I'm a California girl who has been wanting to see the fall colors on the East Coast for some time.

What would be the best time to go and during which time?

We can take about a week off to do this. Were thinking of flying into the northeast and then driving down to New Orleans to fly home.

Thanks

Well, you could certainly see the fall colors and either New York or Boston in a week. Exactly when to come depends on where you're going - the colors start changing in Canada in mid September and move south slowly - so you need to coordinate your locale and dates.

New Orleans would be kind of difficult - its 1600 miles from Boston - and about 28 hours in drive time - so not really doable within a week by car.

If you want to see New Orleans, consider traveling in November and seeing the foliage in North Carolina.

Foliage season in the northeast is a very popular time for visitors, of course; reservations for 2004 will be difficult to get at this late date, and many places require 2 or 3 nights, especially on weekends.

Foliage season varies as to how far north you are. It starts as early as mid Sept on the Canadian border. Nearly every northeastern state has some color, but I would have to say that Vermont and New Hampshire are the most spectaular, followed by New York, Maine, Massachssets and Connecticut. As others have mentioned, driving from New England to New Orleans is a very long drive.

If you really want to experience fall colors, I would highly recommend diving through New England (Vermont and New Hampshire). However, you will have to make reservations very soon, and may find that it's a bit late for many places. The best time would be in October, around Columbus Day. There are probably some web sites to check that will give you the actual weeks in October when peak color usually occurs area-by-area, as it can vary quite a bit depending on where you go. If you are going to experience the colors, you should really try to hit the peak time.

I would not even consider driving to New Orleans to fly home from the Northeast ... way too far. If you really want to do that, then you should look into checking out the colors farther south, i.e, Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Look into driving the Blue Ridge Parkway. I think that colors along that drive would be stunning. Those colors may change later into October, maybe even into November. Perhaps other posters can advise regarding that.

Leaves are already changing and dropping west & north of TORONTO Ontario... looks like it will be early this year.