Fall Foliage Trip
 

I am trying to plan a fall foliage trip to the New England States and only have 7 days. I will be flying from Las Vegas and it looks like Boston will probably be the first stop. My mother and sister will be meeting me there. Any suggestions from where to start and what to see in the 7 days?

Foliage colors will appear in Massachusetts around mid to late October. Where in MA will you be because the color change follows a north to south path.

Do a search on foliage for past posts. There are a lot of people who only have 7 days but like Jaya said, it depends on when you arrive. You should plan to do something besides look at leaves. Go antiquing? Visit Sturbridge Village? Make lodging reservations ASAP.

Fall colors move from north to south - but they also happen sooner at higher altitudes and later near the coast.

Are your dates fixed?

Columbus day weekend is the biggest one of leaf peeping - with usually the best color in central New England - but also the most crowded roads and the highest hotel rates.

What else do you want to see/do - just looking at leaves for 7 days seems overkill.

Mt. Washington Valley in NH has fantastic scenery, golf, rivers, and of course, lots of mountains. You can ride the dinner train, drive (or take the train) to the top of Mt. Washington. So much to do - shop for antiques, shop, sit and relax, play golf, paddle down a river, hike...
VT is a beautiful state, too - route 100 passes through so many quaint villages and towns.

An itinerary for 7 days also depends on how much driving and sight seeing you want to do. There are some beautiful areas in NH, but you would want to overnight there and not do a marathon drive from Boston up to NH and back the Boston the same day.

The timing of your visit will dictate some of where you want to visit. The earlier you visit in October, the better the colors are in NH. The later in October, the better the colors are in MA.

Portsmouth, Mt. Washington, Dartmouth, and Peterborough are lovely, scenic, New England destinations although there are other too (Meredith/Lakes Region). If you do come to NH one of my favorite places is the Canterbury Shaker Village.

Please reply with any updates on your planning.