Submitted by woodyrg14 t3_11drt7g in Connecticut
Me and my girlfriend want to go to the USA for my 21st, our travel agent suggests Connecticut. Specifically Connecticut Coast, we're wondering if the nightlife is good? We want to visit some nice bars and restaurants. We also don't drive. So it'll have to be Ubers. Thanks!
Travel agent must have seen Mystic Pizza once.
In our defense, we told them we wanted a place where tourists don't go. We wanna experience the real America. Fuck going to where everyone else does.
Boston for sure, or even Salem Ma the witch city on the water tons of food and a commuter train to Boston for a night there too.
I guess CT does look really good on paper, but would definitely be weird to make it the main reason you travel to the US.
Go outside of October and there won't be a ton of tourists and still mad things to do
You wanna come look at houses, Long Island sound and the woods? I like living here but if someone brought me here for a vacation I’d be pissed
As an English person who lives in Connecticut, I can vouch for the fact that it is a beautiful state, with some really cool history/places/food. Also, If you've never been to the US before, it's really nice how chatty and informal people are (A lot of folks will tell you how reserved people are here, but they've obviously never spent any amount of time in London). As a down side however, not driving will become a serious pain unless you plan on staying in the same place for a while. With the strength of the dollar expect everything to be pretty pricy too. Still, at least you're not paying for electricity when you're here though.
Assuming that a pint in old blighty is around a fiver, what would it cost over there fella?
Salem is beautiful but doesn’t have much in the way for nightlife.
Ct isn’t the real America. We’re the smallest part of the country, literally aside from Rhode Island, if you want to see the real American history? Maybe you can try very hard to arrange some tours with a lot of travel time in between. If you want night life to enjoy a vacation go somewhere with nightlife and tourism.
Tbf it sounds like you want to be a tourist but told your agent you don’t want to be with tourists and tourism doesn’t work that way.
Fella, I just want to see how a town in America operates. The less tourists=more authenticity. I can vouch that where I'm from has never seen a tourist, and it's the most pure English place in our entire country.
Honestly it depends on the beer you're into, and where you drink it. The craft brewing scene is fantastic here, with a lot of Belgian style strong heavy beers (7%+ kinda deal). Consequently a pint is usually a small glass of beer which would be like 8-12oz or so. If you drink standard lager, a pint will still be smaller than a UK pint, usually 16oz I think? 470ml or so... Anyway, short story long, I'd budget $7 a beer, plus the 20% tip so $8.50 or so.
Mystic or Stonington Borough are really your options with that criteria. Cars are primary and public trans doesn't exist in small, wealthy communities like the ones around the shoreline. I would stay at a hotel that has a shuttle to the casinos for night life, and then Uber to beaches during the day. Some of the larger resorts might be able to help coordinate transportation for you.
Would you tip per drink? Or at the end of your tab? Thank your for your insight btw
Providence RI may be great for you, maybe? Or New Haven is a nice smaller city in CT. Without a car you’ll be very suck in any smaller towns, but Greenwich and Westport are nice and you can train in to NYC for a day.
Oh and I love Guilford. But again, small and hard wo a car.
That guy is a bit much, but to be fair there isn't a quintessential American town. They don't compare. The towns in New England are nothing like towns in the south. Especially the coast line of CT which has the wealthier areas. If you want to see a wealthy New England town, that's one thing. But it won't be a good representation of an "American town".
What month will you visit?
Without driving, you’re limited on how much of the coast you’ll really be able to see. Most of it is accessed by car and Ubering all over will get costly.
I would do a little New England tour. Maybe fly into Boston, then you can take the Amtrak to Mystic. Mystic is mildly touristy but not bad. It’s a very cute New England town on the water, whaling history, lots to do. Enough tourists around that you should be able to Uber without issue. Then from Mystic, head to New Haven or Stamford on Amtrak. You’ll find city vibes there, still coastal, with a nice nightlife. Then you could even end in NYC, taking the cheaper MetroNorth in. Spend a couple days and fly out of JFK.
Full disclosure - I have never personally used Amtrak but I do know these cities mentioned have Amtrak stations at least. Don’t know the schedules and how frequently they run.
When are you coming? A lot of the nicer shoreline activities are pretty seasonal. I'd say Mystic seaport and the Aquarium is one, downtown New Haven for restaurants, bars, normally I'd say museums, but 2 of the 3 are closed for renovations, but the Yale art galley is still open and is free. Of course you have to have New Haven pizza. Pepe's, Sally's and Modern are the big 3. Go to all amd report back with YOUR favorite because it's a very decisive argument.
