Travel to Maine, May

We are visiting North America from New Zealand in May-June, flying into NY. We are wanting to visit Maine for a few days on our way to Ottawa via Maine, White Mountains, Burlington. We will catch the bus from Burlington across the border.

Our idea is to hire a car from Providence, driving to Portland, staying there for a few days and doing day trips. Can anyone give us an idea of the time it would take to drive from Portland to White Mountains, sightseeing on the way

Also are there any bus companies doing tours or a day or more around the Maine area, I have searched without success.

Travel to Maine, May

Hi: Wow, you have picked a beautiful trip and May and June are lovely months in New England. Portland is central to taking day trips. There is Kennybunkport, and the southern coast. Also, Camden is about two hours north and my pick for a not-to-miss area! On the way back, stop in at L.L.Bean, the world famous retail store in Freeport.

Heading to the white mountains can be a long and winding trip in order to do some exploring. Heading west from Portland, pick up route #4 then #302. This will take you around Sebago Lake and through a few lovely N.E. towns, including Naples, Bridgton and Fryburg Maine. Continue on 302 into Conway and there decide your time left to spend sightseeing and proceed accordingly. The trip to this point should take you maybe 3-5 hours, depending on your stops.

I would recommend taking Rt. 16 south a short way and then on to the Kancamangus Highway the Swift River runs along side-lovely. At the end of this road, you will be in the Lincoln, N.H. area. Lots of lodging and places to eat. From there you can travel north towards Franconia via route #3 and visit such beautiful natural sights as the Basin, Flume, and many many more. The National Park area is facinating. Another way from Conway to travel to the other side of the mountains is to go north on route #16 through North Conway and the famous outlet shopping route. Continue to route 302 and on to Franconia.

From there, you need to decide your time again, and choose your route to Vermont. You can once again take route #302 and wind over to Montpelier where you can pick up route #89 to Burlington and on to Canada.

This is a long trip and you must remember you are crossing three states. If you allow enough time, I am sure your vacation through our beautiful New England will be memorable. Good luck, I hope this was some help to you.

Travel to Maine, May

Thank you for the information, it is very helpful. I have now researched the routes on Goodle Maps.

On checking holidays in the States, we see it is Memorial Weekend the last weekend of May, we were going to be doing the travel through Maine/Vermonth from the 20th/25th May. Is this a very busy holiday weekend and should we avoid travelling this weekend. We are leaving New York the 20th. We have to be in Ottawa by the 27th May. I see we can fly to Portland and get a rental car from there.

If we do travel this time would we be best to book accommodation now?

Memorial Day Weekend is most definitely a heavy travel weekend. It depends what you%26#39;re used to, though. However, the good news about the areas you%26#39;re traveling is that there are only a few hot-spots to avoid. All of the New England Interstates (I-95, I-90, I-93, etc.) will be very busy on Friday afternoon/evening (northbound) and very busy on Monday, Memorial Day (southbound). Everyone ';from away'; will be driving into Maine, NH, VT at the start of the weekend and leaving at the end of it. So if you can travel on different days, you%26#39;ll be much happier. Based on your dates, it looks like you%26#39;ll be ok traveling in the middle of the week. Just keep in mind rush-hour traffic for people going to and leaving work.

The trip recommended by Renny is a good one. Get up to Portland on the 20th or 21st and you%26#39;ll be fine. If you can time your drive from Providence to Portland to avoid the aforementioned times, you%26#39;ll be in good shape. Portland to the White Mountains (Rt. 302) should be a fine drive - could be a bit busy on Friday, but not bad. Leave in the early morning and you%26#39;ll be fine. I%26#39;d advise to use North Conway, NH as your home-base for a few days to explore the White Mountains. Neat town with a lot of shops and restaurants and close to a lot of the mountains. And yes, I%26#39;d make reservations now if you can.

Hope this helps! Enjoy!

Memorial Day weekend is a fairly popular time for people to take the long weekend for a get-away. I would definitely recommend making reservations for that time. You have about a week to travel to your final destination, so flying to Portland from N.Y. is probably a great start. Plan to stay there for a couple of nights.

Your next night stop should probably be in the White Mountains, maybe in the Lincoln area. You then have a few nights to decide about Vermont. If you go directly to Burlington, plan your final nights in the states there and that will give you plenty of time to get to Ottawa by the 27th. Burlington is a great town with lots to do in short trips.

Try getting in touch with AAA. They can probably give you more detailed info and send you books and maps and lodging information for these routes. I am a member of AAA, but I think for a small fee (not sure about this) they will help non-members.

Travel safe. Renny

Hi Marqnz

You initially stated that you are hiring a car in Providence, which I assume means your trip starts from Rhode Island. Then in a later post you stated that you could fly into Portland. If you still have options I would fully suggest that you choose to fly into Portland. It is a 3 to 4 hour drive from Providence. You could also think about flying into Boston... could be cheaper than Portland, and it is only a two hour drive.

Just thought you would want that piece of info.

The weather for Memorial Day is never easy to figure... we went camping once and froze in the 32F degree weather, the next year we were at the beach and it was glorious and 75F! So be prepared for whatever and check the reports.

As far as things to see, don%26#39;t miss the Portland Headlight lighthouse, and Popham Beach or Reid State Park. Mt. Washington is a few hours drive, and you most likely will still get to see a lot of snow on the mountain. Look up the Cog Railway on google.

Have fun planning.

