Boston to Buffalo road trip: Best stops, distance & drive time
The best road trip stops on the Boston to Buffalo drive are Albany, Seneca Falls and Canandaigua. The distance from Boston to Buffalo by car is 455 miles, with a 6h50m driving time.
Planning a Boston to Buffalo road trip itinerary
The Boston to Buffalo drive connects the Atlantic coast in Massachusetts to Lake Erie in New York.
Boston is drenched in history, with the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum a good first stop on the revolutionary trail. Other Boston attractions include the New England Aquarium, the View Boston observation deck and the Fenway Park baseball stadium.
There are also hundreds of Boston tour options, some more distinctive than others. Good choices include walking the Freedom Trail with a historian guide and story-packed tours of the Harvard campus. For a more Italian flavour, try a North End pizza and history tour. On a sunny day, try a sightseeing day sail around Boston Harbor.
If looking for the best Boston accommodation options, pick the Langham for luxury or the Lenox for a slice of cool in the Back Bay neighborhood. The Liberty, meanwhile, is a jaw-dropping conversion of a former prison.
Buffalo is often written off as the gateway to Niagara Falls, but there’s more to the city than that. Cultural highlights include Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House, the Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.
The waterside Buffalo Harbor State Park, meanwhile, offers paddleboard and kayak rentals plus a beach and playgrounds.
Good experiences in Buffalo include Best of Buffalo double decker bus tours, a history of chicken wings food tour and the Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration National Historic Site.
For excellent places to stay in Buffalo, try the historic landmark Richardson Hotel or the charming Hotel at the Lafayette.
Boston to Buffalo distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Boston to Buffalo is 455 miles. That makes for a driving time of around six hours and 50 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-90.
The best stops to add to a Boston to Buffalo road trip itinerary are Albany, Seneca Falls and Canandaigua.
Boston to Buffalo drive: Albany, New York
Albany is the capital of New York State, and the New York State Capitol is the top attraction. It’s a bombastic piece of 19th century opulence, and walk-in tours are available.
The other key attraction is the New York State Museum, which covers a massive range of topics. One minute it’s the ice age, the next it’s fire engines or birds.
Other top Albany experiences include after dark ghost tours.
- For more suggestions, see the guide to the Albany to Buffalo drive.
Boston to Buffalo road trip attractions: Seneca Falls
The small town of Seneca Fallas is known as the Birthplace of Women’s Rights. In 1848, a convention was held here to discuss the rights of women, and a movement spread from there.
The Wesleyan Chapel where the convention was held is now part of the Women’s Rights National Historic Park. Several other buildings linked to the convention and resultant declaration are inside the park and open to visitors.
Nearby is the National Women’s Hall of Fame, which celebrates the feats of great American women, from Abigail Adams to Oprah Winfrey.
Film fans, meanwhile, can head to the It’s A Wonderful Life Museum. Frank Capra supposedly used Seneca Falls as the inspiration for the fictional town of Bedford Falls.
Best stops between Albany and Buffalo: Canandaigua
Canandaigua is at the top of Canandaigua Lake, and is home to the Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum. This handsome mansion was home to the longest-serving Postmaster General of the United States. You need to take a guided tour to go inside and see the horse-drawn carriage collection.
Fans of glorious mansions can also visit the Sonnenburg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Site, although it’s the perfectly primped formal gardens that are the highlight here.
You can also enjoy Lake Canandaigua wine tours, beer tours that hop between local craft breweries and sunset cruises on the lake.
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