PaulaO

Hi , we are traveling to NYc for our 50th birthday next month and have decided to extend our trip for another 9-10 days to see Vermont, New Hampshire, Boston and possibly New England or the Adirondacks ?
Were two Australian women who's husbands have told us to stay and explore for a little longer, so we want to get it right and neither of us have been to this part of the country or have ever driven a car in the USA (wrong side of the road for us) We were thinking of flying to Stowe from NYC and hiring a car to travel around .
We would love to see the Flume Gorge in Franconia and love history , small towns , scenery and anything in New England or New Hampshire . We don't have any mountains in Western Australia and seeing snow would be a bonus if theres any still around . We would love any help, information or route directory you can give . We will be flying out of NYC when we have finished a are open to any any way of getting around and ideas . We prefer to stay off the tourist trail if at all possible
Thank you P

zootsi

Theres a lot to see in the 6 New England states. Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire are considered northern New England and are in general the most rural. Flying from New York to Stowe would be unusual - Stowe is a small village with a tiny airport. Flights would be very expensive and you would be on a very small plane. Perhaps the best plan would be to fly from NYC to Manchester NH. Manchester airport is easy to drive in and out of and well situated to explore NH, VT, Maine and even Boston. Boston is a treasure trove of history, and would be another option to fly into. However, it is not a good first place to drive, since Boston is notorious for traffic, crazy drivers and confusing streets. From Manchester, you could easily drive up into NH's White Mountains for a few nights. Towns like Jackson, Sugar Hill, or North Conway are good choices. North Conway is bigger and busier. From here you could drive over to Green Mountains of Vermont. Stowe is a good choice, so is Woodstock and scores of other small towns. Driving in these rural states is quite easy, and you should be comfortable in a short time. From central Vermont, you could head back towards Boston on route I-89, a scenic major highway. You might even consider spending a night in the Lake Sunapee/ New London area of New Hampshire for a night, a quiet and beautiful part of New England. You could then stay at a hotel on the outskirts of Boston that is close to public transportation to explore the city.

HappyTrvlr

For Stowe, fly into Burlington, VT( BTV.) You will see Mount Mansfield, and from Burlington, you’ll look west across Lake Champlain to the Adirondack Mts where Lake Placid, site of two Winter Olympics, is located.
Other charming towns- Grafton, Woodstock.

PaulaO

Thank you , its exactly what I was hoping to hear from someone , we arn't really confidant driving on the motorways of the big cities, but can defiantly do the smaller roads , I have driven in Europe before ( although didn't love it ) but we don't know how else we would get around the smaller places.
I didn't know about Stowe being small to fly into , somebody said it was a good place to start , flying up there is just about maximizing time, so again , any info appreciated. 10 days seemed like a decent amount of time until you look at what you can see and realizes its barley going to scratch the surface . I guess we don't want to waist time trying to do it all so need to know if were better off sticking to one region .
Thank you for you insight

dfrostnh

I agree with Zootsi's recommendation to fly into MHT. You'll have an easy and fairly scenic drive north on I93 (I suggest heading for I293 out of the airport which is more scenic because it goes along the west side of the Merrimack River and you can see the wonderful old mill buildings on the east side the I293 merges with I93). There's a good chance to see people skiing Tuckerman's Ravine but you have to be on the right road. We did once. From North Conway NH there's a beautiful view of Mt. Washington right down Main Street and it should still have snow. Check into taking a van tour to the top but it will depend on weather conditions. Tours don't start until May 26. https://mtwashingtonautoroad.com/hou...s-of-operation

The Flume is a fun strenuous walk. Check conditions including black fly situation.

Yankee magazine's website is a good resource for visiting New England.

tomfuller

The Amtrak Vermonter leaves New York Penn Station at about 11:30AM every day. It arrives in Montpelier/Berlin Vermont about 8 hours later. Montpelier is the state capitol and is not too far from Stowe.
Renting a car the next morning after getting to Montpelier should not be too hard.
After your tour of New England, just return the car where you rented it and return to New York. You could also take the train to New Haven CT. and catch a train to Boston as well.

PaulaO

Than you , both posts are helpful ,the train sound great and the the suggestions on driving route are great , I think we will train up and drive from there . Just starting to get a picture of our trip now .

suze

New Hampshire, Vermont, etc. are "New England" (they aren't different places rather the name of the collection of states).

There are places you could get to by bus or train, if self-driving really isn't something you like to do.

Vttraveler

There is another daily Amtrak train from New York City to VT. This is the Ethan Allen and it runs farther to the west along the Hudson River, ending in Rutland VT. The scenery on this train is better than what you see from the Vermonter. Schedules for both are at:
https://www.amtrak.com/timetables.html

There is also a daily bus to Lebanon or Hanover New Hampshire from New York City that you might consider. (Both of these locations are on the border between Vermont and New Hampshire.) The same company has buses to and from Boston, either to Logan airport or to the train station in the city:
https://dartmouthcoach.com/route/upp...new-york-city/
https://dartmouthcoach.com/route/upp...logan-airport/

The Burlington VT airport is quite small and easy to negotiate.

I live in north central VT and we still have snow in our yard, but I hope it will be gone by the time you visit next month!

This is a good website for VT information
Vermont.com | Plan Your Vermont Vacation

Macross

The Ethan Allen amtrak train, great suggestion. Saratoga Springs is wonderful as well as Lake George/Bolton landing. JetBlue fly into Burlington.

emalloy

Good suggestions so far and if you are planning to do a loop and go back to New York for your flight home, you can drop the car in New Hampshire or Vermont and bus to Boston then take the train back to NYC. You could even stop in Rhode Island or Connecticut on the way back to NY.

PaulaO

Thank you for all these sugestions , we are hooked on getting the train now and driving once were up there. The Ethan Allen gets in at 8.45PM so would we be better on the Vermonter that gets in at 7.00pm . Either way we will have to stay at Rutland or Montpelier the night and get a car in the morning , would love some more info on the better train route ( defiantly looking for scenery ). Going to do a circle up in Vermont, NH for 5 nights, Boston for 2 and 2 nights in Rhode Island somewhere . So we have a plan , just need to execute it properly looking for places to stay and see .

zootsi

Just FYI, Montpelier is probably a better choice for your first night. Montpelier the small, picuresque capital of Vt. It's a pleasant little city close to the interstate. Rutland is somewhat gritty by Vermont standards. Don't worry - you'll see lots of beautiful scenery everywhere, particularly near Montpelier.

Vttraveler

Are you planning to take the train on Saturday or Sunday? Those are the days that the Ethan Allen gets in at 8:48. Otherwise it is earlier Monday to Thursday and later Friday.

The Ethan Allen train trip is shorter and I think more scenic. I agree with the last post that Montpelier is a nicer small city than Rutland for an overnight stay. The station is outside of the main part of town by a few miles.

Your car rental options in Rutland or Montpelier are quite limited. I don't think any offices are open on Sunday if you need a car that day.