This is a restaurant atop the sea wall in Stratford, CT to give you some idea.
http://www.littlepub.com/stratford/menus.php
More touristy places (e.g. Mystic) will cost a bit more.
I concur with everyone else. Connecticut is a fantastic place to live, but not much of a vacation destination for a young couple who have never been to the U.S.
If shoreline is what you’re after, you want to be on the Atlantic and not Long Island Sound.
You really need a car in CT, but you’re too young to rent one. (Last I knew you had to be 25.)
I think New Haven is a great example of a small American city which has a fun nightlife (Yale town) with lots of access to bars, very good restaurants, and you’d also have access to major public transport (trains) for day trips to NYC and even Boston.
Uber will be common here too plus the best pizza America has to offer!
As a European guy who lives in CT, I think it’s a good compromise between “seeing America” and not being surrounded by tourists, you’d also be close enough to visit Boston/New York for a 1-day trip if you guys wanted to
Mystic is the best option for a place you can walk on the shoreline with nightlife.
Tips are per drink and your tips are noticed if paying cash. Otherwise folks run tabs on credit cards here. Average is $1 or so a drink.
What would constitute as the ‘real’ America? Is Belgium not a ‘real’ country because it’s small? What an ignorant statement.
No problem, I really like it here so it's cool to big it up. Either works as far as I see. If you have a tab open you'd just tip when you settle up, makes it easier. Don't know when you are coming over, but I can highly recommend going to a baseball/basketball/whatever sport interests you game. Minor league, super chill, really great atmosphere and you might even end up there on $2 beer night. Somebody will be happy to tell you the rules as you get smashed. And baseball is a fucking amazing game, so much history and I think it will tick the boxes of authentic US experience.
Mystic area is gorgeous.
Mystic is the best option for a place you can walk around on the shoreline with excellent restaurants and nightlife. It's small, so you can experience most of it in a night or two.
aaaaah, there ya go. Yeah okay, well there might be fewer people in one of those Connecticut Long Island Sound beach towns, although I've seen them pretty jammed up, too.
Be ready for gray sand, cold, kinda murky water, average food with the occasional stand-out place, and local town rules that might make for rare and/or expensive parking. You might luck into a craft brewery with food trucks parked out front, best of all worlds.
Have fun regardless. Wish I lived in the UK. I know, I know. Still. Wish I did.
You can rent a car under 25- you just pay more in insurance.
Nice. It’s been a lot of years since I was 25, so I guess the rules have changed.
If you come in late June check out the Elizabeth Rose Garden. No bars though.
New Haven is good for pizza and pints. Otherwise I'd prolly skip CT if it's your first time coming to the states.
I think it's great your travel agent said CT. Yes!
New Haven is a great town if you stay around Yale, which is the reason New Haven thrives. Wooster St. for real Italian- American food. Sally's Apizza is the best around right now. Plenty of restaurants in New Haven. Tell me what you like. Lots of night clubs packed in around BAR on Crown St which is probably second best pizza. Also, if you decide you want to go to Boston or NYC it's a two hour trip either way by train.
Heading east from New Haven, the Guilford Green is very New England quaint and some very good restaurants bordering and also on Water St.
Madison has Cafe Allegra which is fantastic. Funky art theater next door and some shops and lighter fare. Hammonassett State Park is the flagship park in the state park system and worth visiting.
Clinton has Aqua and Shanks down by Cedar Island Marina. Summertime is best for that. Chow has very good bbq.
Westbrook has Bills Seafood which is more of a local hangout but very quirky and the food is distinctive New England seafood. If you don't get a hot buttered lobster roll there get one somewhere it's kind of a CT thing. The Rhode Island clam chowder is my favorite.
Definitely want to hit Old Saybrook. Main St has Livs Oyster Bar and a few other nice joints you can't go wrong. Also some lower-key spots. If you have the chance get up to Essex for another super-quaint New England town at the mouth of the Connecticut r.
East of CT River it gets spotty. I wouldn't go west of New Haven it gets crowded on Interstate 95 and not worth the travel time.
