East Coast – 2022 (DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont)

One of my most exciting & requested itineraries. We started this road trip with a flight to DC.

Day 1

Ford’s Theater – Tickets are required.
National Archives Museum – Original US Constitution and other founding documents. Free, but required reservation.
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: Free. See the Hope Diamond.
Smithsonian Museum of American History: Free. All things American.
Library of Congress
Smithsonian Museum of Air & Space – closed when we were there but my personal favorite. Free.
Things to walk around & see
- Supreme Court
- US Capital
- White House
- WWII Memorial
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
- Korean War Memorial
- Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial
- FDR Memorial
- Jefferson Memorial

Arlington National Cemetery – Free. We took the subway out there. They have a hop-on-hop-off system for getting around.
- Welcome Center
- Changing of the Guard
- JFK Grave
- Arlington House
- General Pershing’s Grave – highest ranking officer in Arlington
Pentagon – close by Arlington.
US Holocaust Memorial Museum – Reservations are required and they can be hard to get. This is a heavy museum but highly recommend.
National Mall
Washington Monument
National Cathedral
Walk down Embassy Row
Washington Harbor – Grab some dinner. Also, Watergate Hotel is within view.
Georgetown
Lafayette Square
Some options for evening activities (if buildings & monuments have become too much):

Pick-up car rental
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Annex building for the Air & Space museum. Great things to see)
Antietam National Battlefield (Maryland)
Gettysburg National Military Park (Pennsylvania) – And I recommend going downtown for lunch. Super cute.
Fort Marcy – obviously a special stop for us
Back to DC to drive around and see the monuments lit up at night

Baltimore (Maryland)
- Fort McHenry
- Edgar Allen Poe House & Museum – we skipped this but it was on my wish list
- Star Spangled Banner Flag House – closed the day we were here
Brandywine Creek State Park – Wilmington (Delaware). It was tough finding things in Delaware. We took a little walk through this park.
Longwood Gardens (Pennsylvania) – More popular than we were expecting. Tickets required.
Valley Forge (Pennsylvania)
Hotel in Philadelphia

Philadelphia
- Independence Hall – Where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Requires advanced reservation.
- Liberty Bell
- Ben Franklin Museum
- Rocky Steps & Statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Washington Crossing Historic Site (Pennsylvania / New Jersey border) – Site where General Washington crossed the Delaware River. A few different interesting things in the area.
Morristown National Historical Park – Sadly closed when we were there.
Thomas Edison National Historical Park (New Jersey)
New Haven (Connecticut)
- Yale University
- Amistad Memorial
- Long Wharf

Newport (Rhode Island) – a new personal favorite
- Cliff Walk
- Newport Mansions – I haven’t picked a favorite yet. I recommend getting a pass to see as many as you have to.
- Bowen’s Wharf – Great place to eat & shop
- Ocean Drive – Fun drive around the coast
Plymouth Rock (Massachusetts)
Boston (Massachusetts)
- The Barking Crab – Dinner in Boston Harbor
- Longfellow House
- Harvard / MIT
Hotel: Boston

Boston Tea Party Recreation– I only recommend this if there are young kids. Tickets required.
Bell in Hand Tavern – Highly recommend. Great restaurant & very old.
USS Constitution – Ticket rules seem to change every time I’ve been. Be sure to read ahead.
Freedom Trail – These are mostly grouped together and generally walkable. However, they have early hours. So it’s hard to get them all in one day. Some are separate tickets. Some can be grouped together.
- Old North Church – add the Crypt tour
- Paul Revere’s House – loved this
- Faneuil Hall – Marketplace downstairs, historial upstairs
- Old State House & Boston Massacre site
- Old South Meeting Hall
- Granary Burying Ground
- Boston common – the large park
- Massachusetts State House – the current state capital. We didn’t tour.
- Park Street Church
- King’s Chapel & King’s Chapel Burying Ground
- Boston Latin School / Benjamin Franklin Statue
- Old Corner Bookstore – The building structure is historical, but nothing inside was preserved. It was a Chipotle last time I was in Boston.
- Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
- Bunker Hill Monument – out by the USS Constitution.
Cheers Bar – After walking down Boston Common you’ll be close.
Other things in the area we didn’t do on this trip:
- Red Sox Game or tour Fenway Park
- John Adam’s House

Minute Man National Historical Park – site of the firsts shots of the Revolutionary War.
America’s Stonehenge (New Hampshire) – Fun & interesting place to visit.
Lost River Gorge & Boulder Caves (New Hampshire) – Tickets required. Don’t skip. This was beautiful!
Ben & Jerry’s Factory (Vermont) – The tour was closed, but we loved the ice cream. And flavor graveyard.
Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks Farm (Vermont) – Learn all about maple syrup. Adorable farm & delicious maple treats.
Return to Boston

FLY HOME

(NH) Franconia notch state park

(VT) Woodstock – 2 hours from Boston

Billings Farm & Museum

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (NPS)

(MA) Boston harbor islands – 30 minutes from boston. 2 hours.

Ferry Cruise

(NH) Portsmouth – 1 hour from Boston

(ME) Old York – 15 minutes from Portsmouth

(ME)Portland – 1 hour 45 minutes from Boston