermont
The Rock of Ages Granite Quarry Tour is a really great factory tour in Vermont where we not only had the chance to see their huge granite quarry in action but we also were able to tour their large manufacturing building.
First, on the tour we were taken to see the nearly 600 foot granite quarry. It was really impressive and I couldn’t believe how blue the water was. It was gorgeous! And while we were on the tour we found out that this is said to be the largest operating deep-hole, dimension granite quarry in the entire world!
Next, our tour took us to their 160,000 square-foot factory where we had the chance to watch the artisans work on carving huge pieces of granite into statues, tombstones and various other items. They were using everything from simple hand tools to computer-guided, diamond-tipped saws and laser-etching equipment. It was fascinating!
But I do need to also mention one of the highlights for my children, here at Rock of Ages. And this was that they got to go bowling at their outdoor granite bowling lane! This bowling lane was developed as a prototype for commercial use, but it never took off since a traditional bowling ball will eventually break when bowled on a granite lane. But they left it here for everyone to enjoy at their leisure with using rubber bowling balls. Our kids thought this was fantastic!
PLIMOTH PATUXET MUSEUM
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Plimoth Patuxet Museum is a fantastic site to experience the history of the 17th Century Plymouth Colony and to learn all about the Indigenous people who called this home.
Wampanoag Village
For our family, our first stop was at the Wampanoag Village. Here, we were able to step inside a wetu (house), watch a dug-out canoe being made in the traditional way and we were able to see traditional food being cooked over the fire. Our children also really enjoyed participating in grinding corn down into cornmeal and being able to sit in a real dug-out canoe and pretend that they were paddling down the river.
Plymouth Colony
Our second stop here, was to visit the recreated 17th Century Plymouth Colony. This was a lot of fun. Here we interacted with costumed Pilgrims who explained to us their daily chores and we even were able to talk to an individual that was helping to restore the village with period accurate building materials and furnishings. My husband and I found this particularly fascinating!
The Craft Center
But honestly, one of our kid’s favorite parts of this entire site was in the craft center here, where we were able to watch a potter make beautiful historical recreations on a potter’s wheel. She was incredible!
The Plimoth Patuxet Museum is an absolutely wonderful living history museum and we think it would be an incredible place to visit on any road trip through New England.
(And if you do decide to stop here, don’t miss checking out the famous Plymouth Rock that lies just down the road.)
BOSTON TEA PARTY SHIPS & MUSEUM
Boston, Massachusetts
Ok, so I know that this post is supposed to be only for road trip stops outside of cities, but I just had to include the Boston Tea Party Museum because it is just that good! And for our family it was a quick road trip stop when we were passing through. This incredible, interactive museum is truly one of the most fun museums that our family has ever been to.
At the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum you’ll immediately become immersed into the events that took place more than 230 years ago. You’ll meet the colonists, participate in a lively meeting discussing the injustice of a tax on tea and then your group will march down to the harbor and you get to actually “throw the tea” overboard!
The Boston Tea Party Museum does an absolutely amazing job at bringing history to life. So make sure you check out this fantastic experience if you will be traveling anywhere near the Boston area on a road trip through New England.
MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM
Mystic, Connecticut
The Mystic Seaport Museum is said to be the World’s Largest Maritime Museum with over 500 vessels, plus the last remaining wooden whale ship in the world – the Charles W. Morgan!
Our family had a great time visiting Mystic Seaport. We were able to board several historical boats, go below their decks and see live demonstrations while on board like the Man Overboard Drill, watch life boats being lowered and we were able to listen to the Chanteymen’s songs while they worked.
Yet, this is not just a ship museum. Here, there is also a 19th Century Seafaring Village with a working blacksmith shop, a cooper, a print shop, rope making, a pharmacist, candle making, wood carving and more!
There was so much to see and do at Mystic Seaport and we think it would be a fantastic addition to any road trip through New England!
CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS
Corning, New York
The Corning Museum of Glass completely blew me away and totally exceeded my expectations!
Our family spent over 4 hours exploring this incredible museum and only left because they were closing! Here we saw several fantastic live demonstrations which included a hot glass blowing demonstration (see above), a flamework demo where we watched a glass rod be turned into an incredible glass figurine, an optical fiber demo and a really fun glass breaking demo.
