Two of the nation’s top road trip itineraries pass through Massachusetts, according to recommendations AAA released last week.
The first road trip, top on AAA’s nationwide rankings, takes visitors on a historical spin through Southern New England, beginning in Boston and ending 230 miles away in Mystic, Connecticut.
AAA also recommended a 173-mile route across Cape Cod, with a detour via ferry to Martha’s Vineyard.
The two road trips appeared alongside drives through Southern California, the Great Smoky Mountains, and New Mexico on the historic Route 66 highway.
On the Boston to Mystic path, AAA recommended first visiting several of the iconic historic landmarks on Boston’s Freedom Trail, including the Old North Church, the Old State House and Faneuil Hall.
On the way to Mystic, AAA suggested a stop in Providence, Rhode Island, at Roger Williams Park. The 435-acre park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and houses the Roger Williams Park Zoo and the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium.
In Mystic, AAA recommended visiting the famous Mystic Aquarium and the Mystic Seaport Museum, one of the nation’s top maritime museums.
AAA’s recommended Cape Cod road trip runs from the Cape Cod Canal to Provincetown, and back. Along the way is a suggested stop in Woods Hole to catch a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, a visit to the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum, and a whale watch tour.
The Massachusetts tourism industry drew 21 million visitors who contributed $24.2 billion to the state’s economy in 2022, the most recent year of available data, according to the state Office of Travel and Tourism.
Domestic visitors were responsible for $22 billion, exceeding the $20.8 billion they brought to the state in the year before the coronavirus pandemic. International travel is still recovering from the pandemic, bringing $2.2 billion to the state in 2022, compared to $4 billion in 2019.
Tourism revenue in 2022 generated $1.9 billion in state and local taxes and supported more than 130,000 jobs, the Office of Travel and Tourism said.
