Bretton Woods or Jackson in NH ?
 

My wife and I are trying to decide between the Wentworth in Jackson and the Lodge at Bretton Woods (part of the Mt Washington Hotel). We would like to go to the Flume, see the old man profile and spend some time hiking around the area. I think Jackson is about 40 minutes away, my question is how is the drive or would it be better to stay in bretton woods ? Thanks !

Caspur,

jackson is 40+ minutes, Bretton Woods is 30 minutes from Franconia Notch.

If you are interested in activities in the Franconia Notch area, suggest you stay on that side. There are several lovely B&B's in Sugar Hill, and ample hotel/condo lodging in Lincoln-Woodstock.

Personally, I think Jackson is really nice, especially the Wentworth, and would be the best place to stay, but based upon your information, it's also the least convenient.

I'm not familiar w/ Jackson, but Bretton Woods is very nice. My family stayed at the BW Motor Inn (across the street from MW Hotel). It was comfortable, much less expensive than MW, and the MW facilities are available for guests. The MW Hotel is definitely worth seeing! The entire area is beautiful. If you can, drive the Kancamagus Highway (SR 112).

I would stay in Bretton Woods if you would like spend some time in Franconia Notch. There are excellent hikes all over the area. Jackson is lovely, but you'd have to travel through a little part of very crazy/busy North Conway. For something completely different, consider a night at Lonesome Lake or Zealand Falls (www.outdoors.org).

You haven't mentioned when you're going or how long you're staying, but my recommendation would be Jackson.

The Mount Washington Hotel is definitely worth a visit, for the scenery, for lunch. It's about an hour driving from Jackson via Route 302 and Bretton Woods to Lincoln (Flume). It's about half an hour from Lincoln to "Old Man". A fabulously scenic route from there back to Jackson would be Route 2 which is about and hour and a half.

There are two alternate routes now to avoid the North Conway outlet traffic (unless you want to stop at the outlets - there's no sales tax in NH!). They can give you directions around the "main drag" at the front desk.

There's not much dining (or shopping, or anything else, but scenery) right around the Mount Washington Hotel (and you wouldn't want to rely on their offerings the entire time); whereas Jackson is chock full of wonderful restaurants, country inn dining rooms (we love the one at Wildcat Inn), and pubs.

If you've got a few days, the Kancamagus Highway (not really a highway) is fabulous, too (but we prefer the other two routes).

PS There are some great hiking opportunities along the Kancamagus - see http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/white/recrea...nc_hiking.html

but there's lots of great hiking in the White Mountains. See "New Hampshire, An Explorer's Guide".

Thanks for the info. We've decided on the Wentworth, we'll be staying for a few days in 2 weeks so we're very excited !