New England,
close to home.
You don't need a flight for most of this. Boston is home base, and northern New England especially rewards a family willing to just get in the car — walkable harbor towns, real coastline, and a Saturday that doesn't need a passport. Guides for the weekends, articles for what's in season right now.
Actual 2026 dates and places to go this fall, from easy Boston day trips to weekends worth the drive — straight from our Instagram.
See the post →Two very different
kinds of trip.
A New England weekend and a two-week trip to Portugal solve different problems and need different amounts of planning. Near is the one you can do on a whim — pack the car Friday after work and be walking a harbor town by dinner. If you're weighing something that needs a flight instead, that's what we call And Far, and it's also where our paid planning service actually earns its keep.
Walkable downtown, a real working harbor, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens as a full second day. We did it with a toddler and a baby and never touched the car once we arrived.
Cape Ann, Newport, Cape Cod, the Berkshires and the White Mountains, ranked by drive time and by whether the town is actually walkable once you park.
Actual 2026 dates and places to go this fall — from easy Boston day trips to weekends worth the drive.
@nowhereonearthHow many has your family done? Our running list of the things that make growing up here worth it.
@nowhereonearthPart 2 — because growing up in New England is wicked special. The rest of the list.
@nowhereonearthIf the girls had been a little older or the day a little warmer, we'd have booked the Boothbay whale watch ourselves. GetYourGuide is where we check for tours and cruises like it before a trip.
GetYourGuideNo guides or articles match that search. Clear the search and try again.
Maine beyond Boothbay Harbor and a dedicated fall foliage guide are next on our list for this cluster — a single card doesn't do either justice.
Questions, answered
What is there to do near Boston with kids in New England?
Our top pick is Boothbay Harbor, Maine — about 3 hours, a walkable downtown, and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens as a full second day. Closer in, Cape Ann and the North Shore are under an hour and work as a day trip or an easy overnight.
Is northern New England good for a family trip?
Yes, and it's underrated compared to the well-worn Cape Cod and Berkshires routes. The Maine coast north of Boston has walkable harbor towns, real coastline, and far less summer traffic than the Cape — Boothbay Harbor is the guide we send people to first.
Do Near trips require a flight or a passport?
No — that's the entire point of Near. Everything here is a drive from Boston. For guides to the trips that do need a flight, see And Far instead.
What's the best New England weekend trip for young kids?
Boothbay Harbor and Cape Ann both let you park once and walk everywhere, which matters more with a toddler than anything else on this list. We did Boothbay Harbor with a toddler and a baby and never needed the car once we arrived.
What's the difference between a guide and an article here?
Guides are full destination write-ups like Boothbay Harbor — where to stay, what to do, day by day. Articles are shorter and often seasonal, like our fall events roundup or the family experience lists we post to Instagram first. Use the filters above to tell them apart.
The trip after this one
might need a flight.
Once a family has done a few New England weekends, the next question is usually Europe. That's what And Far is for, along with our trip-planning service — we build the flight routing, the shortlist of places to stay, and the day-by-day plan, starting at $499.
The Boston family flight guide.
Which routes run year-round, which are summer only, how far ahead to buy for a school vacation week, and the order we book a trip in — for when Near turns into And Far.
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