Mystic for 3 days, for sure. Lots of great food and things to do! Easy to get an uber to the casinos if that’s your thing. On day 4 you can uber to new LOndon easily and take the train to New Haven. Eat some pizza, see Yale, go to the Peabody, stay a few days. Then can go to NYC or Boston from there. These places are touristy from CT standards but not in general. Other nice places along the train lines are Old Saybrook, Kingston RI, and Madison I believe. It’s very hard without a car, each city has something to offer but Ubers can be unreliable here (most won’t drive more than 30min away) and most of the best spots require driving. If you do Mystic also check out Bluff Point in Groton for a nice hike on the water near a tiny regional airport
Your travel agent probably wants you to room at one of the casinos on the coast (prob Fox Woods).
However, if you get a hotel/motel in one of the towns around Hartford (the capitol), you'll be able to use the CTTransit line (it's our bus system). For specific towns, Newington's kinda nice. New Britain is okay, a lot of stuff is really close together in New Britain, too. Multiple options for supermarkets, dine-in or take-out restaurants, there might be a museum or two in NB but you'll have to google it. Plenty of movie theatres, but there's also The Bushnell in downtown Hartford if you'd prefer live-action plays.
Personally I'd avoid the coast right now. It's winter, you're most likely not trying to swim at the beach. Better to check out as many eateries as you can. We have a LOT of options!.
Mystic in Connecticut and it is close enough to downtown Westerly in Rhode island to give yourself a lot more to do.
That’s a good call. I’d also google how expensive an Uber to Watch Hill would be from there. The best beach in the region hands down. It’s probably a fairly reasonable price and OP wouldn’t have to deal with parking which is the only drawback to Watch Hill.
Since you’re in that area with these tips, I’d add walking around Old Lyme (Lyme Street) and going to the Florence Griswold Museum. Also it’s just a super cute, quiet, historic Main Street with some businesses. Definitely very few to no tourists.
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this is a great answer depending on how much time you have and what time if year you're traveling. eg, Two nights in Boston, then take the train to Westerly, RI. If it's summer(ish), enjoy the RI coastline. It's better than Connecticut's. Hop back on the train (or Uber) to Mystic or Stonington for a night or two, continue on to New Haven and then final stop NYC.
I think /u/coolduckingcool has the right idea based on your goals.
You’ll hit 4-5 solid towns/cities, each a bit different.
MetroNorth is significantly cheaper than Amtrak, doesn’t require you to pre-book tickets, and runs more frequently. So that would be your best bet for getting along the coast and into NYC, though technically you could take Amtrak if you really wanted to.
Personally I would skip New Haven and just go from Mystic to Stamford, mainly due to its proximity to NYC. One less separate lodging expense. And you can easily get to JFK from Stamford (if you didn’t want to spend the night in the city), though for that I would use an Uber instead of the trains as there’s no direct route to JFK and it just takes longer by public transport.
The guy with all the down-votes is a rude, a lot of people seem to hate on our state without realizing what is here, often(but not always) the hate is inseparable from politics sadly. Ct is an interesting blend of small town America main-streets lodged right next to urbanisim, nature, history, and industry. We have lots of amazing restaurants around the state and it never takes more than an hour to get anywhere.
Depending on how far you want to go and what time of year you come, we have hiking and trails, lots of nature parks, a couple quality theme parks, all sorts of awesome fairs like the Big e and smaller more local ones/ we have still beaches and beaches with waves if you want to go next door to rhode island or cape-cod, we also have multiple casino's, museums, etc.
We have lots of bars and lots of local brews, amazing restaurants on every corner, some notable ones are parkville market in hartford(a food court with amazing restaurants and bars, also live entertainment listed on it's website) mystic pizza, pepe's pizza, and probably an easy thousand quality international restaurants.
I recommend coming somewhere around late summer for the warm weather/beaches, or early/mid September for the fairs.
All that said, ct is probably as real America as it gets, and we're a pretty safe and quiet choice, as well as a safer choice compared to most states. Though we're not exactly a hot tourist spot, there are more vacation-y spots to do if that's what your looking for. you will need a rental if you really want to experience everything properly, as ubers will get expensive and bus service isn't ubiquitous, but be warned, our state problem is our insane and reckless drivers, though i hear Massachusetts manages to have it worse, if your coming for two weeks or more, a rental is a must, as it will expand your range to Boston and new York(dont forget the state exists), and further if your willing to take a 4-6 hour drive.
This Little Pup is attached to a cool little hotel too - Surfside - and there's another neat little place next door called Riley's by the Seawall. Fair warning, that's all there is for nightlife in the vicinity. A cool dive bar called the Windsock nearby the small airport.
