Help with itinerary for Fall Foliage adventure
 

When you travel east side of NH toward Lake Winnipesaukee I recommend heading to Tamworth, Center Sandwich and Squam Lake/Holderness. We loved breakfast at the Corner House Inn in Center Sandwich. Double check hours for lake cruises with Squam Lake Science Center. We went last Labor Day weekend and it was fabulous. We did the loon cruise in the afternoon but anything with a naturalist would be good. Saw lots of loons and some eagles. They use pontoon boats. However, if you went via Tamworth (check out the distillery if you like whiskeys etc) you miss Wolfeboro so you might want to double back. If by now it's Sunday you can tour NH Mushroom Company in Tamworth. From Squam Lake you can go south to Meredith which is a beautiful town on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Google maps gives several suggestions for driving to Stowe and each are about the same amount of time (slightly more than 2 hours from the science center). If it's a Saturday morning I highly recommend a visit to Norwich VT farmers market. King Arthur Flour is also in Norwich. There's a nice cafe and a great shop for everything you need for baking. If you decide to do this section of VT lunch at Simon Pierce would be fabulous but even a visit to their shop (glass blowers) would be nice. Quechee is only a little bit south of Norwich. Up to you if you want to cross over the river to visit St. Gaudens in Cornish NH. There's a very nice covered bridge in the area, too.

You may have already done the northern route if you went through Hardwick and Cabot. (Ben Hewitt wrote The Town That Food Saved which is about the Hardwick VT area. It would give you some insight into how people in northern VT built the local economy back up - at least part ways.) I would suggest a visit to Montpelier, which also has a saturday farmers market, the smallest state capital in the US. I wouldn't go back to Stowe. Keep in mind that the route between Montpelier and Stowe has a lot of traffic and tourist stops. Don't be seduced by a Ben and Jerry's tour.

Make sure you stop at the Warren Country Store. If the day is warm you can eat on the deck overlooking a small waterfall. Wander out back for an even better look at a small gorge. Our visit was in summer so we saw people swimming.

Sorry, no suggestions about car return. Does it have to be in NY and are you trying to get to NYC?

For returning the rental car, I would look at the Metro North routes for towns with easy train access in New York and CT. Stamford, CT is one possibility.
MTA | Subway, Bus, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North

I went with dfrost on the naturalist cruise on Squam Lake she mentions in her post and agree this is a great thing to do in that area. Squam Lake is the setting for the 1981 movie On Golden Pond

I agree with dfrost that you could easily skip the section of Rte 100 between Stowe and Waterbury.

The tourist office in VT has a lot of information on "scenic byways" including Route 100
https://www.vermontvacation.com/stay...vermont-byways

Peak foliage in northern VT will probably come at the beginning of your trip. Towns in the Northeast Kingdom of the state have an annual foliage festival with lots of events/special meals the week of September 29.
NEK Chamber of Commerce

I would encourage you to start your trip in Springfield MA. You can either fly to or take a train to Springfield. From Springfield you can either take the Amtrak Vermonter train or rent a car.
The Vermonter leaves Springfield a little after 3PM every day and arrives after 8PM in Burlington VT. You get a great view of the foliage from the train without making stops in the rental car.
If you didn't want to fly to Springfield, Albany NY or Boston are options to get a train to Springfield.
Be sure to drive the Kancamagus highway (112) between Conway and Lincoln NH. The 6 NE states are not that large compared with some western states. I suggest that you return the rental car in the spot where you rented it.
In May 2017, my DW and I found geocaches in all 6 states in a period of 3 days including 1 in York Maine where we spent a night near the ocean.

Thanks for your input Tomfuller. Have put Hwy 112 on the list now - great advice.

For rental car drop off look at White Plains, NY. There is a Hertz location close to the MetroNorth RR station. There may be other co's nearby as well - google maps will tell you.

Poughkeepsie, then take the train down..............this is a good train station

Needless to say, make hotel reservations.

Curious what hotels you choose, also looking for hotel somewhere in White Mountains, open where, just want to stay and putz around those areas during our fall foliage road trip with similar itinerary!

