64cowgirl

For those you you that know your way around New England, Here is the challenge: My husband & I have the month of October off, love road trips (the 2 lane highway kind), enjoy camping, cottages and small inns, or motels. We have never been to New England. Our vote goes for small towns over big cities, but will spend 2-3 days in a city that has cool museums, art galleries. Of course we would love to see some fall color. There are no children involved in this vacation. I'm looking for a route that starts and ends in N.W. Ohio, but does not necessarily have to overlap. Think flexibility, we are people that usually point our car west and follow the sun and good weather, then find our way home at the end of a month. So please think about what your favorite month long (October) New England road trip would consist of, and share your ideas.

Thanks

yk

There have been many thread that have covered similar topics. Here are a few to get you started:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-trip-help.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...p-375427-2.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...oad-trip-1.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...uggestions.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-itinerary.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...te-october.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...af-peeping.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ing-the-tr.cfm

64cowgirl

Wow! YK I'm new to forum research, and your index of older postings is amazing! Thanks!

NewEnglandTravel

You'll find driving tour suggestions and information on fall highlights on our website: www.discovernewengland.org.

You'll want to make your lodging reservations in Vermont and New Hampshire as soon as possible since these book up early for the fall foliage season. Try the New England Inns and Resort website.

You might want to consider traveling up through Western Mass, then driving up through Vermont and over to the White Mountains region of New Hampshire, then over to Portland, Maine and down the coast.

In Western Mass, stop in Stockbridge to see the Norman Rockwell Museum. Other suggestions: Lenox, the Hancock Shaker Village, and the MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) in North Adams. Drive up through Vermont to Burlington. See the Shelburne Museum with its collection of Americana and art. After the beautiful white mountains, head to the coast. Portland Maine is a great city. Take a trolley tour to get an overview, visit the Portland Museum of Art. Here's a recent article highlighting the many great restaurants: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/...portland-maine

Have a great time!

marysidney

Keep in mind that the further north you go, the earlier the foliage will peak. Plan your trip to come south with the color. And, definitely, make your hotel reservations just as soon as you can; there is no room for spontaneity in foliage season.

That said, and without having looked at the other suggestions, I would say: Sugar Hill NH is picture-perfect. Polly's Pancake Parlor; get there early, early, early, and be prepared to wait. It's worth it. The bacon and sausage make a vegetarian sorry. Franconia Notch will be very crowded at this time of year, but it's also lovely; take the Kancamagus Highway early in the day, or very late, and stop to hike--Sabbaday Falls is shortish and beautiful. Weekends will be especially crowded, so plan your trip accordingly.

Concord MA is a nice town, close enough to take day trips to Boston, small museums, if you're interested in American history and literature (Walden Pond, etc.).

dfrostnh

Definitely be in southern New England for the last week or so of October. The trees in NH will be bare by then but I've seen decent color in RI as late as Oct 23. Although you might want to go to the Pumpkin Festival in Keene NH.

In Maine, check out the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland which features Maine artists.

It's kind of hard to recommend off the beaten path type things. We like to go to a local farm the weekend before Halloween to help carve pumpkins. A lot of people turn out and a team does the yucky stuff so you just do the fun carving. As a home school project, one of the kids built a trebuchet so demoed pumpkin launching during the day. The cows looked forward to smashed pumpkins. Then on Halloween we go back to see the lit pumpkins. Great activity with young children. I can't remember how many jack-o-lanterns they had lit. It was several hundred. Not as many as Keene but not as crowded either.

I would definitely take a scenic boat ride either out of Portland ME or Portsmouth NH or elsewhere.

DeLorme publishes an atlas and gazetteer for each of the states. These are detailed road maps, waterfall and covered bridge locations, etc. We use them to find our way around and we don't mind getting lost. You never know what you'll find.

joesorce

Some of tourist-Maine practically shuts down after Columbus Day mid-October, so you might want to start there and work your way west?
Moosehead Lake is not to be missed, but if you don't get that far north, Sebago Lake should do nicely.....

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationP...lle_Maine.html

www.sebagolakelodge.com

StevenKrohn

The tasting at Sakonnet Vineyards is $10 per person,including a video of a year in the vineyard, a public tour, sampling of any six wines and a logo wineglass to take home. A previous reply had said that the tour and tasting were complimentary.

travfirst

bookmarking

divineMissM

"Winging it" in October isn't advised in the fall foliage areas. Along coastal Maine etc would be a little easier, but you could get stuck with no vacancies for miles and miles in Maine NH Vermont during some of October, and rates will be sky-high, too.