For Vermont, I suggest the Manchester area or Woodstock area. We have stayed at the Dorset Inn in Dorset, next to Manchester. It's a great area for fall color, mountains, bike riding, shopping, farmstands. I forgot the name of the B&B in Woodstock that we stayed at but Woodstock is very pretty with cute shops & restaurants & the Billings Farm. Woodstock is close to the Quechee Gorge & glass museum.

Are you spending one week each in VT & NH, or do you mean a week for both states? Location also depends on when in October you will be in New England

Thanks, Kwoo. We plan on spending a total of one week for VT and NH. Our dates are flexible since we haven't gotten our plane tickets yet. Would the 2nd week in October be good?

Woodstock is a very cute town!

I love Woodstock - it's not only cute, there is a lot of history (Paul Revere bells, many Revolutionary-era homes, a terrific hardware/housewares store that's been in business continuously for more than 100 years, a covererd bridge) and excellent restaurants.

http://www.gillinghams.com/pages/Other/aboutus.html

Manchester, VT is cute - and there's outlet shopping. But as far as using it for a base, you can see from a map it's located off in the southwestern corner of the state. IMO, Woodstock is much better for making day trips around.

You might want to scan through this (albeit rather lengthy) thread; the OP has defined some locations in both NH and VT for the same timeframe as you:
http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/new-england-itinery-advice.cfm

What dates in October do you plan to be in VT and NH? Early to mid-month you are going to see the best foliage.

You mentioned Middlebury, and that is a good central area to be located in, though it is on the western side of the state. It has lots of nice restaurants, inns and shops. Be careful not to stay on a weekend, though, as Middlebury College has lots of fall functions. Middlebury is convenient for day trips to Burlington, Stowe, Woodstock, Manchester, Lake Placid NY, etc.

In any case, wherever you decide to stay, it is not too early to make reservations for early to mid October in VT and NH.

Another town worth considering is Conway, NH. You can pop into Maine from there easily. The most scenic highway that I know of in NH is the Kankamagus highway west from Conway to I-93.
Depending on which section of Vermont you want to see, Rutland is quite central depending on whether the leaves are best in the north or south when you are there.

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. Now we are kind of leaning towards Woodstock as a base. Because it is central would we really need a second base for a week-long trip to Vermont and New Hampshire? We're not familiar with the driving times but most of the towns suggested seem to be quite close to Woodstock. But maybe there is an advantage to having a second base. We haven't set our dates yet, but probably it will be the first or second week in October. We appreciate all the ideas we're getting. Can hardly wait!

Woodstock is one big traffic jam all the time. I drive through on my way to other places. I would find it frustrating as a base. There is a nice lodge east of town at Queechee so you could avoid the traffic. North Conway in NH has similar problems butit is well-located. It's best to get out of the car and do some walking. NH has the best walking thanks to the Appalachian Mountain Club and its trail system. If you want to do a lot of tax-free shopping, then Hanover-Lebanon NH may be interesting. Dartmouth has the cultural stuff and the Connecticut River is right there with interstates in all directions. I like to stay further north in areas that are beyond day-trippers from Boston but avoid towns dominated by paper mills and religious groups. My favorite hike is Mt. Moosilauke via the Gorge Brook Trail from Ravince Lodge off NH 118. You follow a cascade and then climb to a view of all the mountains in NH and VT. Look at the photos on Google Earth.

Yes Woodstock is very charming and centrally located. During foliage season, it's bursting at the seams with leaf peepers from the New York area. Quechee is a good suggestion. The Sharon - Strafford area is also very beautiful, as is the Waitsfield-Warren area. The Round Barn Inn in Waitsfield is about as scenic as you can find anywhere. All these areas are close to I-89, so you can easily hop up to Burlington and Stowe or down to Hanover NH. Manchester Vt is nice, but again very crowded with tourists - it's also noted for outlet shopping. In New Hampshire, Sugar Hill is a very pretty little town, as is Jackson. North Conway is the shopping (outlet stores!!) and dining mecca for the White Mountains, so it also get overrun with tourists. Another area worth exploring is the beautiful farm country in both states along the Connecticut river encompassing Lyme, Orford, Cornish, Hanover NH, & Fairlee, Ascutney, Thetford Vermont.

Thank you, zootsi and crisscross for your ideas. Would it make sense then to just have one central base?

Would it make sense if we had one base in the Peterborough/Brattleboro area in the south and then a second base out of Woodstock for the area north of there?

Peterborough/Brattleboro area is beautiful. If you choose that area, make it later in your visit since it's in the south. I think splitting the week between north and south is a good idea. We have done that in summer staying north of Burlington VT and then closer to Middlebury.

