The scenic drive along the Connecticut coast can be either a weekend trip to make numerous stops along the way or a simple day trip to enjoy the sites and food with your classic car.
Fans of country roads, seeking one of the best drives in the Eastern United States, will discover long tidal rivers, seeds of Yale University, and remnants of the Revolutionary War in our Constitution State.
When Ayn Rand needed to research The Fountainhead, when Katherine Hepburn yearned to escape the frenzy of Hollywood, when President Taft sought a summer home, they all came to this sliver of Connecticut that many travelers miss.
Most assume that the industrial harbors seen while barreling north on Interstate 95 from New York to Boston define the Connecticut coast. But that is not so.
Exit the thruway, hug the coastline, and witness what artists and writers love about the scenic drive along Connecticut coast.
Find salt marshes that spread like the Kansas prairie. See sea-stained buoys that hang from weather beaten balconies. Peek at pink granite outcroppings, and breathtaking views of pristine coves and towns. All of this in the light that inspired the American Impressionist movement.
This Connecticut shoreline drive will take you through some of the most beautiful and iconic New England towns, along a beautiful waterfront Leaving New Haven, travel south via Route 337 to Lighthouse Point Park .
Take jog along Route 142 into Branford and then out from the center of town along Route 146 toward the peninsula and views of the Thimble Islands. Plan a ferry trip around the islands during the ferry tour season. Together, the Thimbles consist of over a hundred islands of various sizes. Some are no bigger than a stepping-stone, others large enough for 32 houses.
Continue route 146 into the picturesque Guildford Town Green. Guilford is best known for the Henry Whitfield House, the oldest home in Connecticut – the oldest stone home in New England. The Guilford Town Green was once grazing area, graveyard and fairgrounds- where tourists now swarm booths at annual craft and lobster festivals.
Take route 146 back to Route 1 for a drive through the pretty town of Madison Leaving Madison Center, Route 1 will take you to Route 450 to Hammonasset Beach State Park and the adjacent Hammonasset Nature Area Preserve. Return to Route 1, heading eastward for more beautiful views of shoreline and marsh meadows.
Go through Westbrook Center and enter Old Saybrook, home of The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center and Saybrook Point Resort & Marina. Eastward bound, cross the Connecticut River, and enter Old Lyme. Plan a visit to the Florence Griswold Museum, home of American Impressionism and many gorgeous gardens in season. Moving eastward from Old Lyme, the shore road is Route 156, which will take you through Rocky Neck State Park and into picturesque Niantic. Leaving Niantic, Route 156 joins Route 1, which joins I-95 to cross the Thames River, which passes between New London and Groton.
Ahead you will reach Mystic, home Mystic Seaport, Mystic Aquarium, and Olde Mistick Village, a quaint shopping village immediately off the highway. From Mystic, take Route 1 for a beautiful shore drive into Stonington and Stonington Borough, also a place to find good dining and shopping, including many, many small antique shops.
The coast line roads along US 1 provide a unique driving expereince that includes charming towns as well as open two lane roads for enjoyment. Driving along the Connecticut you will not only see the picturesque Atlantic coast, but vintage cars seems to be everywhere either on the road traveling with you, parked along the side of the road, and mainly at the various food establishments along the way.
