What to do between Toronto and Boston?

August 17, 2011 7:01 AM

Please suggest places to see, things to do, places to stop/stay overnight, and routes to take for a five day car trip between Toronto and Boston? It should only be about 10 hours of direct driving, so plenty of time to stop and visit. Are there any really cool things I've never heard of and shouldn't miss? (Niagara Falls and Montreal are possibilities, but I've already heard of them :) Thank you!
posted by Salamandrous to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

Well, if you do Niagara - you aren't going to do Montreal? Those are opposite directions. I drove from Providence to Toronto a few summers back and asked about it. I ended up stopping in the Fingerlakes region, Canada side of Niagra, Buffalo, Albany, Seneca Falls, and Palmyra (important to Mormon history).
posted by quodlibet at 7:32 AM on August 17, 2011

Take a winery tour in the Finger Lakes region.
Stop at Dinosaur Barbeque in Syracuse.
Visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Western Mass.
Camp a night in the Adirondacks or the Berkshires.
Visit scenic Northampton, MA.
posted by gauche at 7:37 AM on August 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh yeah, Gauche reminded me - I stopped in the Berkshires too and saw Moby Dick author's house and hiked around a bit.
posted by quodlibet at 7:40 AM on August 17, 2011

Check out the New York and the Massachusetts sections of this website's analysis of the old "Oregon Trail" (a.k.a. "US-20"). You've got Seneca Falls and the "Women's Rights Historic Park" in New York, as well as Cooperstown and the baseball hall of fame, and a kazoo company; in Massachusetts, you've got a couple of different scenic highways, Kerouac's old stomping grounds, and Walden Pond.

If you don't mind detouring a bit south in New York State, you've also got the Catskill area, which is where you'll find Woodstock, Kingston, and a number of other lively little Hudson Valley towns.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:29 AM on August 17, 2011

Sandbanks Provincial Park is east of Toronto and well worth a visit.

And if you'd like to go past Montreal I'd suggest a visit to Old Québec, but not sure if that's too far out of your way..

Also, hiking in the Green Mountains in Vermont? I always love that.
posted by fso at 9:32 AM on August 17, 2011

If you're planning to see Niagara Falls en route, spend some time in Buffalo which is an extremely underrated city with many things to see and do! My favorite: the Darwin Martin House, an exquisite Frank Lloyd Wright structure. You might also enjoy an Erie Canalboat Cruise (link to one of several examples).
posted by carmicha at 4:25 PM on August 17, 2011