Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Boston/Maine
In June my husband are going to Portland Maine, because airfare was tons cheaper we are flying into Boston and renting a car. What are some pretty places to stop along the drive from Boston to Portland? It looks like 95 runs close to the water so are there some easy places to exit and get to the water quickly? We wont be in a hurry that day so we dont mind driving a little out of the way for some cool sites. My husband is a photographer and is wanting to stop at some places to take some good pictures.
Also I have never rented a car that I drove into another state. Is there extra fees invovled in this? Can you use a rental from Priceline to do this?
Re: Boston/Maine
I live on the coast in NH and grew up in York, ME (right across the river/border between ME and NH). Re: the rental car, that's really common, there is nothing special you have to do with most car companies and you can reserve them online just like if you were only driving in one state.
From Boston you drive through Saugus, MA first which (IMO) is the least attractive welcome to New England, lol. It's one long strip of really high density retail, and has just about every chain store/restaurant, etc. you can think of. I would just get out of there as fast as possible and get on 95 north. In about 40 minutes you get to Seabrook and Hampton, the first towns across the border into NH. Hampton has a really famous beach area with a boardwalk, etc. It's way too crowded for me, but if you're into that sort of thing, then you should check it out. I would skip it and stop the next town up, Portsmouth. It has an awesome downtown area with a ton of great restaurants, bars, shops, a gorgeous park overlooking the river, historic area, etc. It's so much fun to just walk around and check it out. Continuing North on 95 you hit Kittery when you get into ME. If you want to do anything clothes shopping, do it here! There are hundreds of outlet stores and you could easily spend an afternoon (and lots of $$) finding some great buys. The next town north on 95 is York. There is a are two distinct beach areas - Long Sands is a long beach (duh) with houses across the street. It's good for lounging. Keep going past that and you drive up to the Nubble lighthouse (it's super famous and a nice place to take some pictures). Past the Nubble on the left is the best homemade ice cream in the world, Brown's. Past that you get to "Short Sands" which also has a little boardwalk, playground, an arcade and is more like Hampton Beach.
North of York, Ogunquit is has a great downtown area and a waterfront area called Perkin's Cove which is fun to walk around. Between there and Portland (again, just IMO) there isn't much worth stopping for!
Enjoy your trip, you're going at a great time of year!! PM or page me if you have any questions
Are you dropping off your rental car in Portland? If your doing pick up and drop off in Boston, you don't need to do anything special-- Just pay for the gas/mileage for your trip.
I like the PP suggestions. 95 will bring you from Mass right into Portland, and although that route isn't the most scenic, there's some really nice town right off the highway. I like the NH and Maine suggestions, but you might want to consider doing a small side trip Salem MA, Gloucester, MA, Newburyport, MA, Plum Island, etc.
You can also get off 95 and ride 1/1A through New Hampshire and into Maine... it's a pretty drive and pretty houses and you'll catch some water on that route
Enjoy your drive!
My brother used to rent a vacation home in Bar Harbor. He put this together for clients and friends wanting to visit. It talks about things to do on route from Manchester/Portsmouth NH up the Maine coast. Look at the link for Southern Maine. I have done most of these things on my three trips there.
http://www.tourcoastalmaine.com/
Ditto the pp - if you are picking up and dropping off at the same place, you don't even have to tell them where you're going (they will ask where you're going if there are any rules about where you can take the car). Most car rental places have unlimited miles anyway. I enjoy using Priceline for car rentals. Check out betterbidding.com to see winning bids.
If you are staying in Portland, I highly recommend a B&B called the Inn on Carleton. The innkeeper is super nice, and he makes delicious breakfasts. The rooms are comfortable. For restaurants, check out JJ's Oysters (it's not as fancy as other restaurants but they make a mean lobster roll), Hugo's (very $$$$), or Fore Street. Portland actually has a terrific restaurant scene. You can tour Shipyard Brewery, take a boat tour of the bay, drive 15 minutes north to the LL Bean Headquarters.
As far as coastal places between Boston and Portland, you should stop at the lighthouse Portland Head Light. Kennebunkport, ME and Rockport, MA are nice too.