Fall trip, best location to stay in Vermont. Need help please.
 

Hi all
We are slowly piecing together our trip to New England, for 2 couples.

Rough itinerary is:
4 Oct - Pick up car at Boston airport, flight arrives 8pm (flying from New Orleans). O/n somewhere close by, not sure where yet.
5/6 Oct - drive north along the coast of Maine. stop for 2 nights or 1 Portland 1 Camden or Bar Harbour not so keen on 1 night stays.
7/8 - Oct North Conway 2 nights
9/10/11/12 Oct Vermont - should we break this up (e.g. 2 nights Montpellier, 2 nights Battleboro or similar. Or 4 nights say midway near Ludlow?
13 Oct - stop somewhere on the way back to Boston maybe Berkshires or would we be best to add to Vermont stay
14 Oct return car to Boston 4 night stay in Boston

In Vermont we would like to maybe use one place as a base if this is practical. We want to maximise fall viewing. I have looked at some good Air BnB places for Vermont.

We have not booked any accommodation yet. Driving route is flexible and we would value your suggestions, for not only Vermont but stops in Maine.

Thank you

I would consider staying in a small town such as Grafton: http://graftonvermont.org/accommodations.html

Despite being a NH resident, we haven't spent much time in the Berkshires but since you don't like changing lodging so frequently (and I don't blame you) I would skip Berkshires to add another day. Keep in mind Oct 10-12 is Columbus Day weekend, the busiest fall weekend for tourism. Avoid major highways at start and end of weekend.

Eastern and western VT look completely different in the northern section. The area around Lake Champlain is a lot of open farmland so this offers some nice views. I think Montpelier and Brattleboro are good choices. Brattleboro would allow you to explore NH's quiet southwest corner. Both places have great farmers markets.

You're getting on the tail end of great color in the mountains (North Conway) but it should be ok. For so many miles, I don't think it's worth it to go as far as Bar Harbor so I would stay 2 nights in or near Portland and do Camden as a day trip.

You can overdose on leaf peeping so make sure you do some good stops and activities as a break from all that driving.

Thank you Michael and defrost for your suggestions.

Yes I thought maybe Bar Harbour may have been too far north, we don't want to spend all our time driving.
We certainly hope to taste some lobster or seafood along the Maine coast.

Maybe stay 1 night in Montpelior to look around north Vermont and then 4 nights Battleboro area. Drop the Berkshires? Just don't want to be too far south if the fall colour is late.
We love farmers markets and food farms, fruit cheese etc.

I have been looking at some Air BnB places for our longer 4/5 night stay to have a little more room for us to spread out. We like nice countryside walks as well as quaint towns and stores. And visit some covered bridges.

Seconding dfrostnh and adding a few details.

Stay near the middle of the state, Montpellier is fine because it is smallish and relatively untouristed. Brattleboro is too far south, though you can visit on your way back to Boston.

Stay away from Manchester. It has interesting things to see, but it has been taken over by "discount" outlet malls which will be packed on a holiday weekend with people seeking "bargains."

VT100 (Vermont state highway 100) bisects the state north to south through scenic country and makes a good way of organizing a visit -- one day north toward the Canadian border, the second south toward Woodstock. Craftsbury and Craftsbury Common are lovely destinations, Rutland is old industrial and not lovely. Woodstock is lovely but will be packed for the holiday. Still, it is worth parking and walking around.

Do not expect to find decent lodging if you wait. Make up your mind and book now. You will have little luck getting dinner without a reservation, and service at lunch will be slow because everyone will be understaffed.

On the rare chance that you like beer, Vermont is a hotbed of micro brewing and Burlington a hotbed of micro drinking, but you would not want to drive back across the mountains at night after enjoying the pedestrian town center.

Traffic will be heavy returning to Boston on the 13th. I would be inclined to take I 91 south to Brattleboro, then VT-NH 9 to Keene, NH, then NH 101 through the Monadnock region to US 3 at Nashua, and thence to Boston.

Middlebury is also a great Vermont destination; small town, vibrant because of Middlebury College, not heavily-touristed, unlike Woodstock and Manchester, a good central location.

Thanks Ackislander

Yes I like the Woodstock area but not much available through Air BnB I will investigate other accommodation sites.

Maybe further north towards Montpelier for 4/5 nights. I will keep searching. We are mindful of the holiday weekend and would like to look in something very soon.

I had looked at Rutland but thanks for the advice on the area. Once we have locked in our Vermont accommodation I will ask for advice for dinner reservations.

I was worried that Battleboro may be too far south.

We will be travelling back to Boston on Wedneday the 14 Oct so hopefully will avoid the holiday traffic.

Thanks Cattail I did not see your post before.

Is Dummerston too far south?

And yes my DH does like craft beers.

The Montpelier area is an excellent choice. As for a more southern stop, I'm not sure if it's necessary. From Montpelier, you can drive to the Brattleboro area in about 90 minutes. If you drive the scenic back roads, it will take considerably longer however. You can also easily visit the Burlington area in about 45 minutes from a Montpelier base. If you do decide to split it up, there are lots of good choices further south - look at Chester, Ludlow, Grafton and Saxon's river. You might even look at Walpole NH, a picture perfect village close to the Vt-NH border.

Ludlow is a former mill town, not much charm. The suggestion to drive Rt.100 is a good one.

Most of the places we have looked are semi rural, so usually about 10 mins out of town.

So if we choose the Montpelier area, we all probably look a little out of town. I stayed up waaay too late last night looking at places. So I will relook later today after work. There are quite a few places north of Montpelier but I think just south or around Montpelier may be best.

There are quite a few places near ski mountains but that may add time to our touring days.

Yes HappyTrvlr we probably are looking for places with charm, maybe not Ludlow.

Outside of Montpelier - the Waitsfield/Warren area is very scenic. Check out the Round Barn Inn. It gets rural pretty quickly once you leave Montpelier. However, Berlin and Barre wouldn't be at the top of my list for scenic Vermont. As for Ludlow - it is an old mill town, but has become more of a ski town in the past decade with lots of little pubs and such.

Still looking at places. I have sent some requests out to sone places around Woodstock but not in the town. I have also sent a request to a place in Middlebury but not sure if this is too far west. We will have 5 nights.

Woodstock, Grafton( buy their excellent cheese too) Jamaica, Stowe have charm.

I've never found Woodstock charming; it just doesn't feel like "real Vermont" to me, but it is a pretty community.

Laurence Rockefeller restored the town of Woodstock including putting utilities underground, his wife's hometown. Billings Dairy is connected to his wife's family.We had a vacation home nearby and often went to Woddstock to one of it's many good restaurants.

We had a vacation home nearby and often went to Woddstock to one of it's many good restaurants.

And one great hardware store!

http://gillinghams.com/

We stayed in Chester and took day trips that basically covered the eastern part of the state from Woodstock to Brattleboro.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...674580165/show

I have had 2 good offers of rentals in the Woodstock area, just out of town on some acres. Both have very good reviews and I am leaning towards booking as I am mindful of our stay being over a long weekend.

Oh Michael your photos are lovely.

We are hoping to see very similar countryside.
I did look at Chester but I could not see anything available.