Best Vacation Itineraries from Five Bed and Breakfasts

Aren’t we all a little tired of those vacations where you ‘see’ six cities in one week –you spend all of your time getting from place to place but no time at all getting to know any one place? I Love Inns has a suggestion to simplify your vacation plans – splurge with seven or more days at a  bed and breakfast, explore a region thoroughly and take full advantage of your innkeeper’s expert knowledge of the area and its hidden attractions. Spend less time in your car, less money for gasoline and enjoy more relaxing quality time with your traveling companions. Here are five fabulous inns and suggestions to get you started.

Wildlife and Water Sports on Moosehead Lake in Maine
At the Greenville Inn overlooking Moosehead Lake and the Squaw Mountains in Greenville, Maine, seven days will be just enough time to explore the beautiful natural surroundings by land, water and air from their bed and breakfast.  Innkeepers Terry and Jeff have put together an itinerary that includes a seaplane ride over the Lake and a Moose Safari led by an expert Maine guide including a canoe ride where you will see bald eagles, loons, river otters and swimming moose! You can also hike up historic Mount Kineo or to the magnificent gorge called the Grand Canyon of Maine, raft the white waters on one of three rivers, relax on a steamboat cruise aboard the Katahdin, and fish with a local outfitter or guide in the surrounding lakes. If you enjoy the great outdoors, plan to spend a week at the Greenville and take in the scenery and wide variety of experiences offered from this bed and breakfast.

Pennsylvania’s Civil War Sites, Chocolate Factories and Amish Country
Conveniently located in the historic area of Gettysburg, Penn., The Brickhouse Inn invites you to relax on the porch or in a parlor while planning your week’s holiday. Innkeepers Tessa and Brian will help you choose from a myriad of activities, including a guided tour of the famous Battlefield and a visit to the National Military Cemetery where President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. You can use the bed and breakfast as your ‘home away from home’ while driving to Hershey and its famous chocolate factory, visiting Amish country near Lancaster and lunching with an Amish family, or traveling through the  Catoctin Mountains to Antietam Battlefield and Harpers Ferry. You’ll enjoy walking to local restaurants, art galleries, shops and museums when you return to Gettysburg, and, if you dare, a nighttime ghost tour of favored haunts of the town!

Dollywood and the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee
Janice, the innkeeper at the Creekwalk Inn & Cabins at Whisperwood Farm in Cosby, Tenn., has put together ten fun-filled days of hiking, museums, waterfalls, and mountains in and around this woodsy bed and breakfast nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg.  And what trip to Tennessee would be complete without a visit to Dollywood, with 5 music shows and an eagle sanctuary? The nearby Cataloochee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park features wild elk being reintroduced to the area and the Big Creek ‘Midnight Hole’ swimming area has scenic waterfalls. Add dinner and a massage in Hot Springs, North Carolina, or rent bicycles for a picnic and tour of the restored home sites in the Park. End your bed and breakfast vacation with a shopping excursion in Pigeon Forge, with its many outlet centers and dinner at the Old Mill which still grinds its own flour and corn.  Be sure to reserve an evening for watching the sun set from Clingman’s Dome, the highest point of the Eastern U.S. Continental Divide.

Explore Maryland’s Eastern Shore
The Bishop’s House Bed and Breakfast is located in Easton, Maryland, a top-ten town from the ‘100 Best Small towns in America’ and centrally situated in the Eastern Shore – the perfect spot to base your stay as you spend a week exploring this scenic portion of the Delmarva peninsula. The town itself offers a self-guided tour of the historic district, the Academy Art Museum, a Saturday farmer’s market, boutiques, antique shops and a variety of dining experiences. Much of the area can be toured by bicycle, and the bed and breakfast offers complimentary bicycles for your use as well as cycling maps and secure overnight bicycle storage if you bring your own. Enjoy a guided walk through the Pickering Creek Audubon Center or paddle through the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in a canoe or kayak, catching glimpses of ospreys and bald eagles. Take a short drive to St. Michael’s and Tilghman Island for sailing aboard the Patriot, an eco-tour on the Princess Royale with watermen harvesting blue crabs, or a tour of lighthouses from Chesapeake Lights aboard a former U.S. Navy special ops vessel. Good times on and off the waters of Maryland are waiting for you during your extended stay at the Bishop’s House!

An Alaskan Adventure Awaits
At Alaska’s North Country Castle Bed and Breakfast in Anchorage, Alaska, Innkeeper Cindy can take you from the most civilized activities to awesomely wild events in a matter of minutes. The Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the Alaska Botanical Garden and the historic Native Eklutna Village allow you to linger over Alaska’s traditions and history, while gourmet restaurants specializing in fresh seafood await you in the evenings. A day cruise on Prince William Sound provides sightings of calving glaciers, sea otters, birds, a salmon hatchery and snow-capped mountains.  Indulge in ‘flight-seeing’ around the 20,000+ feet of Mt. McKinley from the historic small town of Talkeetna or take a guided hike to the Matanuska Glacier. A float plane trip brings views of Brown Bears, and you can watch for Killer and Beluga Whales from Beluga Point on the Turnagain Arm while enjoying a gourmet deli picnic. Enjoy the luxury of the B&B for a week while you enjoy nature in a way you’ve never imagined.

Browse through the 19,000 Bed and Breakfasts and country inns that specialize in other events and locations that may interest you. Many of the properties listed above are also in the best-selling bed and breakfast guidebook Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns with a Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free Certificate. ILoveInns also offers Bed and Breakfast Gift Certificates, a perfect solution to help celebrate any occasion.