statue of liberty

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 » MYSTIC » NEWPORT » BOSTON (285 mi / 455 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. Continue on to Boston, New England’s principal city. Founded in 1630 by the Puritans, Boston quickly grew to be the largest city in the English Colonies and the cradle of the American Revolution. Take a self-guided walking tour along Boston’s Freedom Trail, which links together and explains Boston’s most important revolutionary sites and events

Day 3

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 4

BOSTON » SALEM » WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS (100 mi / 160 km)

Begin your day with a journey northward to visit Salem, home of the notorious witch trials of 1692, and visit the Salem Witch Museum, where a multimedia presentation (available in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) retraces the hysteria of the time. Salem became one of America’s major seaports until the end of the age of sailing, and the fine homes of sea captains and merchants make Salem line the streets. The Peabody Essex Museum, an important collection of Maritime Art and History and American Decorative Arts, includes wonderful ornate figureheads that once graced the bows of tall clipper ships. From Salem, head west to 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 5

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 6

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 7	NIAGARA FALLS » NEW YORK (410 mi / 655 km)
This morning, you can return directly to New York City, or stop along the way for some memorable hiking along one of the Finger Lake’s waterfalls and river gorges (hikes are easy to moderate). Once back in New York City, enjoy a last night ‘on the town’ before your return trip home

Day 8	NEW YORK
Depending on your flight schedule, there’s still time for some last minute shopping, or a return visit to a favorite address