I would fire your travel agent. As big as the US is there are so many better places with better people.
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Nightlife lmaooooooo
New Haven has a great food scene and the best pizza in the world. There are several museums, theaters, and concert venues around the Yale Campus. I would recommend checking out Toads Plcae
You can also get an Uber to Hammonasset Beach State Park which has a great nature preserve. There might also be a bus line that stops there.
From new haven you can also visit several local breweries like NebCo and Two Roads. You can also catch a metro north train the NYC, but you could easily.
Yeah don’t visit Connecticut. Car is definitely required. Hard to get around without.
Come by Scottish Dave's in Clinton and have a pint!
I would highly recommend renting a car and do many of the things people suggested. It would be easier and more economical than getting Ubers everywhere
Go there.
There are tons of local breweries in Connecticut. If you getting beers, keep it local. And a dollar a beer is usually a standard tip.
I love Connecticut (I live in NYC and visit friends there often, it’s about an hour on the train to where they live), but it’s definitely not a destination for a trip like you’re planning. There’s really no nightlife to speak of. There are nice restaurants here and there but you’ll need a car, and you’ll basically be spending most of the time in the car driving from wherever your hotel is to random spots. There isn’t any sightseeing other than quiet, residential beaches.
If I were you, I’d visit Boston instead. It’s not as touristy as NYC, but there’s tons of great stuff to see and experience, and it’s definitely the “real” U.S. Its super walkable city with tons of good restaurants and bars and clubs and nightlife, as well as fun and interesting things to see and do during the day. You can also do side trips to see more of the U.S., like out to Cape Cod like others have mentioned, or Salem, or Newport Rhode Island.
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Hi! I’m from Connecticut but lived in the UK for a decade. Happy to answer any questions. Honestly, if you want to see non tourist American, Connecticut would be great. But you really need a car. If you want nightlife and to avoid Boston or New York then New Haven is your best bet.
Bills seafood in Westbrook. The old Lyme sports tavern in old lyme.... Born and raised here in ct my 51 years here. Couple good pizza places too. Pepes in New haven. There is a kick ass go Cart track in Wallingford. Ct is not that big so it might be worth a trip.
Enjoy your stay we do have a lot of taxes here....but if your visiting its not so bad. Come on over....
Yea I’d strongly recommend New Haven. You can totally Uber around and you also have access to Metro North so if you wanted to do a day in New York City or visit other towns it’s super easy.
Mystic has a pretty wide selection of stuff. Places to walk around. Old Mystic village for some fun shops. As well as the Mystix Aquarium and the Seaport Museum. The Submarine Force Museum is in nearby Groton if you are interested in Submarine history as well as being able to tour the Nautilus, the first nuclear powered submarine. And the casinos (Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods) are also a short drive away.
You can also Amtrak to New Haven, NYC, and Boston from Hartford.
How long do you have. You can really get a good variety by a few towns along the coast and take trains.
New Haven and get some famous pizza and see a small college town. Bars and restaurants.
Mystic Seaport for quirky fun history and the Aquarium is one of the bests. For extra time there some cool historic stuff along the way like in Lyme. Art musuem and such.
If in summer go on a fishing trip with the Blackhawk. Super fun and we have fantastic ocean fishing.
The casinos are unique so could be worth a visit. The Native American musuem at Foxwoods is fantastic. I like vibe of Mohegan.
We have beautiful nature too so plenty of hikes but I'd have to look for accessible ones.
You seem like my kind of traveler. It's how I do it too.
Enjoy and feel free to reach out.
anywhere on the southern coast and you can take the train into NYC if you want for actual night club night life. Stamford, Norwalk and New Haven have more nightlife within CT than other towns. Norwalk you can take a train up to Wilton, Ridgefield or Bethel and that would be more down to earth CT "real America" compared to all the towns on the coast. If you had a car you could go further north into the state and see the woods, rolling hills and landscapes that make the state a treat. These towns have the small downtown town centers with shops and restaurants and then the town branches out from there. Kind of like ant hills. Also, if you can come in the fall, you'll catch the fall scenery.
A quant New England Town is very much an American staple. The Hallmark channel loves them.
If neither of you drive I highly recommend Mystic: a lot of walkable places from the main hotels but also consider off the beaten path NYC (no need for Uber, 8 million+ live there and many neighborhoods have almost zero tourists) Uber is expensive outside the major cities in the US because everything is spread so far apart.
