We will be flying into Boston for 4 nights starting on Oct 21st and would like to see the colorful leaves, however my husband doesn't want stay in the city. Any areas that are particularly spectacular to stay during this time? Wherever we stay, we will use it as a base for daily drives, but would like to be in an area with good restaurants, where we can explore a bit.

Also, if any of you are from the area, how are the colors coming, and will there still be color on the 3rd wk of Oct?

Thlank you

We will also need a place to stay, therefore lodging suggestions are not only welcome but greatly appreciated.

How far outside of Boston are you willing to stay? I'm not really sure from your post if you're looking to stay outside of Boston, somewhere where you can easily travel into the city for sightseeing....or if you're planning to get outta town and then take sightseeing trips further out.

I spent Columbus Day weekend in Providence. I think I missed peak foliage in the Concord NH area. Thanks to heavy rain all the leaves are off some of the trees in our yard. Along Rt 93 looks like maples are mostly past peak but oaks haven't started to color yet. I would recommend heading south. Last Wed Providence RI area still looked pretty green but by the end of the weekend trees were getting a lot of color. In years past we've seen some decent color 3rd week of Oct in RI. Providence is a small city with some great restaurants and it makes a good base for exploring into eastern CT. It really depends on what area you want to explore.

Hawthrone Inn in Salem, MA- very festive known as the "witch city"-- I stay there all the time for work and its a charming and historic hotel. Great access to all that the N Shore has to offer- Gloucester, Rockport, Newburyport, Cranes Beach in Ipswhich- not too expensive either. Walking distance to the witch museum, restaurants, peabody museum, close to marblehead.

You absolutely don't want to be anywhere near Salem that third weekend of October, unless you want absolute gridlock and a near inability to enter or leave the city. Ordinarily it'd be fine, but using Salem as a home base in October is just foolishness. The Hawthorne is in the middle of all the Halloween activities, which if that is what you're going for, is fine, but this past weekend was near insanity and total gridlock getting in and out of Salem, so using Salem to day trip from is not the best idea.

We don't want to go too far way from Boston since we need to return for our flight home. We just want to be in a charming town within a couple of hrs of Boston and hopefully, where the colors are still vivid...Thanks

How about Concord Mass? I can't make any lodging recommendations as I live in the area. Cheaper options would be various hotels in Waltham (there's a Courtyard, Hilton Garden Inn, DoubleTree, Holiday Inn Express - all right next to one another). These are all located just off Rt 128/I-95, so you have easy access to the highway. In addition, if you go S on a few exits on Rt 128/I95, you'll get to MassPike and then straight to the Airport in under 30 minutes.

The colors right around here are okay, some trees are still turning. So I think you will be fine arriving next week.

well, since you said "within a couple of hours", have you considered the Berkshires? Lenox, or Great Barrington, or Stockbridge...the foliage should be excellent, and there are lots of good restaurants. You'd be about 2 hours from Logan Airport.

Concord is lovely- I believe the inn right in town is called the Colonial Inn. There is also the Double tree hotel in I want to say Cambridge - but it might be just on the outside of cambridge- it is on the charles river. The weekends in Salem are probably alot busier but I have stayed at the Hawthorne Inn during the week recently and it was not that bad- entertaining for sure tho.

I also thought of Concord when I saw your question. We were there 2 years ago at about the same time and the foliage was good. We stayed at the Best Western which is a few miles out of the center of town. It is fine, fairly inexpensive, not very atmospheric.
Near Concord you could also see the sights in Lexington and visit Fruitlands Museum in Harvard

There is a Doubletree in Cambridge (stayed there years ago) -- it's on the other side of the river from Harvard (the side where the business school is, I think, but it's still Cambridge.). Not exactly sure why that's being mentioned, though.

We were in Concord this summer and I think it would be spectaculous in "leaf season". And so close to Boston, just a commute away.

I live on the North Shore (NE of Boston) and the leaves here are at peak (and beginning to pass peak). We are having rainy and windy weather (and even snow flurries - and some cars from farther north had snow caked on them tis morning). There are lots of leaves on the ground and roads now, with more rain and wind forecast for the weekend.

Not sure what the situation over in Concord MA is, but it might be passing peak as well.

Most states have foliage hotlines and websites that you can check out to see the leaf conditions. I would think areas south of Boston would be your best bets for impressive foliage when you are here.

By the way, I was in Salem on October 1, and it was already getting crazy. On-street parking in many areas is limited to residents-only during October.

I drive to Worcester, MA a couple of times each week from north of Boston area (Worcester is about 1/3 way across the state and a hilly area). Trees are close to peak now - and agree with above that windy, rainy weather this weekend is not going to help the situation. And it did snow here this AM. You may have to head a bit south - towards Rhode Island or Cape Cod rather than west and certainly not north.

I live northeast of Boston, and in my town, there are a lot of trees that are still mostly green. We have some bright splotches here and there, but we aren't anywhere near peak. This may be because I'm in a coastal town.