"Gene Brabston" wrote:

Our family of four has two weeks set aside in mid July. We are planning a
trip to the Canadian Maritime provinces.
We plan to fly to a central US city, rent a car, and tour the provinces
by vehicle. Would Portland, Maine be a good place to
start from?

We did something similar last June, flying into Portland and renting a car and
driving to NB and NS. Portland is about the right size, rental cars right
across the terminal, prices were pretty good, freeway was right there so easy
to get started. Only thing I'd mention is that our flight into Portland (from
a Continental connection in Newark) was on a smaller jet with limited carry-on
space so some people had to check bags at the counter.

No problems crossing into Canada with a rental car, despite what others have
said (check with the car company in advance but none we've used seem to view
this as a problem).

I'd recommend the scenic route up through Maine, on the coast. Takes longer
but several lovely towns on the way and the Acadia/Bar Harbor area was worth
seeing.

Have fun.

Bill