Sports Itinerary
SPORTS: 14-Day Itinerary – In Celebration of the FIFA World Cup in New England
Gillette Stadium, just south of Boston in Foxborough, Massachusetts will host the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and there’s so much excitement! There will be seven World Cup games played at Gillette, including a quarterfinal game.
Learn more about the FIFA World Cup Boston.
Find Meet Boston’s planning resources for the FIFA World Cup here.
From professional and collegiate, to individual athletic pursuits, New England has a rich and storied sports history that spans decades and encompasses a wide variety of sports. From iconic teams to legendary athletes, the region has been a hotbed of sports activity and achievement. New England is rich in mountains, lakes, and of course the Atlantic Coast, offering so much opportunity for both spectator and participatory sports, adding to the exciting experiences awaiting you in New England.
DAYS 1-4: MASSACHUSETTS
Learn more about sporting and more in Massachusetts.
Learn more about visiting Massachusetts
Boston Lodging ideas: Omni Seaport, Hotel Commonwealth, Boston Marriott Copley Place, Copley Square Hotel, Hilton Boston Park Plaza, The Revolution Hotel. MetroWest/Central ideas: Hilton Garden Inn Springfield, Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel, MGM Springfield, Archer Hotel Burlington, Beechwood Hotel Worcester, The Veve Hotel Natick, Aloft Framingham, AC Hotel by Marriott Worcester, Homewood Suites by Hilton Worcester.
There’s an abundance of activities to take part in at Gillette Stadium, including an innovative and interactive museum at the Patriots Hall of Fame that celebrates and honors the history of the Boston Patriots, six-time Super Bowl champion.
If baseball is your jam, check out Behind the Scenes Fenway Tour. Fenway Park, which opened in 1912, is known as “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark” and is home to nine-time World Series champions the Boston Red Sox. See the greats in the making with the Cape Cod Baseball League which boasts more than a thousand former players who have gone on to the major leagues, or step back in time to watch a vintage game like it was played in 1864 at the historic Spencer Little Farm in Newbury, Massachusetts on the North Shore.
While touring Boston’s Back Bay, take a selfie at the Boston Marathon finish line across Boylston Street. Every Patriots Day since 1897 to commemorate the American Revolution, elite runners from around the world compete in this famous run from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, passing through the Wellesley College Scream tunnel and over Heartbreak Hill to an exhilarating finish.
For a broader overview of the history and character of Boston sports, pay a visit to the Sports Museum – you’ll experience a half-mile of exhibits at TD Garden, the home of National Hockey League’s multiple Stanley Cup winners, the Boston Bruins and National Basketball Association’s 17-time Champions, the Boston Celtics.
For a real in-depth experience, download the comprehensive Massachusetts Sports Trail, taking you from Boston to Western Massachusetts. The Volleyball Hall of Fame honors legends and greats of the sport and is located in Holyoke. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield is in the city where basketball was first played.
Fun Fact: Further testimony to the sports-minded ethos of Massachusetts is the presence of sneaker (trainers to our friends in the U.K) companies’ U.S. headquarters of New Balance, Reebok, Converse, Puma North America, and Saucony.
DAYS 5 & 6: RHODE ISLAND
Learn more about visiting Rhode Island.
Lodging Ideas: Lodging Ideas: Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina, Gardiner House, Francis Malbone House, Forty 1 North, Hotel Viking
Travel south to Rhode Island, known for its Gilded Age mansions, wealthy celebrity citizens and business tycoons who naturally attract sports for the rich such as tennis, golf, sailing and polo.
Newport, known as “the sailing capital of the world,” has a rich history with the America’s Cup Sailing Competition over the past 50 years. The city has hosted multiple America’s Cup races, including the famous showdowns during the 12
Meter era in the 1970s and 1980s. To learn and experience the inspiring stories of sailing, visit the Sailing Museum.
For a true hands-on experience, try a sailing lesson with Sail Newport offering private and group lessons for all skill levels. Rather stay on land and indulge in equine sports? The Newport International Polo Series will sweep you away in more Gilded Age grandeur. Newport’s summer sporting set embraced polo by establishing its first polo club in 1876. You can attend matches today at the exquisite Glen Farm which is conserved in perpetuity.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame was founded in Newport as a “shrine to the ideals of the game” and is recognized as the official Hall of Fame. The museum showcases nearly 2,000 objects and features the Roger Federer Hologram, a theatre in which visitors will feel as though they are in the same room as the all-time tennis great.
Baseball fans cannot miss Cardines Field in downtown Newport. This field hosts a steady schedule of games played by different leagues with the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League being the most prominent. It is ranked the 4th best for ball parks in the United States, though residents may correct you that it is technically a beloved ball “field” that likely predates the organized sport of baseball itself.
With so much wealth in town, folks can expect to see some interesting vehicles – not just on the road but private collections turned public. Find some of the rarest and most remarkable automobiles in history at both the Audrain Automobile Museum in downtown Newport and the Newport Car Museum further North towards Portsmouth.
DAYS 7 & 8: CONNECTICUT
Learn more about visiting Connecticut.
Lodging Ideas: New Haven Hotel, Hotel Marcel, Blake Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott New Haven at Yale, Mohegan Sun, Foxwood Resort
Cromwell, Connecticut is home to TPC River Highlands golf course, which is owned by the PGA Tour, and designed by renowned golf architect, Pete Dye. The course is home of the Travelers Championship tournament, which has a rich history dating back to 1952, and is a staple on the PGA Tour calendar. A few of the top players who have claimed victory are Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, and Jordan Speith.
