There are parts of Acadia that will be more difficult to navigate. The gate entrance to Sand Beach, Jordan Pond and visitor center will be busy. Cadillac Mountain will still have scheduling required. But much of the park is spread throughout the island and while they do ask for you to have a park pass, they don’t regularly check. Acadia is a bit more manageable than some other NPs that have specific access points.

Finger lakes seem like a great idea too. Pretty area!

I’m going to say Acadia is a bad idea right now with all the changes to the National Parks and how small it is. Parking is really difficult and most people need to take the shuttles, but will they even be running this summer? Will parts of Acadia be off limits?

Try the finger lakes or the Adirondacks instead.

Take the kids on a nice long cruise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP says the trip should be 1-2 weeks, not 4 weeks.

Chicago has great museums and fun food to try. You can find reasonable clean hotels downtown in the $200-$250/night range.

Oh jeez I read one month in the first sentence and didn't notice the later timeframe, thanks.

That’s pitiful.

We did that trip to Acadia through Boston and had a wonderful trip that didn’t cost too much money.

The Acadia posters have the right idea. If you want more of an adventure, continue driving up into the Canadian Maritimes.

I’d use Google flights Explore to see what’s possible. We did a great New Mexico trip that wasn’t too expensive. We stayed in an Airbnb in a remote-ish area north of Santa Fe and rented an suv and made lots of daytrips.

I third Acadia. But I’ll also say that the NPS and Acadia need your fees. Please buy a pass, it’s well worth it!

I love these kind of posts. My first thought was a road trip from here to Acadia and back. Something like a few nights in Boston, a week in MDI, a few nights at a beach spot on the way back.

Air bnb on MDI, hike Acadia (free), eat breakfast in your Airbnb, pack lunches for on hikes, and eat dinner out. Splurge sometimes on boat trips (Diver Ed) or other things that cost some money, but the majority of fun in Acadia is free.

Anonymous wrote:OP says the trip should be 1-2 weeks, not 4 weeks.

Chicago has great museums and fun food to try. You can find reasonable clean hotels downtown in the $200-$250/night range.

Oh jeez I read one month in the first sentence and didn't notice the later timeframe, thanks.

Do you have any hotel or airline points? W have 2 kids and make most of our 1 week trips under $5k with these. The house rentals on the beach are pricier for us than hotel and flights because of this.

OP says the trip should be 1-2 weeks, not 4 weeks.

Chicago has great museums and fun food to try. You can find reasonable clean hotels downtown in the $200-$250/night range.

Wait you want to travel for a month and have it cost between $5-10k? At say $250/night, lodging alone would be $7500, and that's a very cheap nightly rate in many nice summer areas. You need to be more realistic I think.

Also, what do you want to do, besides reading and learning? You can do those anywhere, thankfully.

I have a month sabbatical and would like to go on a special trip with my family.

My kids are 9 and 11, one boy/ one girl. Both kids like reading and learning.

The trip would need to be 2 weeks or less, and under $10k (preferably under 5K if possible).

The trip would be in late July or early August.

Thanks for your advice!