For a California family, the colorful fall season of New England is appealing. The best time to visit is early October, as Acadia National Park closes mid October. The beauty of the red fall leaves peak just about then. But California to Acadia is far, for a family of three. How do we make this a fun and affordable trip?
Let us consider visiting the following destinations in a few days during your busy schedule:
San Francisco – Boston – Acadia National Park
Summary of what you need (not a must though):
- National Parks Annual Pass you are a park junkie
- Airline miles to fly free
- Hotel points or free night stay awards to stay for free
- A credit card that pays 3% to 5% cash back or points for gas
- Credit card promotions for car rental discounts
- Groupon habits to discover dining out options during your trip
Here is a Google Map of your Boston-Acadia National Park road trip:
Day 1: Fly to Boston
Fly San Francisco to Boston (Roundtrip ticket) preferably early October when foliage peaks.
Stay in Boston one or two nights depending on your interests, time, money constraints. Boston has much to see, I won’t make this a Boston Turist guide, but at least you could drive around town, if you have children you can visit Harvard, MIT and day dream about their graduation ceremony to attend when they grow up.
There are a few details to consider:
Which hotel do you stay? Does it provide hot breakfast? With a family of 3, it is best to be done with breakfast at the hotel and move on with your day quickly.
If you have Hyatt, Marriott, IHG credit cards, then you could consider one of those hotels. For example Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor is a nice hotel that is category 4 (which allow using FREE NIGHT STAY awards). You could also use your credit card signup bonus points.
For a family of 3, if you want to fly across the continent round trip, you can find credit cards to collect enough bonus miles. You probably don’t want to fly red-eye because it is just not fun if you are too tired to enjoy your vacation. Instead you can chose to fly during the day and arrive late at night. Why late? So that you don’t have to pick your car rental yet!
You fly into Boston Logan International Airport. You stay at Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor hotel. It is very close to the airport and provides Airport Shuttle service. They charge $25 parking fee if you have a car, but you don’t. You get your luggage, directly go to the hotel and have dinner if you are hungry, then go to bed to get fresh for the next day.
Day 2: See Boston, Drive towards Acadia National Park
In the morning you eat breakfast at the hotel. Remember to check whether your kids qualify for free breakfast. Consider that some hotel restaurants may have coupons too.
After the breakfast, leave wife and kid at the hotel to go get your rental car via the hotel shuttle. There can be long lines at car rental so leave some time for that. You get your car, go back to the hotel, get wife and kids and check out of the hotel. This costs you 1 FREE NIGHT STAY award or 15,000 Hyatt points. On your way back you will stay here again the same way. To make it easier to collect points and FREE NIGHT stays you can have two credit cards, one for yourself and another for your spouse.
After half a day around Boston, you can get going up north. During the fall season are very beautiful in New England and this makes the road trip a fun memory to remember. The mesmarising fall colors will be something to remember, to talk about or maybe write about like I am doing now.
On the way you may want to stop by Portland and taste their famous lobster. To make that affordable, check out Groupon for lobster restaurants around Portland in case you find something you like.
Accomodations around Acadia National Park
When you visit Acadia National Park. Closest major hotel destination is Bar Harbor in Maine. However, depending on how advance you book, hotels may be full in Bar Harbor. Other options that are within driving distance are Bangor, or even closer is Ellsworth.
If you have Marriott or IHG credit card FREE STAY awards or points, you have some options in the area.
Marriott Properties around Acadia National Park
Wyndham (IHG) Properties around Acadia National Park
Day 3: Visit Acadia National Park
After your one night stay at Bangor or Ellsworth, you can enjoy a hot breakfast at your hotel to get ready for a regorous day at the Acadia National Park. You can drive to Bar Harbor and start your visit from there, or you can visit other spots at the park and then come to Bar Harbor perhaps for lunch and/or dinner. The park is big. If you like hiking, trails can take your time. If you are going to hike the park, then you may want to stay 2 nights instead of 1 night. Consider that some hotels may not allow FREE stay awards to be booked for consecutive back to back days, but using points for multi day stays are fine. In fact, some hotel chains may have promotional offers to stay 3, or 4 nights and get an extra night for free.
Day 4: Drive Back to Boston
You may want to take the coastal road for a different sceneary to drive back to Boston, even more so if you have not taken during your drive up north. In the suburban country side there are not much Groupon or other coupon saving opportunities to eat out, but you may check regardless. If you like you can add a Portland stop during this drive as well. When you arrive to Boston, if you have time, you can do more sight seeing, dining out, or you may first check into your Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor, drop family here, and then go drop your rental car and take a shuttle back to your hotel to avoid extra car rental and parking fees. Next day you fly out of the Boston Logan International Airport again, preferably using your miles for a free flight for the entire family.
What was FREE or Discounted?
It is possible to get the following free or discounted for a family of 3:
- Flights from West Coast to East Coast, round trip using airline credit card bonus miles
- Hotel stay in Boston (Hyatt Credit Card has $95 annual fee, but it gives generous sign on bonus and FREE NIGHT STAY award at your anniversary)
- Hotel stays in Bangor or Ellsworth (IHG hotels such as Wyndham have presence)
- Possibly some eating our via Groupon or other coupons
- Possibly car rental – American Express and to some extent Chase has promotions that you can check in your credit card’s website and signup to have for example 10% or 20% or 30% or even more discounts. it is not just for car rentals, they cover everything, even hotel stays or dining, too.
A FREE NIGHT award is typically usable upto certain category level. The Hyatt and other hotel chains publish their property categories online. For example the yearly FREE NIGHT STAY award for Hyatt is usable in hotels that are category 4 or below. Here is an example for Hyatt:
Booking Flights with Miles
Keep in mind that you don’t have to book as a round trip using miles. Often you can book one way and that is fine. For example if you have enough miles to travel only one way, and your spouse also has miles to travel one way, then you can book two 1 way trips to make the ends meet. Typically one way trips do not cost more miles even though they would cost more if you paid cash.
Acadia National Park Video
Acadia National Park Photo Gallery
What is the Best Time to Visit Acadia National Park?
If you like the fall colors, then you can sign up to receive weekly foliage updates via email. Colors peak typically early October. By October 15, many businesses close around Acadia. By then the trees may lose most leaves as well. You need some luck to catch the peak because you would typically book your trip in advance, and depending on how that season goes the peak time may vary by 1-2 weeks.
A weekly foliage report email looks like this (click image to visit website to signup):
