2014
Sample Itinerary for National Park Tour 7 NIGHTS / 8 DAYS
Saturday Day One:
Few sights on Earth can match the splendor and beauty of Acadia & Mount Washington National Parks. Your tour begins today when you leave your home city and fly to Manchester, New Hampshire International Airport in Manchester, New Hampshire. Here you will be greeted in the luggage area by a tour representative of New England Vacation Tours Inc., where you will be transferred to your nearby airport hotel for your evening lodging. This evening you will join us for your Welcome to Northern New England Group Dinner.
Sunday Day Two:
Today we head north to the beautiful coast of southern Maine and visit the beautiful Nubble Light House at York Beach, Maine and then off Kennebunkport, Maine the summer home of former President George W Bush Sr. then to Freeport, Maine the outlet store capital of Maine and home of L.L. Bean. Our lodging this evening will be in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
Monday Day Three:
This morning you shall take a beautiful ocean cruise of Boothbay Harbor, Maine and this afternoon on your own you will have free time to explore the Boothbay Harbor downtown area for your enjoyment before we head up for Bar Harbor, Maine where we shall spend the next two nights.
Tuesday Day Four:
Today you shall start off at the Acadia National Park visitor’s center so you can decide on how you want to plan your afternoon while you are at the park (make sure you bring some great hiking boots for your journey today. This morning we will give you a two hour tour of all of Acadia National Park, before we drop you off at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant area and recreational center. From here there are variety of hiking trails, bike rental etc. Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine comprises 49,000 plus acres of rock-bound coast of on Mount Desert Island, a portion of the Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland, and offshore islands. Here in Acadia National Park you will find granite cliffs side by side with sand and cobblestone beaches. Glacier-carved mountains rise from the sea, cupping deep lakes in their valleys. Here, too, are meadows and marshes and dense evergreen forests. Everywhere the ocean makes its presence felt, whether by sight, sound, or smell. Much of Acadia National Park’s outstanding scenery is the result of glaciers carving through an east-west ridge of granite, leaving mountains separated by valleys. Many glaciers have covered Maine, and the last melted 11,000 years ago. Big blocks of ice were left behind forming lakes and ponds. As the glacier retreated, sea level rose and flooded the valley that is now the only fjord located on the eastern seaboard of the United States. This evening you can walk into downtown Bar Harbor, or take one of the local shuttle buses to explore the downtown area on your own.
Wednesday Day Five:
This morning you will have some free time for you to explore downtown Bar Harbor, on your own before we head southeast over to the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire to the Mount Washington & Franconia Notch National Park area in the northern, New Hampshire where we shall spend the next two nights.
Thursday Day Six:
Today you shall travel along one of the most scenic highways in New England the 34 ½ mile journey along the Kancamagus Highway which stretches along the Pemigewasset River. At the end of the trail you shall visit Franconia Notch State Park Visitors Center where you will see a 20 minute film which provides a great introduction to Franconia Notch State Park, after the film (weather permitting) you will walk one of the most geological wonders in the world (were good walking shoes) The Flume Gore which offers a spectacular walk through a natural chasm, over covered bridges and past waterfalls, a scenic pool, and beautiful mountains views. We shall end the day today with a spectacular ride aboard the 80-passenger Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway with its spectacular views of the mountainside and hiking trails (weather permitting) Franconia Notch was the home of the famous Old Man of the Mountain, the same “Great Stone Face” immortalized by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Daniel Webster.
Friday Day Seven:
This morning we shall head over to Mount Washington and ride the steepest and most historical (weather permitting) mountain climbing train in America to the top of Mount Washington, the highest peak in New England aboard the Cog Railway. There is snow on top of Mount Washington year round. Late this afternoon time permitting you shall step back 200 years and experience the Shaker way of life. Here we shall visit the Canterbury Shaker Village, a national historic landmark with 25 original buildings situated on a rolling hilltop surrounded by open fields, woodlots and ponds. An informative and fascinating guided tour will introduce the customs, inventions, furniture, architecture and values of this utopian society. Watch crafts begin made in the Shaker tradition, including oval boxes, brooms, poplarware and dovetailed totes. Our lodging this evening will be back in the Manchester, New Hampshire area.
Saturday Day Eight:
This morning at your convenience you may check out of the hotel and take one of the hotel courtesy vans back to the airport to make your return trip home. With many fond memories of New England USA & National Parks, and of your newfound friends in New England.