New haven is lovely with plenty of culture and arts and history, and great food. I can literally give you a litany of places to go and things to do in New haven! It's very fun. I would say Fairfield is also a nice place to visit with a walkable downtown and great restaurants if you don't want to venture too far from NYC.
If you don’t have a car you can visit Mystic and their seaport/aquarium. They have a train station that can take you to New Haven, Boston, Providence, or NYC
Honestly? Westerly, RI and its attached beach town Misquamicut might be the better option. Gorgeous beaches, not on the sound, and decent nightlife is available, I think. Westerly is also maybe the most New England of towns in the region and leans a little younger than Stonington.
Or maybe even further into RI to South Kingstown (college town) and Narragansett (beach town). Gansett can get a bit touristy, but it's mostly with people day tripping from Providence. Newport and Mystic draw more regional/national tourists.
If you want more city, Providence proper and New Haven both host Ivy league universities, have waterfront and night life. There are ferries that can get you out to block island from Providence (with a few hops), which I hear is a lovely trip. New Haven is the last stop on the NYC rail line, so it's not difficult to get into the city from there.
If you plan in advance, you can easily hit the entire coast via Amtrak. It's the one place in the nation that there's a working, practical rail line that can take you from NYC along the sound to New Haven, Mystic, Westerly, Providence, and into Boston. No car necessary.
Enjoy, eat a lot of seafood and pizza.
One thing, the U.S is not like England at all in terms of traveling. Me and my friend went from London, Portsmouth, The Lake District, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Scarborough and York all by train. You could not do something like that here. Driving is almost a necessity.
Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Upstate NY are all incredible places I would recommend visiting but you really need to be able to drive there. But if you can’t drive I would recommend NYC and Boston both would be very easy to get around without a car, Newport may work too.
The CT coast is a good place to visit but you would have a very hard time getting around.
Also for nightlife it would have to be NYC or Boston
I’m a native nutmegger (person from CT) and I love living here, but it would not be the first place I would recommend if you have never been to the US before. It’s called New England so you may want to go further afield to experience a more unique destination. Can you go anywhere in the US? Are you interested in nature/outdoors or cities/culture or both?
Ubering around this country is going to bankrupt you quick. Also CT is nice but if you are visiting. I suggest going somewhere more interesting especially if you are spending good money to do so. Make it worth your while
But don’t bother with the pizza.
Not the Mystic Pizza pizza, but Nana’s and Pizzetta are both very good options.
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Go stay at Mohegan Sun as your base for the food/nightlife/shelter aspect, and then Uber to explore Mystic down through Niantic.
Downtown Fairfield has some nice nightlife, very walkable, it’s along the coast with great beaches and has a metro train that can bring you to Stamford and NYC. Hope you enjoy your visit!
I second this. I worked in the area for years, Mystic is beautiful. Stop by Mystic Pizza for a picture outside then get a pizza somewhere else. The staff is friendly enough but in CT, there’s so many places with awesome pizza and it’s a shame they didn’t adapt with the times
I would like to have a word with your agent who out of all things to see in US would suggest Connecticut coast line. First of all, Connecticut doesn’t even have a proper coastline as it faces Long Island sound for most of its stretch. Secondly, Connecticut cities and towns are very poorly suited for exploring on foot with a possible exception of downtown New Haven. Thirdly, if you want to see proper New England, Boston and the surrounding towns and communities are way more exciting than anything you may find in Connecticut. If you want to see New England, choose Boston as your base and then plan your trips to various surrounding coastline communities. You will also find plenty of exciting night life in Boston neighborhoods.
As a Brit living on the shoreline, I think my advice would be the opposite. The shoreline is spread out moreso than New Britain etc, but if the poor bloke came over and just saw New Britain, I’m not sure he’d want to ever return.
I much prefer the shoreline towns, but I’ll admit that the restaurants towards West Hartford/Glastonbury are better.
The Boston shoreline corridor tour and flying in or out of NYC makes the most sense to me. See Boston, Providence, Mystic, maybe New Haven or Greenwich, and then finish in NYC. Or vice versa.
Maybe STAY in Connecticut.. but NYC is where you’re going to want to go
If you're going to pick CT as your first taste of the US (I wouldn't) and you're 21, do yourself a favor and just stick with New Haven. You can taste the best pizzas in the US, grab a burger at Louies, etc. Nowhere else has the combination of great restaurants and fun for your age. Been to all the other towns mentioned below and you'll get bored quick.
