kwanlee

I am from Hong Kong and will arrive Boston on 20 Oct. Plan to stay in Boston City for one night and then drive (1st drive overseas!) for fall foliage. Would you please suggest fall foliage driving tour and hotel along is cheap (double bed room rate < 100)? How long I should take?

Thanks!

vjpblovesitaly

This thread might be helpful to you:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...for-4-days.cfm

The first response mentions tour suggestions from Yankee Magazine which might also be helpful (provided it's online)

LittleDickensD

Hopefully some posters from Southern New England will weigh in, but in the North (VT/NH/ME) it will be completely gone by the time you arrive. So I'd suggest sticking with maybe western MA and parts of CT.

Jaya

Best of luck to you in your bravery to drive yourself in Boston. Do you have a valid driver's license for the US?

The foliage colors move from north to south starting in early October, so by the time you arrive in Boston most of the bright colors will be in Massachusetts.

Are you here for any other reason or just for foliage? There is plenty of other sight seeing that can be done other than just seeing the leaves turn colors, but I don't want to offer suggestions for things you are not interested in.

You can do foliage in one day, but what else do you have time for while you're here?

travelbuff

One stop on your list might be the Boston Public Garden, and the Boston Common both parks should be close to peak colours while you are there, and there are a few more parks easily accessble by public transit around the Boston area.

Driving in and around Boston is not for the faint hearted, as streets are often confusing, and that's for people who drive there all the time, so plan on getting lost.

If you want beautiful scenery you might head out to the western part of Mass to Sturbridge Village which should be beautiful with colours and even the ride on the Mass Pike should be pretty. Sturbridge is a restoration dating back 200 years, with period costumes, a working farm, grist mill, foundery, leather shop and more, oh and a few restaurants.

For hotels you are coming into the area at the height of the "fall season" so there are alot of other visitors so you may have some problems finding budget hotels. One good trick we learned is to stop at one of the rest stops along the highway and pick up a hotel guide which will list all the hotels in the area, by town, with rates and phone numbers so you can try making a reservation as you travel on a cel phone.

Enjoy Boston!!

Kealalani

I agree. Head out on the MassPike/Route 90 to Sturbridge and beyond to Stockbridge and the Berkshires, Great Barrington, Lenox.

dfrostnh

I've seen decent foliage as late as Oct 23 in Rhode Island so if you can include that with a trip to western MA you should have a great trip. I was in Providence last weekend and I've never seen the pumpkins at the zoo but a friend took her family and said it was wonderful. The pumpkins are carved with lit candles inside for Halloween. There is a local farm that does a wonderful jack-o-lantern display for Halloween but that's not until Oct 31.

If you reserve now for the Super 8 in Sturbridge, there is a very good discount. I haven't stayed there but it is less than $100. See their website. You might find cheaper rates in a town that is not a tourist destination.

kwanlee

Thanks a lot! If going to Sturbridge and Rhode Island, how long I should plan to?
For Rhode Island, is there any nice budget hotel? (less than $100)

Btw, any good if drive along Maine coast? good color?

travelbuff

The colour in Maine will likely be completely gone by the time you arrive. YOur best bet would be west and south of Boston or really good colours.

Also find a map of New England, so you have some ideas of where things are located in reference to what you want to see.

Rhode Island is south of Boston and Sturbridge is west of Boston. It's about an hour and a half to Sturbridge from Boston and from there to Rhode will take 2-3 hours.

bookhall

I noticed beautiful foliage color here in S Central PA today. Might be a fast-fleeting fall for foliage in the NE this year....

dfrostnh

You shouldn't have any trouble finding a budget hotel in RI. Don't look in big city like Providence. Instead look in places like Seekonk and Warwick. Just google "rhode island lodging" and a list will pop up. The budget chain hotels are usually good enough for a night's sleep. The Quality Inn/Choice hotels are usually good. Last weekend was a holiday weekend in Providence RI. There was a lot going on. I talked with someone from Montreal who said they couldn't find anything closer than 50 miles. It might not be that hard to find a hotel for your dates since foliage season will be winding down.

It's very beautiful right now here in NH but it's peaking. If you want to see the Maine coast, just don't expect to see a lot of color. It's still going to be pretty.

volcanogirl

Bookmarking.

simpsonc510

Just got back last night from a 6-day trip to BOS and NH and Maine. Leaves from the tops of some of the trees were gone; color wasn't really spectacular this time around, but still very pretty. The Maine coast is really pretty, regardless of the fall color! Love love love the huge New England beach houses along route 1A. Also enjoyed the coast of NH, same thing... huge houses, nice wide beach.

One of my nicest fall leaf peeping drives was along highway 119 west out of far northwest Boston area. I then went north (40/123/124) into New Hampshire, to have a look at Peterborough, which was really lovely and quaint.

I just wish there were more pull-out places along the roads so you can stop and snap a picture! I missed a lot of good shots because I could not park for a second. I suppose, since there was hardly any traffic at all along 119, that I could have just stopped my car, opened a window, and taken a photo, but I did not do that.

I love visiting New England in the fall, and have done so every year now since 2005! (I retired in 2004, from a 33 year teaching job, which kept me at home, in the classroom, during fall color!) Some years the color is better than others.

kwanlee

Thanks a lot! Is the following making sense?

20 Oct - Boston City, rent car from 21 - 23 Oct
21 Oct - Sturbridge Village and stay in motel/hotel in Sturbridge Village
22 Oct - Rhode Island
23 Oct - Return Boston City and return car

Thanks!

kwanlee

And, I found the hotel (Super 8) in Sturbridge Village requires full payment, non-refundable. It's room rate is USD80 / per night.

Does anyone know if walk-in, how much is the room rate? I prefer not to book in advance because I am afraid I cannot drive to that hotel.. and the plan change.

Thanks!

dfrostnh

That is a discounted price for reserving in advance. You can probably walk in since it's mid-week but as I recall the price is $15 higher. Might be worth it so you can see if you like the hotel first.

Check other hotels, that's the first deal I found. Another might not have a non-refundable rate but still cheaper if you reserve ahead. Sometimes it's a 10 percent discount.

emalloy

For discounts with walkins, go to www.Roomsaver.com and see if there are coupons you can use. They will have a map with locations, so you can see how far the lodging is from places you might want to stay. Do read the fine print, as some are not valid on weekends.

mohan

First and foremost, you will be driving on the other side of the road. I like to think that if you can drive in HK, you can drive any place else in the world but this being your first international drive, you may need to think twice or be extra careful. You'll need a navigator to look for road signs.
I was in a park in Upsate NY yesterday and people working in that park predict the leaves are falling in a week. YOU may need to go further south from Boston in order to find leaves on the tree. Bring a laptop and keep posted.
You can find my post here:http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...enic-route.cfm

mohan

To make myself a little clearer, leaves tend to peak at cold weather. You are coming towards the end of the season so you have to go south to look for autumn foilage.