Quechee's proximity to I89 makes it a pretty good location. I agree that Woodstock and Conway are going to be overflowing with tourists. Since NH's White Mountains are quite different from VT I would include a day trip to that area. I know the Kancamagus is very popular. Should you take that route, do it early in the day. You can then head south on Rt 16 then head to Tamworth NH and Center Sandwich NH. You can connect back with I93 but you can also try to fit in a cruise on Lake Winnipesaukee to take a break from driving.

The Kanc is thru the mountains and offers some splendid vistas. The route thru Tamworth is thru some old NH towns with some views of mountains but the road is at a lower elevation.

Keep in mind when you stay in a popular tourist area that restaurants are going to be crowded. Although I'm a resident of NH, we live a bit away from the popular routes. There are plenty of lovely areas that the average tourist misses. I chuckled last year when a parade of antique cars went through. Somebody smart must have mapped out a good route on secondary roads to avoid traffic. DH hates crowds.

I think zootsi's suggestion for the farming area is great. Once you get past Hanover (home to Dartmouth college) it gets more rural and quieter. You might look at Yankee magazine's website for some suggested drives/routes. It really depends on what you want to see besides nice foliage. Nice foliage is going to be all over the place but some of those places aren't as crowded.

Thank you, dfrostnh!

I will only add that if the Woodstock area is your base, it's great for Vermont and the Connecticut River area, no so good for the White Mountains. You might want a base in or near the Woodstock area, and another in the White Mountains.

Thanks, zootsi. We were kind of leaning towards 4 nights in Woodstock area (Quechee?) followed by 3 nights in Peterborough/Brattleboro area. We don't have to limit ourselves to just 7 days because we haven't bought our plane tickets yet. Should we add on one night in the White Mountains?

While North Conway has been rather a traffic jam every time I've been through there, like others have said, it's worth it to get up into the White Mountains. You might even want to go to Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the NE US:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_%28New_Hampshire%29

If you fly into Manchester, you can head right to the mountains via I93. Despite being an interstate, once you get north of Manchester you start to see an occasional view of distant mountains. Once past Concord, the hwy is mostly wooded so you will see color starting early in the month. By the time you get to Plymouth your getting into the mountains and then I93 goes right thru the White Mountains. Maybe Plymouth is 1 1/2 - 2 hours from MHT.

If you arrive late in the day you could stay any place convenient to I93. Manchester has the best selection of restaurants but Concord has some good ones, too. By the time you get to Tilton (exit 20) most of the choices are chains unless you do some driving away from the hwy. Meredith, near exit 23, has some hotels on Lake Winnipesaukee and is a nice area. There may be minimum stay restrictions at some hotels during foliage season.

The next day you could explore the White Mountains and then head over to Woodstock. No direct routes but you can get there.

By mistake, I posted this reply on another post.

We decided to stay one night in Sturbridge, MA, in order to see Old Sturbridge Village. Then...
Wolfeboro, NH - 2 nights at 1810 House B&B
Chester, VT - 4 nights at Inn Victoria B&B
Burlington, VT - 2 nights (Priceline, hopefully)
Fly home from Burlington.

Thanks, all, for your help.

Thanks for the update, jrjc! Will you be going to Sturbridge from Newport (or from NYC)? Sounds like a fun trip!

Yes, ggrren, this is part of a larger trip: 10 days in Washington DC, 1 week in NYC, 2 nights in Newport, 2 nights in Hartford, Conn., then up to Sturbridge.

Really nice! When you're heading out of Newport, you might want to take time to detour to Tiverton Four Corners, Tiverton, RI. It's been developed as an arts area, with a number of local artisans showing and selling their wares. There's also The Provender for sandwiches and yummy baked goods, and the famous Grays Ice Cream, delicious any time of year.

Tiverton is just over the bridge from Portsmouth, RI, and right on the way to the highway, depending on your route to Hartford. An internet search will bring up a website for the area, as well as individual sites for a lot of the shops.

Thanks, ggreen. That's a great idea!

Since you mentioned the Monadnock area (Peterborough/Keene), it's less touristy or crowded than many of the other areas mentioned in the fall (which is a plus in my book) but depending on when in October you come to the area it is beautiful country with a lot to do.

There's Miller State Park, the oldest NH state park (which has an autoroad to the top) and is one of the best spots in the state for viewing the hawk migration. Covered bridges tour around Swanzey, Peterborough was named one of the Top Ten Coolest Small Towns in the U.S. and it seems like every building in picturesque Harrisville is on the National Historic Register. There's fabulous hiking, dining, and independent shopping all over the region including Main Street Keene where the downtown scenes in Jumanji were filmed.

Check out www.southwestnh.com for an overview of things to do and see and you could check www.nhlodging.org which is the website for the Monadnock B&B Association.

Thank you for the links, RL.