Connecticut has two of the largest casinos in the United States. Foxwoods Resort, the largest resort casino in the United States, is fun for the whole family with ax throwing, ziplines, bowling and more. Mohegan Sun in Uncasville hosts a championship par 72 golf course, the Mohegan Sun Golf Club, designed by renowned golf architect Geoffrey Cornish. The resort’s arena is home to the women’s WNBA professional basketball team the Connecticut Sun, a consistent contender in the Eastern Conference.
Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway is the first paved oval and first closed-circuit road racing course in the United States that has been graced by familiar names such as Mario Andretti and Paul Newman. You can check to see if a race is on the schedule, sign up for a half day Drift Clinic or get behind the wheel of a Ferrari or Lamborghini yourself and discover what 500 horsepower engines can do with a ride with Xtreme Xperience.
DAYS 9 & 10: VERMONT
Learn more about visiting Vermont.
Lodging Ideas: Hotel Vermont, Courtyard Burlington Harbor, Hilton Burlington Lake Champlain
Burlington, Vermont hosts two semi-pro teams that are big draws every summer. The Minor League Baseball team, the Vermont Lake Monsters call Burlington home in the summer, with games held at one of the oldest minor league stadiums. The Lake Monsters (named for the legendary, mythical, mysterious Champ, the Lake Monster of Lake Champlain) are members of the eight-team Futures Collegiate Baseball League. The Vermont Green Football Club, a men’s soccer club that calls Virtue Field at the University of Vermont home, competes in the USL League Two. Their belief is that soccer can be a powerful catalyst for a more environmentally sustainable and socially just world.
Skiing and snowboarding play a major role in Vermont sports history, and the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum in Stowe takes charge of collecting, preserving, and curating the state’s extensive history of skiing, which began in 1934 with a farmer’s rope tow, and extends beyond the commencement of snowboarding, made famous by the late Stowe resident, Jake Burton Carpenter. Every November, Killington Resort hosts the Stifel Killington Cup, a stop on the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Tour. Bigger than a race, the Cup races are a celebration of the history and passion for alpine ski racing in the Northeast, with female racers in Slalom and Giant Slalom competing.
DAYS 11 & 12: NEW HAMPSHIRE
Learn more about visiting New Hampshire.
Lodging Ideas: Mill Falls at the Lake, NASWA Resort, Fireside Inn & Suites at Lake Winnipesaukee, Lake Opechee Inn & Spa, Hotel Concord, Centennial Hotel Concord, Holiday Inn Concord Downtown.
Start your New Hampshire experience with a visit to the fascinating New England Racing Museum located on the grounds
of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and host of racing events including NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR
Infinity Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The museum features a collection of cars, trophies, helmets, engines, and vintage racing attire and their theatre shows footage of early New England racing.
Get on the water at New England’s first whitewater park, Mill City Park in Franklin. A community-based outdoor recreational park that includes whitewater kayaking on the Winnipesaukee River, the park includes man-made whitewater rapids, providing thrills and a challenging paddling experience. Nature lovers will revel in the natural landscape of the river as they walk the Riverwalk Trails. They hold whitewater races, freestyle kayaking competitions, and youth kayaking events at this extraordinary new attraction. Outdoor New England offers many opportunities on the water, supplying rentals and offering adventures at Mill City Park.
Major League Baseball’s AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats have a robust schedule of games at the Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester. The Fisher Cats have won multiple Eastern League championships and have produced several Major League players. Attending a game is a fun experience, with team promotions, giveaways, and events throughout the season.
DAYS 13 & 14: MAINE
Learn more about visiting Maine.
Lodging Ideas: Aloft Portland, Hilton Garden Inn Portland Waterfront, Residence Inn Portland Downtown/Waterfront, Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel, Lafayette Hotels, Bangor & Bar Harbor, Sunday River Resort.
Portland, Maine has a robust schedule of sporting events. Continue on a baseball roll with a visit to a Portland Sea Dogs game in Portland. The Sea Dogs are a AA affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox. The stories behind the two American Soccer teams in Portland, the Maine Footy United Women’s and the United Men’s Soccer League’s Portland Hearts of Pine are truly inspiring. They represent a community-built and city-backed movement to bring professional soccer to the state and while giving back to directly benefit youth development and charities. Basketball and hockey feeder teams are here too with the Maine Celtics which serves as a Boston Celtics G-League, and the Maine Mariners, the Boston Bruins affiliate for hockey.
The Sugarloaf Ski Resort hosts an XTERRA Trail Run World Series competition attracting elite and amateur trail runners from around the world. Along with the race comes live music, great food and family entertainment.
Visit New England in springtime and you’ll find the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race on the third Saturday in April in Bangor. Celebrating 58 years, the Race is the largest paddling event in New England, and one of the biggest in the United States. Options for viewing the thrills (and possible spills!) of the race include Six Mills Falls, Stillwater Avenue Bridge, Kenduskeag Stream Trail, or Downtown Bangor to witness the finish.
Excellent name, excellent event! Cyclists of all levels flock to Bangor every third Saturday in June for the Gran Fondo Hincapie Bangor. “Gran Fondo” translates from Italian to “Great Endurance”, and named for the Hincapie family, well-known in the world of professional cycling, this event allows amateur cyclists to ride alongside professional cyclists on challenging and scenic routes. They also offer lots of activities for participants and spectators alike: post-ride celebrations, food and drink, vendor expos, and the opportunity to mix and mingle with the cyclists.
A real test of love and endurance is the North American Wife Carrying Championship that happens every October at Sunday River in Newry, Maine. Couples compete from all over to win the wife’s weight in beer and 5 times her weight in cash.
Itinerary created in partnership with Yankee Publishing. DATTCO Coach & Tour is Discover New England’s transportation partner.
