Help with NY & New England Itinerary
 

Hi
We are planning a vacation from the UK next fall (2004) and want to take in New York - say 5 days - then fly north (to Boston?) and 'do' New England for 12-15 days, staying at motels etc.
Is that a feasible itinerary? Can anyone suggest accommodation tips, more detailed routes and what are the must-sees?
Many thanks
Ian

You can drive from NYC to NH in about 4 hours and enjoy the scenery along the way but if you fly, choose MHT (Manchester NH) over Logan if you can. It's only an hour north but much less congested then Logan. Peak foliage is usually around Oct 12 in Concord NH so head first to the mountains. Explore Yankee Magazine's website www.newengland.com for route suggestions. If you plan to go to the mountains that would mean you should arrive by Oct 7 and travel mid-week due to the traffic congestion. I would swing over to Vermont for a few days. If you don't mind changing hotels every few days I would choose the Burlington area to begin with and then something at least as far south as Rutland. NH mountains are tall and craggy granite, Vt mountains are smaller and then toward being "green". I would attend a foliage festival such as the one in Warner NH or a country fair such as the one in Sandwich NH to get a view of rural New England. Both are held the same weekend. Take a short hike someplace in the White Mountains. Visit an apple orchard. Watch cider being pressed at Cold Hollow in Waterbury VT. Loop down into western Massachusetts but return to MHT the long way thru the towns of Jaffrey, Peterborough, New Boston. I would try to take a foliage cruise and would suggest the Heritage out of Portsmouth NH which goes up the river to Great Bay. It's only an hour from Manchester airport so you could do this at the beginning of your trip. Portsmouth is a seacoast town with great restaurants and lots of history.
Have fun!

No, that is ot a feasible itinerary. You need to start with a map -- there is no reason to fly from New York to New England, even from NYC to Boston if auto touring is your goal.

Two weeks is a good amount of time to get a feel for the New England ara, but still there are so many choices, it would help to know what your itnerests are. You could fill the two weeks with just museums, just outdoors/mountains/hiking, just beach and seacoast. Do you want to focus, or to experience a little of each?

For instance, the suggestions by dfrostnh, in the post above, focus (not surprisingly) on his home state, NH, touch upon VT and western MA, but leave out most of MA and all of other 3 New England states, and this tour is focused on foliage and sightseeing, with never a mention of urban areas, local history, art, etc. What are your interests?

Thanks for your replies and suggestions so far. Our interests are varied and would include local history, outdoors, scenery, urban areas but less so beaches.I guess we would want to try and experience a 'sample' of as much as possible in two weeks with a view to returning another year perhaps to a specific area?
Thanks
Ian

This may sound like a crazy route, but it worked for a friend of mine so I will suggest it here. After you spend your 5 days in NYC, you can take I-95 through CT, RI and MA if you want to go to Boston (a 4 hour drive without stopping) allowing for stops along the way. You could spend maybe 2 days in each state and get a feel for it. Look into Providence, RI. Then leaving Boston, you could go North to Maine or just New Hampshire, and then over to Vermont and maybe even upstate NY which is beautiful as well.
It's a lot of driving if you want to choose that option, or you could fly, but I think the price difference would end up almost the same and you would miss a lot flying over these cities. You could easily do 2 days in each state and it would equal 12 days.

From NYC it is an easy drive to New England. If you start in CT and loop around to all 6 states you'll can see a sampling of what this beautiful area has to offer.

CT has Yale in New Haven and the casinos in the eastern part of the state. Mystic Seaport is near the casinos.

From there it it about 45 minutes to Newport RI to see America's castles - the mansions of the Guilded Age.

From there you can head to Cape Cod for the beautiful beaches of the National Seashore and then to Boston/Cambridge for art museums, historical sights and great restaurants.

After Boston, head north to Portland Me and the area just north of Portland for a glimpse of the Maine coast.

Then head west to the White Mountains of NH. Stay at motel that is part of the Mt. Washington Resort - it has terrific views if you get a room facing the older hotel.

Further west to the Green Mountains of VT see Stowe - the Golden Eagle Resort is a decent motel.

Then back to NYC via the Berkshires of Mass.

This is high level itinerary. Use newengland.com to fill the details.

Thanks all for these really helpful responses.
We'll be driving from NY to New England then!
I'll now go away and work up a more detailed itin.
One last thing re accommodation - is it advisable to pre-book motels etc or is it easy just to find accommodation on the road?
Thanks again
Ian

Since you're coming in October which is prime fall foliage time, I would pre-book your accommodations for the weekends. During the week you should be OK. I live in VT and saw lots and lots of no-vacancy signs at hotels/motels/inns over the past few weekends.

Be sure to check into the car rental options and locations for pickup and dropoff. Renting cars in Manhattan tends to be very pricey and the airports in NYC area also have many fees tacked on. It may be more prudent to rent outside of NYC - you could probably get a commuter train out to a suburb in NY state or Connecticut and rent from someone like Enterprise, who could pick you up at the train station (or just get a cab to one of the other agencies). Also note that here in the US it's generally cheaper to drop car off in same place where you picked it up - that fact might make renting it at your departure airport location a good plan. Do NOT rent the car until leaving NYC - cars are not needed in the city and parking is expensive.

