mrsmcteacher

Hi, I have just planned my first fall foliage trip with my mother (70) and daughter (13) to arrive in Boston on 10/3, tour Boston on 10/4, then leave the next day (10/5) for a drive to a quaint town(s) and spend the night (we would be returning to Boston on 10/6) and fly back home on 10/7.

The problem is I don't know which darling New England town to go to! My mother is very active, and my daughter enjoys shopping, antiquing and eating just like an adult, so I'm not looking for kid-type activities. I've downloaded info from yankeefoliage.com, but each drive/town sounds as wonderful as the next. Any advice as to the drive, town, lodging, and restaurants would be appreciated. (We've already been to Cape Cod, so I'd like to experience something different.)

Our budget is for three or four star lodging accommodations (B&B's are fine). Restaurants don't need to be fancy, but charming/unique.

Thanks!

bm

Honestly, at this point it is all going to boil down to where you can find lodging. Lodging during Fall foliage weekends gets booked weeks in advance and can be hard to come by last minute. Also, many places have minimum stay requirements on weekends.
You are going to want to go north or west of the city.
In Vermont Woodstock is nice but VERY popular. In NH you could head north into the White Mountains. Lincoln would be a good place. If you head west into the Berkshires I really like Williamstown or Great Barrington.
Again..don't wait on lodging. I'd do that ASAP. Hope you have a good trip.

330east

Wentworth by the Sea a stone's throw from the very nice little town of Portsmouth NH.

janisj

Very VERY weird. Two brand new posters register near the same time and start threads w/ almost identical content, very similar titles . . . and both mentioning the SAME website????

The other thread http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-of-boston.cfm

And the OP of the other thread has left the bldg.



Advertising are we?

mrsmcteacher

Nope, I didn't realize that my name was going to show up as the user name. Wanted to repost with my new user name; couldn't figure out how to delete the first post. Sorry. (Not sure what you thought I was advertising.)

janisj

Sorry -- (it looked like you might be advertising that website - mainly because the two duplicate threads by different new members. There are spammers who register and re-register over and over to post ads)

As bm says, your main problem is going to be finding a place to stay at this late date.

tovarich

White mountains. Try Jackson.>e stayed at Covered bridge motel. Great.Paul

dfrostnh

I live near Concord NH and color seems to be coming on earlier than usual. You might limit your choices to southern VT/NH/ME or MA, CT or RI. Columbus Day is late this year so Oct 6 might have less people looking for a place to stay. We just spent a lovely weekend in mid-coast ME so I'm going to vote for Portsmouth, too, or someplace in Rhode Island. In Portsmouth you can take a harbor or inland rivers cruise. If you want outlet shopping, just drive over the bridge to Kittery ME but Portsmouth also has some unique shops and a great area to walk around downtown. Get seafood. A nice short drive is from Strawbery Banke area of Portsmouth out Rt 1B thru the charming town of New Castle.

The interstate drive I89 from NH to VT is pretty but the Woodstock VT area will probably be all booked up. You could spend the night in Manchester or Concord NH and drive to Woodstock as a day trip. Concord has a nice walkable downtown Main Street with some nice shops. It's a small city. From there you can drive in any direction for scenery. Canterbury Shaker Village and apple picking? From Concord you can also drive out Pleasant St/Rt 103 to Hopkinton, Contoocook and Warner. Stop at Gould Hill Farm for apples (see website) and view. In Warner you could go to the Kearsarge Indian Museum. It's a very small town. You can also go up Mt Kearsarge. We like the view from the Wilmot side. There's a state park at the top and great view (can be windy)- toll road. Nearby New London is a pretty college town. From there you can get on I89 to continue to VT IF there's time.

If you head east from Concord via Rt 4 you will go thru Antique Alley of Northwood NH. Quite a few antique shops. Decent scenery but gets nicer after you get past Durham and drive toward Portsmouth past Wagon Hill Farm. Love the view going over the bridges/Oyster Bay and then busy hwy to Portsmouth.

The strategy is that there would still be lodging available in Concord or Manchester. Not ideal but you might not be able to find any place else.

You could try Meredith NH on Lake Winnipesaukee and do a day trip to the mountains.

October 6 is a sunday and that's going to be an incredibly high traffic day esp southbound. Make sure you allow plenty of time to get back to Boston.

flpab

I know Concord Mass is not that far from Boston but it is my fav place in the area. You can take in Walden's pond and all the history as well as the fall foliage. I bet your daughter will love it.

jillc1

You could try The Inn By The Sea in Cape Elizabeth, Maine; or, the Black Point Inn in Scarborough, Maine; both beautiful; fantastic views; and not far from Portland. Good walking at both places as well.

clarkgriswold

Hurry and book the last couple of rooms here, simple but spotless, you won't be disappointed.

www.mounttwhittiermotel.biz

gail

We are now a week out of your trip and it is probably planned. 20 miles north of Boston the leaves are just starting to change, so you probably need this year to head inland and north.

If it was a week or so later, I would tag onto the Concord, MA idea and head west on Rte 2 thru MA, stopping at Lexington and Concord and then continuing west, ending up to spend the night in Northampton, MA which meets your criteria. The Northampton Inn is an historic hotel, some rooms with balconies.

As long as it is not Parents' Weekend at Smith, UMass and the 5 other colleges in the area, you would be good with this itinerary.

dfrostnh

I just spent the weekend in the Concord MA area with friends. Color is starting so I would think by the time of your trip the color would be really good in that area. Fruitlands in Harvard offered a stunning view. Lunch was a limited menu but very good (squash/apple soup was wonderful). We took the trolley tour in Concord getting off at the Louisa May Alcott House for the house tour. Got back on trolley to see the famous bridge. The shops in Concord were very nice. Fruitlands is on a very steep hillside but you can request a ride back up the hill. Very nice collection of Shaker antiques and another building devoted to Native American artifacts.

We had to change our hotel reservations after the first cancelled, said they had some renovations were going on so only a bag breakfast was available. Ended up at the Marriott Residence Inn in Westford which was very comfortable and had a decent breakfast buffet.

This is kind of tricky early in the season. Color comes early in swamp maples so some areas might have a lot of color right now but other trees won't change for awhile. Warm weather is predicted this week and it takes cold nights to bring on color. I don't think it really matters where you go as long as you don't go far north. It was hard to find a good, local restaurant at night in the Westford area. Mostly chains. If you want good restaurants, I would head to Portsmouth NH or Manchester NH.