New Hampshire Travel Forum

Hi
We are planning a road trip starting Toronto to Ottawa to Montreal to Boston to Niagra Falls then flight back to England.
21 days in all. Could anyone give advice on best route from Montreal to Boston to include all must see must do places. Want the best experience of New England as possible. We are a couple with no kids on this vacation, so no retrictions.
Hope to visit late July, early August

Many thanks

There are so many ways to do this. I hope you have a roadmap available. Leaving Montreal, head south toward New York State until just after crossing the border. Then follow signs toward St. Albans New York, but instead pick up US2 and go south thru the Grand Isles of Vermont in Lake Champlain. Get down to Burlington and pick up the interstate east. Burlington is a nice city. The interstate goes southeast so you will have the opportunity to visit Stowe and also Woodstock, once called the prettiest village in the US by a travel magazine. With enough time you can even head down state 100, the tourist highway, from the interstate to US 4 and then head east to Woodstock. From there on, other members will be of more value.
Boston to Niagara - boring interstate driving. One nice place to get off the Mass Turnpike is Exit 2 and visit Stockbridge or Lenox. The NY Thruway segment of your trip is pretty boring. Enjoy your trip. And welcome to VT.

We did a similar trip out of Toronto (where my husband is from) except instead of Boston we headed for NYC. The drive from Montreal to NYC was beautiful - we took the I87 but you'll be taking the I89. Upstate New York was gorgeous and I am told that Vermont is just as beautiful esp Burlington which you'll be passing through on your way to Boston. Check out http://www.travel-vermont.com/ to see if there are any stopovers that might be of interest. As for the New England area no doubt you've already visited http://www.visitnewengland.com/ ?
Not sure where you're staying in Montreal but if you want a recommendation on fantastic B&B accommodation there let us know. We've also stayed in Niagara many times so if you need info on that part of your trip we're happy to help. Lisa and Nick
Your trip sounds like fun! Happy planning.

Hi Cloudberry
Not booked any accommodation to date, any suggestions would be great, for both Montreal and Niagara

Many thanks
Lochey

The most direct route from Montreal to Boston is to take Route 89 through Vermont and New Hampshire. I drive it a couple of times a year. It's a beautiful, well maintained highway with very little traffic. It takes you through Burlington and Montpelier, Vermont (I highly recommend stopping in Montpelier, Vermont's capitol), western New Hampshire, and Concord, New Hampshire. There are tons of cute, little New England towns on the way, too, and the scenery is beautiful. Once you get into Massachusetts 89 will hook right into 93 which takes you directly to Boston.

not sure if you did the trip or not yet, but I travel from Boston to Montreal often. Yes 89 is the most direct and somewhat scenic, but if you are not in a rush I recommend taking 93 through the mountains the entire way to boston, 93 is past 89 and well worth the drive but it will add about two hours since the mountain roads are slow. Also, if you can work your way to route 1a there are beautiful homes on the NH seacoast and will also get you to Boston but again this will add more time.

Everyone seems to want to get you from Montreal to Boston via the fastest routes, but you specifically asked for the "best experience of New England as possible." That being the case, you'd need to see something of Maine as well.

Here's an alternative:

From Montreal, head east on 10 and then south on 55 to Newport, Vermont, which becomes I91. Visit St. Johnsbury, then head into New Hampshire. Alternatives here are to take Rt. 302 (not an interstate but a lovely road through the White Mountains, past the Northeast's highest peak, Mt. Washington) and through Crawford Notch to Rt. 16. Or you could travel a little farther on Rt. 93 to Woodstock and take a lovely mountain road and pass call Kancamagus Highway, which ends in Conway.

With either of these drives you come to Rt. 16, from where you can take Rt. 302 south through Maine (not a highway, but I thought you want to see New England, meaning villages and lakes and the way people actually live). This will only take a maximum of 2 hours anyway. From Portland, you could take an excursion north via Rts. 95 and Rt. 1 to see some of the lovely coastal villages (again a maximum of 2 hours away). My favorites are Boothbay Harbor and Camden/Rockport area. Also along the way is Freeport, a massive factory outlet center.

Returning on Rt. 1 and 95 toward Boston, you might want to try the Hampton Beach to Rye road along the coast, or get off and explore the pretty villages of Exeter and Durham.

Hope this helps.