Anonymous wrote:Thinking about a peaceful summer vacation for a one-week family trip with older teens. We don't golf. We aren't rich. How is the beach in the Hamptons, Cape Cod, or Maine? Where should we go?

My wife and I are “normal”, we spent 4 days in Martha’s Vineyard, had a great time. A week is too long to spend there, and not much to recommend it for teens.

If you don’t mind driving a couple hours more you can save a lot of money by staying in New Brunswick Canada. There is a Marriott just across the border in St Andrews also plenty of air bnbs along the coast.

Anonymous wrote:Thinking about a peaceful summer vacation for a one-week family trip with older teens. We don't golf. We aren't rich. How is the beach in the Hamptons, Cape Cod, or Maine? Where should we go?

I would go to Maine. There are more options at different price points. You can also do lake, mtns, or ocean.

We loved Maine. I personally love the rocky beaches and cooler weather - not a sandy/hot "beach" person. Our kids collected mussels from the rocks right outside our AirBnB and we kayaked every day. Loved that vacation.

Wells and olgunquit Maine

Kids will love it

You will love it
Take a side trip to York and kennybunkport

What about taking the Acela from Union Station to Boston. Sit on the right side of the train so that you're on the water side. Spend a day in Boston, then rent a car and drive the 5 hours to Bar Harbor, or Bangor. You could either drive back to Boston, or do the kind of point to point rental, and then fly back to DC.

We have been to Maine and Cape Cod end of May and Maine was still really cold. The water in Cape Cod was freezing. We used to spend every summer in East Hampton before Covid. Very expensive and not that much to do other than hang out at the beach and go to expensive restaurants. Montauk is more casual. Seems like a lots of house shares with young professionals.

We drive to Maine every year from DC. Can do it in a day. Lots of price points and almost all towns low key.

Bar Harbor is amazing! We use bar harbor cottages to rent a house for a week downtown. Can fly to Bangor and rent a car vs drive there directly.

Excellent food, hiking, kayaking, biking. We haven’t been since moving to DC, but from NJ just made the drive.

Maine, 1000%. It’s basically ground zero for New England middle class lake and ocean vacations in the summer. There’s money hidden away but it’s grounded. None of the social circuit stuff you see in the Hamptons.

Parts of the Cape, yes. You can tell from browsing the towns, hotels, and rentals which ones skew more money (Chatham, etc)

PP here- cape cod likely manageable too.

Maine, yes. The others, no. Just take a quick look at Airbnb and you’ll see.

Maine by a mile

If you aren't rich you don't want to go to the Hamptons. Look at Cape Cod and Maine. Lots of great places in Maine.

My parents were middle class. Think nursing and office jobs. We were able to go to Maine and Cape Cod. I really didn’t enjoy going in the water at Cape Cod. The tide was full of rocks. I think it must be where they get cobblestones from. Think of dozens of rocks, the size of sweet potatoes, clobbering you in the ankles repeatedly. Maybe it’s different now? Maybe we went to the wrong place? Don’t get me wrong, it was a lovely break from southern heat. I just won’t go in the water again.

Thinking about a peaceful summer vacation for a one-week family trip with older teens. We don't golf. We aren't rich. How is the beach in the Hamptons, Cape Cod, or Maine? Where should we go?