Fall Driving Tour of New England
 

We are thinking about doing a Fall driving tour of New England the last week in October. If we fly into Boston and rent a car, any suggestions on a general route to take? I really want to see Vermont and Maine. Would it be better to fly into one of those places instead? Is there some kind of a winery driving tour?

The last week of October is probably too late for foliage in Vermont and Maine -- your best bet would be to head for western Connecticut, maybe, if you want to see colorful trees.

But if you don't mind the trees being bare, then sure. You could fly in/out of Portland ME, Manchester NH, or Burlington, VT, or just make a loop around Boston.

There aren't really any wineries in New England --that would be upstate New York.

You might want to drive the Vermont Cheese Trail, though (check their website). What kinds of things do you like to do and see? Small quaint towns? Museums? Hiking?

Color in the Concord NH area is really starting. The trees will be bare by the last week of October and we can have some miserable weather around Halloween. You might aim for the pumpkin festival in Keene NH. I've seen decent, not great color as late as Oct 23 in Rhode Island. There are some wineries where you can have tastings such as Boyden Valley in northern VT, Flag Hill Winery and Distillery in Lee, NH (near Portsmouth so not to far out of the way if you go from Maine to VT. Cellar Door Winery in Lincolnville ME, near Camden. Double check hours of operation. You can get some good off season rates when the leaves are gone. I hate to say it but a couple of years ago it snowed for Halloween and the snow never melted. This is unusual but late Oct can be very iffy with weather. If you enjoy Halloween it could be a great time to enjoy pumpkin festivals, etc. If you enjoy handcrafted items by highly skilled artists and craftspeople, the League of NH Crafts has open studios usually in early November.

There are 3 wineries in the Champlain Valley of VT that I can think of....Boyden Valley as mentioned above as well as Shelburne Vineyards in Shelburne and Lincoln Peak Vineyard in New Haven (Middlebury).
Also as mentioned above, the last week of October is to late for foliage, though in the Champlain Valley there may be some (but not many) leaves hangin' on as this is the last area of Vermont to see the change.

I am in southern Maine right now and came from Keene, NH up through to here Monday seeing a lot of leaves already at peak. I do believe it will be early this year.