Since you%26#39;re still a bit open to travel options, I%26#39;d suggest you strongly consider flying into Portland and renting your car there.... Smaller airport, easier access to car rental agencies, and definitely easier to get out of the airport/city to other destinations than fighting Boston traffic.

The time you save by flying could be spent in additional touring in the Portland area....or getting a jump on the Memorial Day Weekend traffic. Flying in on the 20th, would give you part of that day to see some of the immediate Portland area (the Portland Head Light lighthouse, Kennebunkport area, and even a trip to L L Bean outfitters in Freeport that evening (they%26#39;re open 24 hours a day 365 days a year -- not even any locks on the doors of the store!). And if the weather is really nice, take a brief ride out to one of the islands in Casco Bay (and return) on the Casco Bay Lines ferries that provide year-round service to the folks who live on the islands. Trip lengths can vary, but you can find more information at cascobaylines.com

Then on the 21st, you could explore up the Maine coast even as far as Camden and back (to save some time, drive up US 1 from Portland to Camden, Rockland, Belfast, wherever, then cut back inland to Augusta and take I-95/295 back to Portland (gives you a look at inland Maine as well as the coast)....and get a morning start out of town on the 22nd ahead of the Memorial Day weekend traffic -- which can start building by mid-afternoon.

If you%26#39;re exploring the Maine coast, do remember that many of the most scenic areas are not on US 1, but at the end of peninsulas extending off it... If you look at the palm of your hand with your wrist at the top and your fingers pointing down, picture US 1 connecting the base of your index finger with the base of your pinky -- the most scenic places (Boothbay Harbor, Pemaquid Point, etc.) are at the ends of your fingers -- and the only way to get from one to the other is to drive down the peninsula, see what you want to see, then drive back up to Rt 1, along it to the next peninsula, and repeat. Not hard to do -- just requires building additional time into your trip planning.

With reservations ahead of time, you could easily get to the North Conway NH area (about two hours driving without stops -- three to four if you take the time to see things along the way) and still have the afternoon to see some of the sights there.

If you do stay in North Conway, be sure to ask the locals for directions to Cathedral Ledge, a great spot for seeing part of the valley from the top of a sheer ledge (but with a road to the top!). For a very pleasant walk in the woods, ask for directions to Diana%26#39;s Baths -- part of the White Mountains National Forest -- about two miles round trip on a path through the woods that takes you to an old mill site on the banks of a stream. If Spring arrives early, it should be gorgeous by then -- if Spring is late, you may want to ask whether or not the snow is out of the woods (hiking through melting snow isn%26#39;t a lot of fun).

As far as the other part of your original question, I am not aware of any company%26#39;s offering single-day tours along the Maine coast from the Portland area. Just not enough demand to justify the expense as I understand it.

Hope this helps and that you have a great visit.

Thanks for all the suggestions. The areas sound fantastic. We will be best to travel out of the busy times. eg maybe travel from Maine to White Mountains on the Saturday morning then travel again on Monday morning before the roads get busy.

Our biggest issue will be making sure we keep to the ';right'; side of the road... Will be interesting. The shopping sounds dangerous, maybe we will need another suitcase.!! for the shopping. LL Bean is very tempting. We had not been aware of it before. Would we be best have clothes for cold weather as well as hot.. ?? It is our Autumn then. We actually dont have a real autumn in the area we live. I will try the AAA for maps. We are affiliated here via AANZ. Thanks again

Well, as you could guess, it%26#39;s spring time in May. In New England, the joke is ';If you don%26#39;t like the weather, just wait a minute.'; Point is that the weather is all over the place and somewhat unpredicitible. Though rare, I%26#39;ve seen snow in May. I%26#39;ve also seen 30+ degrees (C) in May. Be prepared. You probably won%26#39;t need winter clothing, but be ready for summer weather and be ready for cooler weather. Bring layers.

Hope this helps.

You could book in Portland with the Concord Trailways bus lines, a commercial bus company that has regular runs North, with stops in all the small towns along the way. For example, you could make overnight stops in waterview places like Wiscasset and Darariscotta, then go on the next day. There are bed and breakfasts in nearly all the towns. Don%26#39;t miss Rockland, Camden, Lincolnville Beach and Belfast, on your way North to Bar Harbor. Each has its own charm and activities (art shows, festivals). As for price, we%26#39;ve bought one way tickets from Portland to Camden for (I think it was) $25. The bus driver shows a movie enroute if one is bored with the unfolding scenery, and the bus has a bathroom cubicle in the back.

In each small town one can visit the local Chamber of Commerce and explore available day tours, boat rides, events. A lot of research can be done ahead of time by tapping into the Chamber websites in each small town or city. Bar Harbor is the home of Acadia National Park, a mecca for tourists.

Hope this helps...

L.C.

Re: Clothing -- would anticipate Memorial Day weekend to be anywhere from sweater and windbreaker cool to short and tee shirt hot -- most likely somewhere in between. Would agree with the suggestion to bring layers.

If you%26#39;re interested in checking out L.L. Bean -- if no one else has pointed you there yet -- check out www.llbean.com Will give you a good idea of the wide variety of things they offer -- and prices. They can tend to be priced a bit higher than some of the big-box discount retail stores, but their quality is far-and-away above average and they stand behind their merchandise should you have a problem with any of it. My current winter boots came from their store about twenty years ago and except for needing new rubber soles a few years ago are still holding up just fine.

Is a duvet and a comforter the same