As long as you don’t mind a bunch of New Yorkers then welcome! Since the pandemic they’ve literally overrun us in the state and are moving/visiting en masse. A lot of the coast line has become very touristy as a result of that, hopefully you’ll find a nice spot that is still mainly a local hang out spot.
Charleston, SC near King St. You'll get a full dose of Southern American culture, great restaurants, awesome nightlife, and top rated beaches near. Have some shrimp and grits at Magnolias downtown and some brisket outdoors on a hot day under the tree at Lewis BBQ.
Pizzetta is getting a bit touristy. Good pizza, but I miss the days when it was just a few tables upstairs.
If this is where you want to come, that’s great, and we’d be happy to have you! From what you’ve described I’d say you’re going to want New Haven or Bridgeport, depending on what’s going on in town. I think a long weekend is about as much time as you’d need for a great trip.
No def don’t blow a trip to the US for your 21st by coming here Go to New York go to miami fuck go to Disney world…just don’t waste your time and money coming to CT
We’ll be glad to have you. I think New Haven would be the best for night life. If it hasn’t been said, Mystic has amazing history and really authentic, kind-of-weird locals. It’s definitely a good place to bar hop and eat, plus it’s walkable. Mystic Pizza may or may not be a thing to do. Also, I believe our public buses are free to ride right now. You can see if that helps you at all, they probably have a ct transit website. There’s a ct things to do website as well. NYC grand central station is a 90 ish minute train ride from New Haven iirc. Toad’s Place for music. Long Wharf is a part of New Haven where they have a bunch of food trucks most days, and you can see Long Island sound.
I love Connecticut, I’m born and raised, went to college here, still live and work here, but CT truly isn’t an easy place to navigate unless you have a car. And being perfectly honest, if you don’t know exactly where you’re going you could end up in a sketchier area. My boyfriend and I are always doing weekend trips around New England, so I’d recommend: -Newport, RI, which has tourists in the summer but late spring early fall is more of a college town.
Oi. Oi. OI! It’s me . Imma lay it out. Ya can’t go wrong. Ct is 70 x 100. Ya can go corner to corner twice in 6 hrs. Rent a car. Find your own place. Of course go to NH, Wooster st for pizza. Then get outa town. Go north, get off the coast. Ya wanna see the New England coast? Get outa CT. Vermont has a longer border on lake Champlain than CT has on the sound. Follow the Rivers out of the sound. At 750/sq mile, we’re a densely populated part of the Northeast Megalopolis. Your from England? Go see Scotland it’s by Brooklyn in the SE . Try Bristol or Avon in North Central. Then head to the land time forgot. Cornwall? Kent? Salisbury? Norfolk( ICBX!) ? Good Luck on yr journey.
The casino have awesome clubs
CT is a great place but, no car no bueno. You'll be stuck in one place or spend a fortune on taxi's and ride shares.
You could possibly stay one of the casinos and they have bus service to Boston and New York and possibly to the New London train station. Plenty of night life at the casinos.
As a nutmegger, go to Providence RI instead
It’s more of an underage driver fee— OP will still want to purchase liability and CDW if they are not otherwise covered for rental cars in the US.
Possible to get this fee waived or discounted if they are part of an eligible group.
I agree with the New Haven and Mystic/Stonington Borough suggestions. New Haven is packed with great food, music, museums, art, culture, and the latter is quintessential coastal New England.
I love Guilford, Essex, Madison especially inbetween, but tough without a car. Sea Shanty Monday’s at the Griswold Inn would be an amazing experience for you.
Honestly go to NYC and spend one of the days exploring the CT coast using the train.
Bruv nooooo if your gonna visit USA you want to go somewhere like NYC/Boston/Vegas/California/ maybe Oregon if your into nature but your gonna get bored in CT quick.
Never come here its a sad pit of despair
Absolutely don’t visit the coast. Wtf. The coast is nice but not nice enough or fun enough to visit from across the pound. Do a weekend in nyc or Boston.
Well, they mentioned they didn't drive.
I don't know what buses travel along the coast or Uber prices, but along cttransit, you can get from/to the Hartford area for free via the ct transit.
CT is NOT real America. CT is one of the wealthiest states.
CT is very quaint, a lot of colonial history. TBH I think CT is boring for a trip to the USA unless you are able to visit NYC/ Boston as well.
Im thinking this person may be a troll lol
No doubt. Every other place in Mystic is way better.
Ct coast check mystic and westport
Fire your travel agent.