While in the Burlington area I highly recommend visiting the Shelburne Museum, it has an incredibly diverse collection of art, historical artifacts, textiles, and more in 39 buildings on 45 acres (which includes a number of lovely gardens) - truly something for everyone. It also has historic structures, including the 220 foot steamboat Ticonderoga, which was transported there from Lake Champlain on a rail bed built especially for that purpose. We spent an entire day there and still didn't see everything; I'd love to go back someday. Here's their web site: https://shelburnemuseum.org.

Thanks so much Sara.

We were in Vermont in 2017 in early October. That year it was beautiful. I strongly suggest taking RT100 north through Smuggler's Notch and on to Jeffersonville and Cambridge. The scenery to Jeffersonville is just beautiful. Once you get to Jeffersonville and head west, there are some little towns, a Green Mountain coffee roaster and a small winery. We were there the first weekend in October and they were having their fall festival. The pumpkin throwing contest was a hoot.

If you keep heading west you will meet 89 that will take you to Burlington. Enjoy your trip.

Take notice of the road signs warning about wildlife, especially moose.

We have driven the Hwy 112 on three occasions and every time we encountered a moose.

On one occasion, late at night, we missed one probably by less than a meter.

No doubt in my mind, had we hit it, we would have orphaned four young children.

Avoid driving at night.

Certainly not planning any night driving cdnyul. Thanks for the advice though ��

rule of thumb is if you see one, there's probably another one, at least when it comes to deer and wild turkeys. Although I've only seen moose twice in NH, one time in our own yard, I have neighbors who have hit them and totaled their cars. Lately it's been wild turkeys that have been a problem as they tour around and there can be several attempting to cross a road. My almost crash with a small herd of deer was when we were out looking for a restaurant. Fortunately my front passenger was watching his side of the road and saw the deer coming and yelled for me to stop. Just missed the last one. Hope you have a wonderful visit.

I used to do long daily commutes home in the evening on a ~50mi stretch of rural highway known for deer sightings and very little vehicle traffic.

My rule of thumb when I see a deer crossing the road is not to watch it disappear safely into the woods on the other side of the road but rather look behind it for the rest of the herd - exactly as dfrost mentions.

You don't need to completely avoid night driving as the animals are not out there like gangs looking to terrorize aussie drivers, but you do need to be aware.

I don't know if your plan is all set. If not, I recommend driving south Rte 113 in NH from Gilead, NH through Evan's notch to Rte 302 near Fryeberg. Turn westwords to take Rte 112 / Kancamagus highway to Lincoln, NH and then decide how you want to drive to Meredith, NH.

There is a very good possibility that the GPS will tell you the road is unpaved but it is not. I drove that road not less than 10 days ago. Just be careful while driving. The road is narrow and windy. If you do decide to get out of the car at Evan's notch, safer to keep an eye on any wildlife around. We didn't encounter any wildlife but our hotel front desk mentioned that the White Mountains have loads of bears. For the moment, I thought I was silly to drive on that road but the foliage will be amazing. The road is pretty much covered and there is no cell signal on that road. I plan to drive the road in the first week of October as well.

DocHudson, I had to look up Evans Notch and I'm not sure we've ever been on that road. Some of the "notch" roads are seasonal but of course October travel won't be a problem. Yes, there are a lot of bears around but generally they want to stay away from people. I think the problem with NH bears is when they get used to feeding out of dumpsters and become a serious nuisance in some places. Bears went into their dens last fall without as much weight as they usually put on so starvation was an issue. We usually see a couple of cubs each spring but this year none. The riskiest situation that happened here was when a hunter with dogs chased a bear toward friends who were camping on private property. Despite the dogs, the bear still changed direction to avoid contact with our friends. When we drive in the Sandwich Notch area it's not unusual to see a bear, sometimes foraging in someone's garden. I don't think bears present a problem to hikers. We never worried about our son when he went into the woods. It is rare to read a NH story of a problem bear encounter for hikers but stories about bears getting into garbage cans, stealing bird feeders, and sometimes actually getting into someone's kitchen are becoming more frequent. Campers need to be very careful about food storage. We used the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer to find a small waterfall just off the Sandwich Notch road one summer. Getting out of the car for some short, easy hikes is a good idea.

I've lived in NH most of my life and have done lots of hiking all around NH. I have never seen a bear and have only seen one moose! It's not Yellowstone and there is not wildlife around every bend. We have no problem driving at night, just be cautious, watch your speed and stay alert. Have a great trip!