Woodstock, Grafton, Jamaica, Manchester, Stowe are a few.

Thanks! That helps

I agree with Woodstock- lovely covered bridges!

Grafton has a nice old hotel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/sets/72157622674580165/show/

Woodstock is lovely but getting more twee every day.

Stowe and Waterbury are ideal because there are lots of things to do and good places to eat and, most important, they are very centrally located. You can do anything in the state as a daytrip. The road through Smuggler's Notch will be spectacular and will lead you to Burlington, which has a wonderful pedestrian downtown and lots of great places to have lunch.

The downsides are that this area will be full of other people doing what you are doing because that is the best time for doing it. So there will be traffic. You will also have to begin looking for and commit to a reservation RIGHT NOW. Many leaf peepers book a year in advance, and there are also colleges over every hill, each of which has football games on the weekends.

Do what I say, not what I do. My sister and I could not find a hotel room within 50 miles on a trip last September and wound up driving back to Boston. You do not want to do this. On your trip, if you can do Vermont midweek rather than the weekend it will be a little better.

We're partial to the Brandon/Middlebury area and the western side of Vermont. The area along Lake Champlain is farming country, more open fields and color although fewer trees than you would get in Stowe and along Rt 100.

We usually camp when we visit but a friend who lives in Brandon and teaches Early American painting recommends the Brandon Inn.

Since we live in NH we avoid popular tourist destinations during the height of foliage season. Stowe was nice before foliage season started (stayed at the Golden Eagle). I'm probably the only Fodorite who dislikes Woodstock but if you stayed there you could eat at Simon Pierce.

Your choice might be based on where you can find reservations even this early in the year!

Thanks again for all the suggestions. I will certainly start checking them out!

I think Woodstock has become a caricature of itself.

So that's three of us who would drive through Woodstock, maybe eat lunch there, and certainly walk around but not make it a destination. It is very lovely and probably a wonderful place to have a house and spend the summer, but it is mostly for looking, and there will be lots and lots of other people doing that too.

But...IF you were driving from Bell Harbor, ME and going to Montreal, would you still drive through Woodstock or would you just head up towards somewhere in northern Vermont?

I love Northern New Hampshire and Northern Vermont but they are not what you are thinking they are. Northern NH is deep woods and moose and lots of evergreens, so color is a splash rather than a carpet.

Norther VT is dairy country, pretty dairy country, but not fundamentally different from parts of Wisconsin.

Go to the trouble to find a place in Stowe. Stop second guessing yourself or you will miss out. Do day tours south and north on VT 100. When it is time to go to Montreal, take the Smugglers Notch Road (VT 108) over Mount Mansfield, then turn west on VT 15 and then VT 104 and 104A to I 89 which will take you to Montreal. If you want to go to Burlington, VT as well, go south on I-89 first. It is a charming small city.

Make sure that your rental car contract allows you to take it into Canada. Not all of them do, and it would be no fun to be turned back at the border. You may need special auto insurance as well. It is also generally very expensive to leave a car there and fly out of Montreal.

I agree with the above poster and go for Stowe, especially if its the very beginning of October. Great area to base yourself. Lots to see and do, many restaurants etc.

Woodstock was restored by Laurence Rockefeller so it may seem too perfect to some.Include Rt.100 for your leaf peeping.

Okay, so I guess I considered Stowe to be northern Vermont, and Woodstock more central. So it looks like Stowe will fit our route between coastal Maine and Montreal. And thanks for the detailed road to take into Montreal from Stowe, much appreciated! Feel free to give me the preferred route from Bell Harbor to Stowe if you're so inclined .

As far as the car, we're renting it with my husband's Hertz business account (waaaay cheaper than without it) and I had no trouble booking one way to Montreal online. But I will check with them to be sure we won't have a problem. Flights are airline miles so we're good to go with flying out of Montreal.

I happen to like Woodstock especially as a place to stay overnight. I really enjoy the drives through the countryside and stops in the smaller towns, but once it's dark, the scenery is gone and it can be kind of boring, in my opinion. Woodstock is stil small, not like Burlington for example, but there are streets to walk down, some shops that might be open a little later because it's busier place, and more than one pub or restaurant. I'd much rather be in place where at the end of my day, I have few choices.

Where is Bell Harbor Maine? Never heard of it.

Oh dear, look what I did ...I meant Bar Harbor, ME

Book marking

It appears that loves2sing has found a workable route - great! I will chime in though that, like dfrost, I prefer the Brandon/Middlebury area to Woodstock. It seems much more "real" somehow, yet lively and scenic. Woodstock is cute, but very crowded in-season, and pricey, and for me, not as much to do and see. Very subjective of course!

Burlington is a fun, small city, and not all that far from Middlebury. I have not been to Stowe.

I am agree with Ackislander. Last October we spent 10 days in Northern Vermont. We stayed in Smugglers Notch. I would recommend the resort but I believe that they only rent by the week. Of all the driving we did I do not remember even going through Woodstock. Lots to see and do in the Middlebury/Stowe area. Do not miss a drive up Smugglers Notch Road (VT 108) between Stowe and Smugglers Notch. The most beautiful road although a bit scary at times as it is very narrow. Lake Champlain is beautiful. Burlington is very active and could also be a great homebase.

The drive to Montreal from Smugglers Notch was very easy and beautiful.

If you put your destinations into google maps, you will see that you have two choices.

The better route is US 2, better because it goes through charming Bethel, along the Presidential Range of the White Mountains (snow-capped if you are lucky) and across VT on VT 15, which is pretty scenic.

Both routes take between 6 and 7 hours, so it is a long, full day of driving.