Cape, Islands and Coastline of Massachusetts and Maine

You can choose to join Andrew on a non-stop Delta flight from Minneapolis to Boston this morning (your airfare is not included in the tour price). The tour starts at the Boston airport, where the group will board a motorcoach for the Mt. Auburn Cemetery. There, a friend of Andrew’s will guide you through the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, dedicated in 1831. Afterwards, check into your Boston hotel. 

Boston has been an important city in the U.S. for centuries. It was was settled by Europeans in 1630 and was the site of many events during the American Revolution. Today it is the largest metropolis in New England.

Included dinner will be with the group. 

Enjoy breakfast in the hotel dining room before departing for a guided tour at Andrew’s former place of employment: the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, it is the oldest public arboretum in North America, established in 1872. 

Have lunch on your own in Harvard Square. Visit the fascinating “Glass Flowers Gallery” at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. 

Dinner on your own. You may choose to walk to one of the Italian restaurants in Boston's Little Italy, which offers some of the best food in the city.

The nutrient-filled waters of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary between Cape Ann and Cape Cod are a major seasonal feeding ground for migratory whales. A four-hour cruise this morning takes you there. You will have ample opportunities to see these fabulous creatures, plus other sea animals. Don’t forget your binoculars! 

Upon returning to Boston, the afternoon and evening are free for you to explore. Some options are: the Boston Athenaeum, Beacon Hill, Boston Public Market, Boston Common, and the Make Way for Ducklings sculpture in the Public Garden.

Included: Hotel breakfast. Lunch and dinner on your own.

Before leaving Boston, take a guided walking tour of the Freedom Trail, stopping at historically significant sites from the Revolutionary War era, such as the Old South Meeting House, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere’s House. 

Board the bus to your guided tour at the Heritage Museums & Garden in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Their Hydrangea Festival begins two weeks after this visit, so hopefully the flowers will be blooming! From there it’s a short ride to Hyannis, on the south shore of Cape Cod, where you’ll stay for the next three nights.

Included: Hotel breakfast, box lunch, dinner

Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are two large islands near Cape Cod. You’ll spend a day on each. 

A one-hour ferry ride takes you to the heart of Nantucket, where you will learn the island's history and layout on a guided bus tour. Nantucket was settled by Europeans in 1659, so there are historic buildings on cobblestone streets, as well as numerous sites supported by the Nantucket Historical Association.

Lunch is on your own.  At the end of the day, return to the Cape for dinner on your own. 

Take a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard for a guided bus tour. The larger of the two islands, Martha's Vineyard has six distinct villages. You will visit Polly Hill Arboretum and the famous bridge from the 1975 film, “Jaws.” The ferry dock is in the town of Oak Bluffs, which is where the bus tour will end. 

Explore on your own and return to the mainland by ferry for another evening on your own. Possibilities include: the gingerbread cottages in the Camp Meeting Association, the 1876 Flying Horses Carousel and the East Chop Lighthouse.

The drive from Hyannis to Camden, Maine, goes through Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where you’ll stop to walk the historic brick downtown and waterfront. You will have lunch in Portsmouth on your own. 

Take a self-guided tour of the Colonial American Garden at the Moffat-Ladd House. Your next stop is the oldest lighthouse in Maine: Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth. It was built by the U.S. government in 1791 and is said to be the most photographed lighthouse in the country. Travel to your hotel for the next three nights, which is, centrally located in the delightful town of Camden, on Penobscot Bay. 

Walk to dinner (included).

Today you will tour your final garden of the trip, and it's also the largest in New England: the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden. Learn about its themed gardens and see the giant recycled-wood troll sculptures on a guided tour with plenty of time for you to wander. Lunch will be on your own in the delightful café. 

Travel to Camden in the early afternoon. The rest of the day is free for you to explore the architecture and shops of this charming town, founded in 1791. Take in views of the scenic harbor, and see one of the few places on the Atlantic seaboard where the mountains meet the sea.

Dinner is on your own in Camden. 

No trip to Maine would be complete without lobsters! These crustaceans were once so abundant they washed up on shore and were fed to prisoners and servants. Today, there are strict conservation rules to preserve their dwindling populations. Learn more on a morning “lobster haul” on a cruise boat in Camden Harbor. You may join the lobstermen and women as they haul, bait and re-set the lobster pots. 

Later, tour a shipyard in Belfast that further explains the past, present and future of marine vessels along the Maine coast. 

The day ends with a very casual included lobster dinner, extra napkins included! 

Your motorcoach will leave Camden after breakfast for the Portland International Jetport.