A Week on the New England Shore

This is the drive up the summer coast of New England, from the mansions of Rhode Island to the granite edge of Maine, and it is best taken over a week with the sequence running south to north, since the coast gets wilder as you go and the trip should build rather than taper. Late June through September all work, with the first half of September the connoisseur's window, warm enough for the water and past the worst of the traffic on Route 1.

Begin with two nights among the mansions and give the Cliff Walk a proper morning, with the lawns on one side and the Atlantic on the other. The harbor earns the rest of the day, and dinner near the water sets the tone for the week, which is lobster in varying degrees of formality from here north.

The drive up through Boston traffic is the price of the week, so break it here, where Dock Square and the shipbuilders' houses reward a slow afternoon. A lobster roll by the water is not optional, and the beaches outside town are worth the morning before you push north.

Camden is the overnight that people extend, with the schooners in the harbor and Mount Battie above it, and the view from the top is the best free thing on this coast. Climb or drive it before dinner, then eat by the harbor and watch the boats come in, which is the whole show and enough.

End with two or three nights here and give the days to Acadia, with the carriage roads by bicycle and the Park Loop Road for the coastline. September earns its reputation on this island, and the last morning belongs to the water, with a walk on the Shore Path before the drive home to whatever you do when you are not doing this.