I'm thinking of hiring a car in June and travelling around New England. Just wondering if anyone here has ever done similar and has some pointers? I was in Hodges Figgis this evening looking at the guide books but none of them really met the criteria I want.

Stephen King lives there. You could visit him. Also Niagara Falls isn't far. Also a big windfarm near youngdan's house.

Niagara falls would be a bit of a trek, I think anyway. I would like to go into the mountains in New Hampshire and visit Mount Washington, go around the towns of the American Revolution like Lexington and Concorde and visit the Ben n Jerrys factory in Vermont . I'd like to do a circular trip from Boston and back for 7/8 days. Just need to find the resources to give the girlfriend to plan it .

Too bad you are not going on April 20 when they do the reinactment at Lexington. It is and everyone loves to see the redcoats being stood up to. Maybe you will see the real thing by June. Niagara is a great trip for a couple but is a 10 hour drive from Boston so it would be part of a loop.

They have the plimouth Plantation with actors playing the roles which is worth a visit. This would be seen on the way to Cape Cod/Nantucket Island. The Aquarium in Boston is worth a visit and a drive though Southie on the way to Castle Island for an iecream.

The area in western Mass called Amherst/Northampton would be liked by many posters here and of course Providence Rhode Island for good nude bars and a thriving service industry

Sounds like a great idea, JohnFas.

I've skied in Vermont, (don't ask about my carbon footprint!!), but didn't travel around much.

I did a driving tour of Pennsylvania. That was kinda cool.
Philly is a wonderful city, but rural PA is full of hicks.

We stayed in a B&B in the Amish Country owned by a Born Again Christian who seemed unimpressed by Catholics, or basically any Christian who didn't subscribe to his exact beliefs.
He also told me that he welcomed the wars in Iraq and the 'Ghan, because war is a sign of the End Times. Lovely.

We went up to the forests in northern PA to go hiking. Nobody up there could understand why one would go walking in the woods unless you were there to hunt.
And in one motel we stayed in, we were the only guests without guns.

I ordered a guidebook and a map of New England today.

Then I'll delegate to the girlfriend .

A couple of suggestions, based on my own memories of trips in the 1980s:

Have you thought of renting an RV (recreational vehicle) -- a "motorhome"? They are very well appointed, the RV parks are superb, and the cost is probably very reasonable.

We went through upstate New York, crossed Lake Champlain by ferry to Burlington, and on through Vermont and Massachusetts. Fantastic places, scenery, wildlife, open and welcoming.

You probably weren't thinking of going off-shore, but whale-watching is brilliant in New England. We went from Gloucester, Mass; expertly organized (we got close to big and little whales), and they're probably even better these days.