New York City

Day 1	NEW YORK
Arrive in New York City, America’s premier city and greatest attraction. Transfer to your hotel in Midtown Manhattan, conveniently located within minutes of Times Square, the Broadway Theaters, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue and Central Park

Day 2

NEW YORK » NEW HAVEN » MYSTIC » NEWPORT (195 mi / 315 km)

Begin your journey this morning with a drive along the Hudson River to the northernmost tip of Manhattan, where you can make a quick photo stop at the Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park. This area of Manhattan is as peaceful and undeveloped as the downtown Manhattan is crowded and overbuilt, and you’ll have superb views of both the Hudson River and of Manhattan’s only remaining primordial forest, in Inwood Park. Continue north to the state of Connecticut and Mystic Seaport. Mystic has been a shipbuilding community since the 1600’s, and the Seaport recreates life in a 19th Century seaside village, with tall ships, a working shipyard, shops, stores, and buildings typical of a New England maritime town. Afterwards, drive to Newport, an important colonial port city in the 1700’s that became a summer resort for America’s wealthiest families. The large mansions they called their “cottages” still line Ocean Drive and Bellevue Avenue, and many are open to visitors daily. A variety of American architecture dating back to the 1600’s can be seen in downtown Newport

Day 3

NEWPORT (RHODE ISLAND) » CAPE COD (75 mi / 120 km)

Depart at your leisure for Cape Cod. With fishing villages, artists’ homes, and over 500 km of sandy beaches, Cape Cod is New England’s summertime playground. You can visit picturesque villages on your way to colorful Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod, then spend some time relaxing among the sand dunes at Cape Cod National Seashore. Or, take a ferry from Hyannis for a day trip to the resort islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket

Day 4

CAPE COD » PLYMOUTH » BOSTON (75 mi / 120 km)

Depart for Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first successful settlement in New England. Founded in 1620 by the Puritan Pilgrims after their voyage on the Mayflower, it was in Plymouth that the first Thanksgiving holiday was celebrated. Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum, recreates the life of the Pilgrims and their Wamponoag Indian neighbors. Arrive in historic Boston, the “Cradle of the American Revolution” and New England’s principal city. Founded in 1630 by English Puritans, Boston quickly became colonial New England’s largest seaport and remains its cultural and political capital. Get oriented on the Freedom Trail, a self-guided walking tour of historic Boston’s most important revolutionary sites and events

Day 5

BOSTON

A full day to explore Boston and its surroundings. Begin your day rambling through the cobblestone streets and fine brick houses of Beacon Hill, the traditional home of Boston’s “Brahmins”, early Boston’s social, intellectual and artistic elite. Then, cross the Charles River to the vibrant streets of Cambridge and Harvard University, America’s first institute of higher education (1636). Return through Back Bay’s boulevards for stylish shopping and dining, then make your way to the Fenway for the artistic treasures of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts

Day 6

BOSTON » SALEM » PORTSMOUTH » KENNEBUNKPORT / PORTLAND (110 mi / 175 km)

Depart Boston for Salem, famous for the witch trials of 1692. At the Salem Witch Museum, a multimedia presentation (available in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) recalls the witch-hunting hysteria. A pleasant, walkable city, Salem was a major American seaport in the grand age of the sailing. Depart Salem for Ipswich and some of Massachusetts’s tastiest deep-fried clams, then, on a hot day, find a beach along New Hampshire’s short but sandy coastline to refresh yourself in the Atlantic’s cool blue waters. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the doors of many interesting 17th to 19th-century buildings are open to visitors at Strawberry Banke Museum. Cross into Maine and follow the Atlantic coast to Nubble Light, one of New England’s most photographed lighthouses. In Kennebunkport, swimming, seafood and shopping are the main attractions, and on scenic Ocean Drive you can view the impressive oceanfront estate of the first President Bush. Overnight in Kennebunkport or in Portland