We also wandered through all of their informative and beautiful displays. These displays discussed how glass was discovered, made, and how glass has changed throughout time. It showed the different types of glass that currently exist and how glass can be used in so many different ways. At the Corning Museum of Glass there are displays of glass from the ancient Romans, Venetian Glass, Islamic Glass, European, American, Asian, Crystal and Modern Glass. Originally I was worried that my children would be bored with these displays, but there are several interactive areas to spice things up for them and they really found it fascinating too!
Create Your Own Glass Sculpture!
On top of this, we made a reservation for our children (ages 6, 8, &10) to each try Glass Blowing themselves and they were able to make their own glass sculptures! They were so proud of their sculptures (and I was too.) But what cracked me up was how much they loved the fact that it was their own breath stuck inside their tear-drop shaped glass sculpture from when they blew the glass to create it, and that it was their own breath that would remain inside it forever!
The Corning Museum of Glass was an absolute highlight for our family and we think it would be a perfect addition to any road trip through New England.
(And if you stop here, don’t miss the next site, Watkins Glen, which is less than 30 minutes down the road!)
WATKINS GLEN STATE PARK
Watkins Glen, New York
Discover the gorgeous Watkins Glen State Park! This is a spectacular hidden gem in New York that completely blew us away with its beauty.
Here at Watkins Glen, which sits right in the middle of town, you’ll descend into an unreal gorge with towering cliffs that follows alongside the seemingly gentle stream that formed it. Along the way, you’ll pass 19 picturesque waterfalls of various sizes and you’ll even get the opportunity to walk behind several of them!
Our family absolutely loved Watkins Glen! We thought this gorge was completely breathtaking and it was unlike any other place we’d ever seen. One highlight for our children was being able to go behind two bigger waterfalls and see them from their “backside.” One of my highlights was on one of the waterfalls where the sun was hitting just right and a rainbow appeared right where my children were standing and the rainbow went across the gorge. I told them that they were my little pots of gold at the end of this rainbow.
Watkins Glen is completely breathtaking and we think it would be a great addition to any road trip through the northeast United States.
LETCHWORTH STATE PARK
New York
Letchworth State Park, also known as “the Grand Canyon of the East” was a great road trip stop for our family on our way to Niagara Falls. Here in this beautiful state park you can see three major waterfalls (as high as 600 feet), choose among 66 miles of hiking trails, go horseback riding, camping and so much more. Letchworth State Park was voted the Best Attraction in New York State in 2017 and in 2015 it won USA Today’s Reader’s Choice Award for the Best State Park in the United States!
At Letchworth State Park our family really enjoyed our stops at Inspiration Point, Middle Falls and Lower Falls. We thought that each of these sites were fantastic! Honestly, I had no idea that the waterfalls here would be this big and pretty. I loved them!
Letchworth State Park was a fantastic road trip stop for our family in the Northeast United States. This fantastic park was also a great way to introduce our children to and get excited about our next big stop along the way, which was the incredible Niagara Falls.
NIAGARA FALLS
New York
Niagara Falls is one of the most amazing road trip destinations in the entire northeast United States! The water’s power here is completely overwhelming. Its sheer size is jaw-dropping. And its beauty completely took our breath away.
Our family began our visit on the American side. (See picture above.) Here you can get right up to the waterside and watch it powerfully fall over the edge. This was such an incredible experience! Yet I will warn you, that for us there was a ton of spray here (maybe it was the direction of the wind) and it was hard for us to see much here. But we still had a blast and we were giddy like little school kids seeing this waterfall’s powerful display.
The Canadian Side of Niagara Falls
If you are able to, I highly suggest going over to the Canadian side as well, to view Niagara Falls. On the Canadian side the views are unbelievable! Here, you can have a gorgeous view of the the falls from afar. You can have a fantastic edge side view of the water powerfully spilling over. And you can see the incredible lights display on the falls at night! (See below)
Niagara Falls is an absolutely fantastic destination to visit in the northeast United States and this is one destination that you definitely do not want to miss!
I hope you enjoyed our list of 15 Amazing Things to Do in the Northeast on a Road Trip. These were our own road trip highlights. These were our absolute favorites sites. And these destinations gave us our best vacation memories. And we hope that you enjoy them as much as we did on your own road trip through the Northeast United States!
Have a Great Road Trip in the Northeast U.S. with Your Traveling Feet!
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