Vacation ideas for East Coast....

[OhMari]

A day in NYC? The play Wicked is a winner with everyone and dinner at Carmine's. It is $$$$ for one day though.

OMG, that play is so good. I bawled my eyes out. “She was not Wicked.”

Sorry OP, I would invest in a toll prepay electronic transporter. Starting with IL and every state there After are toll way roads.

 

[Skippyboo]

Used to live in Harrisburg, PA- definitely do Gettysburg over Lancaster if you can only do one. Lancaster can be a bit tourist trappy. It’s only a hour from Hershey to Gettysburg. You can pick up I68 W in MD and go through the pan handle of MD to WV.

The Canada side of Niagara Falls is better than US one so bring the passports if you have them.

 

[ajwolfe]

Only planning on doing like an afternoon probably in Lancaster, but figured that while we were in the area we might as well.

Illinois doesn't really have toll roads in the area we frequent, but I figured we might need to look into something for the tolls. Thanks for the reminder.

As far as passports I'm not sure I wanna do them just yet for the kids. My oldest will turn 16 like 2 months after this trip so if I get him a passport now it will only last 5 years vs if we wait until after his birthday it will last 10 - so I'm torn on that extra expense.

And yes, Wicked is awesome. We saw it when it was in St Louis at the Fox.

 

[Angeni11]

Not sure what route you are taking back through WVa but Berkley Springs is a cute little town and worth a visit if you are going by it.

 

[Beachmom0317]

Boston. Take the freedom trail and then visit Six Flags.

 

[whatname]

I also vote for Gettysburg over Lancaster. I don't know what route you're taking, but you might consider the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA, if you are that way. You can spend just an hour or two there and have a good experience, although it is very sad. Also, Fort Necessity in PA has a really good visitors center. Falling Waters, built by Frank Lloyd Wright is near Fort Necessity. Again, I don't know your route. I've never been to the Greenbrier in WV, but they do give tours of the bunker area, which was intended for the federal government in case of attack. It seems interesting.

 

[whatname]

You also might look at Seven Springs Resort in PA. Outdoor activities and adventures.

 

[Sagginit]

Lancaster has become a total tourist trap. There are some things to do but if I were you I would skip it on the most part as highways have expanded and chain restaurants are everywhere. We do go there occasionally for long weekends as we have friends in the area and there are less touristy things to do but not worth a stop over Gettysburg or Philly. I would also pick Hershey over it. If you skip the park or want to do it as a pit stop I believe the world of Hershey is free, a quick ride/tour and giant gift shop. There is an awesome hotel in Lancaster called Eden resort that has a nice indoor salt water pool and outdoor pools with play areas. If you are stopping overnight in the area it’s a good place to spend the night if the prices aren’t too high.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Skip Baltimore, visit Philly instead!

 

[la79al]

Any chance you can rearrange slightly and hit Williamsburg VA on the way home? We live within 2 hours of Lancaster, Hershey and Gettysburg. Lancaster is shopping and tacky tourist trap stuff. Hershey is HersheyPark and then a handful of other things that could probably easily be done in 1 day. Gettysburg is not my thing at all but probably the one that would take the longest to do the highlights. I agree with hitting Philly and then maybe DC Smithsonian instead of Baltimore.

 

[pklein09]

With a 9 day driving vacation, I would probably stay out of the major cities. While amazing, they will be time consuming from driving and parking to just getting around. You could easily spend most of your vacation in any of these cities. If you have an Oriole fan, then I would try to get a game - that would be a very cool surprise! You have plenty of options - have fun planning! Safe travels!

 

[Dakota731]

Our family prefers the national park beauty of the US side of Niagara Falls versus the touristy casino style Canadian area, so it just depends on your family’s interests.

 

[kmccain]

Harpers Ferry, West Virgina, lots of history there and battlefields. I second Lancaster it a good drive through to see the farms and way of life.

 

[Kimkimba]

Since you like history, Ephrata Cloister is near the Lancaster/Hershey area.

 

[Ava]

An Orioles game will be a great surprise, and Camden Yards is a really nice ball park. Depending on where you are coming from/where you are staying, it may be easier to park your car at a LightRail station and take the train in to the game instead of driving into Baltimore. Traffic can be bad on game days, and there’s a LightRail stop right at Camden Yards. Info is here: https://mta.maryland.gov/light-rail

 

[luv2sewtjr]

I love planning road trips!

If I were to plan an itinerary, here’s what I’d do (based on your family’s interests).

First stop would be Sandusky, Ohio to go to Cedar Point. If you like thrill rides, it’s better than Hershey. It’s also easy to find discount tickets on Groupon or through Costco. Consider a cedar Point property to enter early.

After that Niagara Falls.

Then Gettysburg. I am not far away from Gettysburg and I would go there over Lancaster.

Gettysburg to Baltimore is a shorter drive and inner harbor hotels pop up on Groupon from time to time. While there, definitely see an O’s game, visit Fort McHenry and explore the inner harbor. The aquarium is top notch and is half price after 5 in Friday’s. There is also a Ripley’s there which my kids loved, but I don’t pay full price for it, lol. Thanks Groupon!

I like Harpers Ferry but I really really want to do the bridge walk in the following link.


https://bridgewalk.com/

Happy planning! If you have any specific questions about Gettysburg, Baltimore and the like, I can definitely help. My son worked at Cedar Point this summer so I can answer those questions, too.

 

[elf]

Luvtosew's itinerary is exactly the one I would choose. We would go to Gettysburg over Lancaster as well. It was great fun, we took the history tour on horseback which was great. The tour we went on was given by park rangers ? I think, so it wasn't like a bubbly tour, but he had so much information it was amazing riding on horseback through the same fields the battles were fought on. We only spent a night and wish we had more. We also did haunted tour which of course was very quirky but full of interesting facts our teens loved it.
We really like the Canadian side for the falls, maybe get the enhanced license which would be needed soon anyway and ID's for kids.

 

[Donnainnj]

Might want to look into Knoebels. Went for the first time this year any really enjoyed it. Great feel, great food and great prices.