The Ultimate 10-day USA East Coast Itinerary

July 22, 2019
usa trip vacation east coast itinerary dumbo brooklyn bridge nyc destination spot place guide planner
Ten years ago, I went to the US for the first time. I was feeling nostalgic about it this spring so we decided our summer vacation would be going back to America. We booked a trip around the East Coast including three different destinations. Three big cities, all of them important for different reasons:
  • Boston: where US history started
  • Washington DC: the nation's capital
  • NYC: the capital of the world.
We spent 10 amazing days in the US. We planned our trip carefully so we saw everything we wanted to see but we arrived to the hotel every night exhausted from so much walking. However, despite the exhaustion, we felt very happy after each sight-seeing day.
Our itinerary started in Boston and we flew from one place to another instead of renting a car or taking the train. Let's take a look at the ultimate 10-day USA east coast itinerary.

10-day USA East Coast Itinerary: BOSTON (3 nights)

DAY 1
We arrived in Boston at 3pm on the 4th of July. Our hotel was the Boston Park Plaza. It was a very nice hotel with an unbeatable location next to Boston Public Garden but our room was rather small for two people, something surprising since we are used to huge rooms when we travel in the US.

After checking-in, we headed out. We were very eager to explore the city on such an important date and even if it was hard to stay awake, we made it to to the Fireworks Spectacular by river Charles.
usa trip vacation east coast itinerary boston public garden duckling duck stature destination spot place guide planner
DAY 2
We explored Back Bay, the impressive Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Harvard University.
usa trip vacation east coast itinerary boston isabella stewart gardner museum destination spot place guide planner
DAY 3
We started the day at the beautiful Boston parks: Public Gardens and Common, then we saw the Boston Harbor and tried the world famous New England Lobster, finishing our day at the Tea Party Ships and Museum.

Read: How to Spend 3 Unforgettable Days in Boston

usa trip vacation east coast itinerary boston tea party ships museum massachusetts destination spot place guide planner


BOSTON ITINERARY MAP

This Boston map includes all the things you need for your trip. The blue pins are the sights, yellow pins mark places to eat and the green ones are the location for my favorite shops. Click on the star next to the title to save to your maps in Google.



10-day USA East Coast Itinerary: WASHINGTON DC (2 nights)

DAY 4
Our flight to DC departed at 11:00. It's a little over an hour, so we arrived early enough to take advantage of our first day in the capital of the USA. After checking-in at the Capital Hilton Hotel near the White House -the room was great, very big and luxurious- we had lunch at Duke's Grocery and walked on M street all the way to Georgetown University.
usa trip vacation east coast itinerary georgetown university washington dc destination spot place guide planner
DAY 5
When we woke up it was pouring rain and floods were expected. We had booked a tour of the Capitol and were not sure what to do. Fortunately, the weather improved soon enough for us to get there on time. We spent the rest of the day exploring the impressive National Mall.

Read: 2 days in Washington DC:all you need to see, eat and do

usa trip vacation east coast itinerary capitol dc washington destination spot place guide planner


DC ITINERARY MAP

This DC map includes all the things you need for your trip. The blue pins are the sights, yellow pins mark places to eat and the green ones are the location for my favorite shops. Click on the star next to the title to save to your maps in Google.



10-day USA East Coast Itinerary: NYC (4 nights)

DAY 6
10 am flight to NYC. Our hotel here was the Row NYC at Times Square. It's a huge modern hotel very close to the E metro line and to Times Square.

DAY 7
We started our day at Top of the Rock. Going up to the top of the Rockefeller Center is pricey but worth it. $42 per person, 10 extra if you go there at sunset. We spent the rest of the day at Central Park ending with some shopping at the Columbus Circle mall.
usa trip vacation east coast itinerary rockefeller empire state top of the rock nyc destination spot place guide planner
DAY 8
We took the metro to WTC, saw the 9/11 Memorial and headed to Brooklyn Bridge. We crossed it to get lovely views of it and the Manhattan bridge from Dumbo. We ate at Nomo Kitchen in Soho and continued north to the Flatiron building. Once again we were caught by heavy rain -it rained one day on each destination- so we called it a day and went back to the hotel.
usa trip vacation east coast itinerary dumbo brooklyn bridge nyc destination spot place guide planner
DAY 9
Lady Liberty was waiting for us. Piece of advice: the only place to get official tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island is the ticket office at Castle Clinton. There are people all around Battery Park trying to sell tickets so beware.
If you don't want to spend any money and still get a view of Lady Liberty you can take the ferry to Staten Island which is free.