Driving from NYC to New England would be quite pleasant. There are several wonderful art venues in Western Massachusetts around the Lenox area, and then you'd be able to tour Vermont and the Green Mountains. Or you could take a more coastal route exploring Mystic, CT, and my "don't miss" suggestion of Newport, RI. If you're not interested in beaches, you can skip Cape Cod, but Boston is a "don't miss," and I like to recommend a visit to Salem when people travel in October and don't mind some touristy fun. I would definitely take in the rocky coast of Maine up to Portland (including Ogunquit), and New Hampshire's White Mountains around the Bretton Woods or Lincoln areas.

Try to hit New Englad the first two weeks of October, placing your NYC visit either before or after that. Hotel rates will be high for foliage season, and it's best to make reservations asap. Perhaps your best bet is to fly in/out of NYC, and drive a big loop, spending 2-3 nights in each base. Maybe something like:

Providence/Newport, RI
Boston/Salem, MA
Portland/Ogunquit, ME
Lincoln, NH
Woodstock/Rutland, VT
Lenox, MA

Happy Trails! Have fun planning!

In the fall, parts of New England can rival anywhere on earth in beauty. Because of this, it does get crowded, even in rural areas in peak foliage season. Peak foliage starts around the very end of September on the Canadian border, and ends in late October down on the Rhode Island seacost. Although small, each state has it's own unique character. The 3 southern New England states are much more urbanized, but also have more historic sites. Vermont is the most agricultural, New Hampshire has the most rugged mountains, and Maine has a beautiful seacoast, and a very rural interior. If you are coming during peak foliage, you should definitely make reservations. You may be able to 'wing it' a few weeknights however. As for cities, Boston is far and away the most interesting large city in New England, and is rich in history. A few 'must sees' would be Lexington-Concord Mass, Canterbury Shaker Village NH, Mt Washington Auto Road NH, Woodstock Vt, Stowe Vt. There are dozens more. New England has many charming b&bs, inns, and small motels scattered throughout the countryside, but only a handful of large resort type accomodations.

Lots of great suggestions but I'd like to add one more. As you finish your meandering across New England, try to end up on the east side of Lake Champlain. There are bridges and ferrys that can get you across. At the south end of the lake you'll find Fort Ticonderoga. If you are a history buff, this is a must see but you'll have to get there before it closed for the season on Oct. 19th.. A restored 18th century fort. You can then head back to NYC down the Hudson River Valley (avoid the Thruway...stick to the byways) which is packed with great scenery and historic sites all along the way.
There's way too much for me to go into here but here's a couple of links to get you started. I would think that an Englishman would find this area quite interesting....Lots of pre-revolutionary history in the area.

I think that too many folks think of New York as just a city...a big mistake...there's a large state that is rich in history and also happens to possess the largest publicly owned winderness area east of the Mississippi River (The Adirondack Park). Can you tell, I LOVE NEW YORK!!

http://www.fort-ticonderoga.org/

http://www.hudsonriver.com/

http://www.hvnet.com/HOUSES/

http://www.pojonews.com/enjoy/historic.htm

Ahhh, make that the WEST side of Lake Champlain.

My advice would be to leave NYC and take 84 through Danbury to Hartford and up to MA. A stop in Sturbridge, MA during October is always nice. A day trip to Old Sturbridge Village and dinner at the Publick House is always nice, especially during the fall. Their cider is great. I would make my way east towards Boston. In Boston, I would do the historical walking tour (just follow the footsteps). Some things to definitely see are the Aquarium, Fanueil Hall, Quincy Market and do the duck tour! It leaves from either the Science Center or the Prudential building. Also, try to make time to walk down Newbury St. Fun to people watch! If you like Italian food, definitely try to grab lunch or dinner in the North End and get chowder at Legal Seafoods. Also, plan a trip to Portsmouth NH and Kittery ME. Portsmouth is cute, right on the water and Kittery has great shopping. Also, check out Salem, MA. Lots of fun in October. Go to the Cape, but do it during the week to cut down on traffic. Even in the fall, the ride over the bridges can still be tough. I would go to Hyannis. Try to save a day to go to Martha's Vineyard. If I were you, I would take the ferry back from MV to Rhode Island and go to Newport from there. It would make a lot more sense. I am born and raised in Central MA, so I am a little partial to Massachusetts. But the other 5 states are great, too. Each has their own flavor and character. You really can't go wrong!

Western Massachusetts (the Berkshires) is quite lovely, but the best art collections in that part of the state are not in Lenox, but further north. In Williamstown there is the Clark Institute, which is fantastic (excellent American holdings, including Homer and Sargent, as well as some beautiful French Impressionists). The Williams College Museum of Art, also in Williamstown, is also excellent. Then in North Adams you have Mass MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), which is something else altogether. Route 2 runs east-west thru the northern part of Massachusetts, and is very scenic in its western reaches (and traffic on fall weekends reflects that!). It would be a very nice way to drive across the state to Boston (take route 7 north from Connecticut---I'd have to look at a map to see the exact routing).

Many thanks for all this really helpful info. Can't wait for next fall!