I love CT and all, but as a vacation destination, absolutely not. First and foremost, I hope your girlfriend is also 21, because we have ridiculously strict drinking laws when it comes to age. She'll be left out of a ton of things if she isn't 21 as well. Second of all, CT is mostly inaccessible without a car. Our public transit is rather shite.
I just would highly suggest you go to NYC or Calirfornia or almost anywhere else, quite honestly. We're just not a "touristy" state.
Out of all the states to see the coast line and you are being recommended Connecticut? As far as North East is concerned you are better off seeing Jersey, Massachusetts, or Maine. There's really not much here in CT and its underdeveloped with mostly small tightly packed residential homes and downtowns that do not really have anything to offer. I would recommend the Jersey Shore, areas like Spring Lake/Belmar/Point Pleasant/Asbury Park/Long Branch for food, nightlife, shopping, and entertainment. Most of those locations have train stops since renting a vehicle might bring a challenge due to age. If you do insist on seeing CT, check out downtown New Haven, West Port, or Fairfield CT. Most of Connecticut lacks luster, old homes, the long island sound is underdeveloped with not much night life, restaurants the few good ones are scattered along the coastline, I think there is a comedy club in Bridgeport CT, check out Mongers Market! St. Mary's by the Sea. Guilford/Madison area is nice and quiet. Check out Greenwich Polo Club if that interests you. Best of luck, def come during the summer!
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You’ll quickly find out why Connecticut isn’t much of a tourist destination. I’ve had British people tell me CT is the state that reminds them the most of home so it might not even seem exotic to you. I love it here but I enjoy it’s quaint nature and lack of excitement
Came here to say that. Mystic
Yeah, as a CT resident unless you're ok with ubering everywhere, a car is a mild must. If you're visiting the US for the first time and you prefer walking I'd reccomend places like Boston or New York which have way more historical sights. Or California. Our coast is fine, but not the beach towns you see in movies or TV.
Please bare in mind, I'm not a professional tourist, I'm just a schmuck from the center of my state telling you what I know, there's definitely alot I don't know. I hope you and your partner enjoy your trip wherever you end up.
This is all accurate, BUT require a car. OP stated they need Ubers. To do a fraction of what you describe, without a car, requires very specific itinerary planning.
Honestly, I'd stay in Newport, RI. Check out the mansions, cliff walk, and take a day trip to Block Island out of Point Judith. Then could take an (expensive) Uber to Mystic CT, Stonington CT, the two Casinos in CT ( Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods) or go north to Providence, RI.
Ask your travel agent about Portland, Maine. It is a quintessentially cute New England town on the Atlantic Ocean, not the Long Island Sound which is literally brown murky water.
You can fly into Boston, spend a night or two there, and then take a bus or train 2.5hrs to Portland. Recommend in the summer. It’s very walkable, has great restaurants and bars and breweries, beach, water stuff (fishing and whaling tours, ferry to small islands, etc), museums, etc. It’s a popular local tourist destination, most of Nee England coastline is. I don’t think it’s a popular international destination.
Hello to my fellow ex-pat!
waves in limey
I’m from west haven, right on the new haven line and while it’s definitely not my scene, I’d also highly recommend new haven area for the nightlife, great restaurants, bars, walkability, train station, etc.
Night life along the shore? Maybe in New Haven but walking around New Haven at night can be scary. As others have said, the shore is spread out. Lots of little towns without much happening. Maybe stay near Mystic, go to aquarium and Seaport, visit a casino. Expect to pay a lot for Uber and expect a long wait outside cities
I live here and it's nice but I am trying to understand a travel agent recommending CT specifically as a place to go on a trans atlantic vacation? Have you been to New York or Boston? Way more to do good public transit to get around. CT is right here and you could visit by train fairly easily.
Uber can be pretty clutch, very underestimated, far better than most taxi services afaik but quality of individual drivers can vary, can get a driver just about any time of day. also expensive, especially if your going far.
Out of the entire USA you could visit, Connecticut is your choice??!!
You're going to be severely underwhelmed.
Seriously. There's so many better places to visit if you just have to pick one.
Speaking as someone who has been to every state in the US other than Hawaii...there is no "Real America" as far as I see it.
America is a huge country with vast differences between the states and coasts.
That said, I don't think you can go wrong with Connecticut or New England in general for your first visit.
Just got done hosting 3 friends from England here in Connecticut and a trip up to Maine/Boston and they had an amazing time. They couldn't get over how friendly everyone was and the lack of drama.