After the ferry brought us back, we saw Wall Street and the Charging Bull, then went back to the WTC for lunch. Our last full day in NYC ended seeing the United Nations building and surrounding landmarks like Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler building.
usa trip vacation east coast itinerary grand central terminal manhattan nyc destination spot place guide planner
DAY 10
Last minute shopping on 5th Avenue before heading to the airport. Our flight back to Madrid departed at 6:30 pm.

Read: How to Make the Most of 4 Days in NYC

NYC ITINERARY MAP
This New York City map includes all the things you need for your trip. The blue pins are the sights, yellow pins mark places to eat and the green ones are the location for my favorite shops. Click on the star next to the title to save to your maps in Google.
Need more to plan your East Coast trip? Check out the following posts
A European's Guide to Shopping in the US
Best NYC photo locations for first-time visitors

WHEREVER YOU ARE GOING DON'T FORGET...


Like this post? Pin it and share the love!
usa trip vacation east coast itinerary boston nyc destination spot place guide planner

38 comments

  1. Love your travel photos. Those ducks are so cute!, Have a lovely new week!

    Marie
    The Flower Duet

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is such a helpful posts, love the maps built-in, makes it so much easier to see everything. Awesome idea!

    Anika | anikamay.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad to see that you enjoyed your trip to the east coast. My daughters who are not used to this weather but only Mediterranean, were caught off guard. They could not understand why it was raining in the summertime.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kelleyn RothaermelJuly 22, 2019 at 8:02 PM

    Looks like we just passed by each other. We were just in Boston. Had a wonderful time. Glad you had a great visit to the states.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kelleyn RothaermelJuly 22, 2019 at 8:05 PM

    Just read in more detail and we were there at the firework spectacular too. How funny! Yes, Boston is an old city and so rooms can be rather small. If you had gone out of the city you would have found larger rooms. Boston is pretty expensive!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That does sound like a pretty good itinerary! We live near Boston so we get into the city often enough that we can pace ourselves but I have yet to make it into DC.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Been to those cities several times, but you can never tire of them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My husband and I did a trip to the East coast and loved it! Boston was absolutely amazing!

    http://www.ruthyannie.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a lot to take in during your 10 days! I know you just scratched the surface of each city but they're exciting to see each time. Your photos are awesome, too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lovely photos of highlights in each city you visited. Sounds like a fun trip!

    ReplyDelete
  11. How wonderful. I would love to do a longer version of this. My bucket list is a road trip from Philly to Toronto!



    https://calrat.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Looks like a great trip. I love it. I may need to do this.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fabulous! What a wonderful trip. Washington DC is on our list of trips we would like to take, specifically to see the Smithsonian.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great itinerary! I love the pics of the duck statues for the 4th. Your in my families areas- my one bro lives near and works in the Smithsonian in DC, my other bro lives in Hoboken, works in NYc, and I want to visit Boston. My mom is passing through their to Martha's Vineyard soon. Love your ice cream outfit, so perfect for summer!
    thanks for linking!
    jess xx
    www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow such awesome pics - Thanks for sharing and for linking up with the #MySundaySnapshot linky.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love the patriotic ducks!


    Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2019/07/save-gato.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a lovely 10-day getaway! Great snaps you have here dear!

    Jessica | notjessfashion.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a wonderful getaway. Those look like lovely snapshots x

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks! I hope you are having a wonderful week as well

    ReplyDelete
  20. It was weird for us as well. There are summer storms in Spain, but they last just a few minutes, in the US the rain lasted for hours!

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a coincidence! Were you visiting as well?

    ReplyDelete
  22. I can imagine it's more expensive but we always stay as close to downtown as possible when we travel to make the most of our time and be able to walk everywhere

    ReplyDelete
  23. I highly recommend DC, it's beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  24. I agree! It was my first time in Boston and DC but third in NYC, I still loved it like the first time

    ReplyDelete
  25. It really was, Sandra. We had a wonderful time

    ReplyDelete
  26. That's wonderful! We didn't have time to visit the Museums, hopefully next time!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks, Jess! I'd have loved to visit Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, unfortunately we couldn't fit it in our schedule

    ReplyDelete
  28. Yes, my family lives there! Looks like you had a wonderful visit.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wonderful Blog i love this, Thanks

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking out the time to leave a comment!