Day 7	PORTLAND / KENNEBUNKPORT » WHITE MOUNTAINS (125 mi / 200 km)
This morning, more time to explore Portland before departing for the White Mountains. Named for their often snow-covered peaks, the White Mountains are the tallest in New England, and the roads through the high mountain passes make for beautiful scenic driving. Take the Mount Washington Auto Road to the highest summit, and you’ll pass through four climate zones, from temperate to tundra

Day 8

WHITE MOUNTAINS (NEW HAMPSHIRE) » GREEN MOUNTAINS (VERMONT) (145 mi / 235 km)

Continue through New Hampshire toward the Green Mountains of Vermont, whose scenic roads, especially spectacular in the fall, seem like a drive into the past and an America that used to be. Dairy farms and covered bridges dot the countryside, and tidy small small towns make for inviting stops along the way. In Stowe, visit Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, Vermont’s biggest tourist attraction, and the Shelburne Museum near Burlington has one of best collections of American folk art to be found anywhere

Day 9	GREEN MOUNTAINS (VERMONT) » WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS (145 mi / 235 km)
From Vermont, drive south through the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts. Visit Sturbridge and Olde Sturbridge Village, a living history museum recreating life in a rural New England village of the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. The buildings are authentic, and costumed interpreters go about their work using traditional methods of the period

Day 10

WESTERN MASSACHUSSETTS » NIAGARA FALLS (450 mi / 750 km)

Depart this morning for Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the quintessential New England town. It was here that Norman Rockwell had his studio and painted nostalgic scenes of American life in a simpler time. His paintings still resonate with many Americans, and a trip to the Norman Rockwell museum offers an interesting insight into how Americans view themselves, or would at least like to. Continue on across New York State’s scenic Finger Lakes region and enjoy a picnic lunch by the waterfront. The Native American Iroquois believed the 11 long and slender Finger Lakes were the handprint of the Great Spirit, and many of the region’s towns and villages date from the early 1800’s and the building of the Erie Canal. For a short period the villages prospered, then settled into a long deep slumber while the rest of the world raced ahead on railroads and highways, leaving them almost untouched by time

Day 11

NIAGARA FALLS

A full day to explore Niagara Falls. A scenic natural wonder, you’ll see why Niagara Falls’ magnificent cascade attracts visitors the world over to watch in awe as the water of four Great Lakes – at a rate of 3 million liters per second – drops 60 meters before making its way to Lake Ontario. Niagara Falls can easily be explored on foot – you can walk across the Rainbow Bridge to Canada – and is especially impressive on a Maid of the Mist boat tour. Here, at the foot of Horseshoe Falls, a spectacular 180° curtain of water surrounds you. In the evening, enjoy dinner from high above the Falls at Skylon Tower, where on a clear day you can see Toronto (40 mi / 65 km away), enjoy the sunset and watch the colorful nighttime illumination of the Falls (Dinner / Tower Admission not included). After dinner, you can try your luck at one of Niagara Falls casinos

Day 12

NIAGARA FALLS » FINGER LAKES (175 mi / 280 km)

This morning, make a stop at Genesee Country Village, a collection of 57 original historic homes and buildings brought together to recreate a typical 19th-century New York State village. Guides in period costume are happy to demonstrate how people once lived, worked and played in the young American republic. Continue south to Letchworth State Park, also known as a “Grand Canyon of the East”, where three major waterfalls cut a 200 m path deep into the Genesee River Gorge. End the day in Corning, a picturesque town famous for the world’s premier glass museum, and enjoy the shops, restaurants, and numerous pubs along Market Street, a particularly enjoyable Main Street USA

Day 13	FINGER LAKES » NEW YORK (250 mi / 400 km)
This morning, you can return directly to New York City, or stop along the way for some memorable hiking among the area’s romantic waterfalls and river gorges (hikes are easy to moderate). Visit Ithaca, home of Cornell University, for a lakeside picnic at the foot of Cayuga Lake. Once back in New York City, enjoy a last night ‘out on the town’ before your return trip home

Day 14	NEW YORK
A final day to enjoy the Big Apple. Take the opportunity to do some last-minute shopping for your friends and family back home, or revisit a favorite neighborhood to enjoy a relaxing morning before your flight departs