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I can’t recommend Mystic enough. Plenty to do and great nightlife, especially in the summer. Expect things to be pricey, but anywhere on the CT coast won’t be cheap!
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Jesus a lot of folks down on CT... they might be impressed just by how we serve our beer cold
Mystic is great for tourists. If you live here , it’s nice to visit once before it becomes boring and it’s overpriced . Hartford , New Haven , Bridgeport , Danbury and Waterbury are all garbage. I mean if you live in those towns then yes you know which are the better spots but for a visitor or new residents stay away from those places . Also anywhere like Bristol, Meriden etc are also crap. Foxwoods and Mohegan are the hot spot . Some nice skying spots as well and lots of country drive with great scenery . Local pubs and bar are all the same BORING. Any night life ends at 11pm lol. I lived in ct all my life and one thing I respect about this state is that it’s got some hardcore residents, some of the most hard working people I know lives here . Who wakes up Every morning , goes to work and have to deal with tons of Karen’s in one half and getho in the other half , then winter hits and they still go to work and have to deal with the cold and high prices shit. IMO They should have more mental wellness check center on every corner. Welcome to ct .
Ahh, ditching the old england for the new one I see. Just kidding, lame pun guy over here
None of New England is "Real America" to most Americans so I wouldn't base my trip around that idea. It's small, affluent, white and much more liberal and similar to Europe than expected for its population density. Don't get me wrong, it's my favourite part of America by far (UK immigrant), but I wouldn't be 100% sure that it was the perfect short American break. The highlights here are the scenery, relatively slow living, quaint towns, high quality of life etc.
The best bits about America for someone coming for a short trip are usually the national parks and the huge cities (NYC metro area is like 2.5x bigger than London metro). Maybe the things you can't do back home for novelty like shooting a firearm.
So if food and nightlife are huge priorities and you can't rent a car, you should seriously consider going to NYC or Boston or similar. Good or even acceptable public transit is almost entirely absent here outside of the big cities.
Also, medium sized cities in America generally confer a huge culture shock on a European, they oftentimes have quite serious crime and homelessness compared to what you're used to. When combined with the car infrastructure, strip mall living and the fact that there are no cathedrals from the year 1100 this leads to pretty ugly cookie cutter cities IMHO. Most places bigger than 100k population and less than maybe 750k fall into this category for me.
If you can rent a car and are more interested in seeing the wee small quaint towns and the American quality of life, then buy the lonely planet guidebook and zip up the coast roads doing a classically American road trip, stopping into all the best bits. See some big mountains that we don't get back home, the lakes and forests, the wildlife is absolutely phenomenal etc.
Connecticut has a great wine trail. You can sign up for a bus that will take you to a few wineries and then bring you back. The wine isn't great, but trying the different types can be fun and the views are great. A lot of vineyards have cozy little tasting areas, and others have picnic tables with expansive views of the state. Pack a lunch and cheese and crackers and have nice day.
I’m from Connecticut I’m also 21 yo I’ll tell you this. It’s beautiful and quiet, but new Haven has some great night life. It’s expensive but lots of good bars around there. Kinda surprised they recommended ct though
New Haven with maybe a day or two in NYC by train.
If you don't have a car. Stay in NYC. You can always catch a train to CT.
Cape Cod, Hampton Beach, Jersey Shore/Atlantic City are all better than Connecticut. New Haven has the best pizza but not many attractions in Connecticut. Depends if you have a specific pace you wanna come here to see cuz usually nobody comes frome Europe and just visits Connecticut.
The best pizza "apizza" is in new haven. Other than that why would anybody spend that kinda money to vacation here. NYC and Boston are a million times more tourist oriented places to visit.
For a restaurant tab I always do 2 for every 10 if I’m drunk and don’t want to do math. And a dollar a drink
I’d go to Newport in Rhode Island instead. We stayed at The Artful Lodger on our honeymoon and it was wonderful. Newport is pricey but worth it.
stlouisbrowns t1_jaaf8yr wrote
Wow that was a weird suggestion on their part. If you're going to USA northeast coast and want beach, why not go to Cape Cod, if the weather's warm enough. Hit Provincetown, the beaches etc. Nice night life there in season, weekends during May and then most nights starting the end of May, Labor Day or whatever that holiday is.
If beach ain't such a thing, go Boston. Fun place to hang. Great food, night life. Plenty of everything. Swell town.
Failing that, NYC.
I hope you guys have a great time regardless.