Say you were taking a 9 day trip to NE next Oct 10-18 and wanted to hike and take day trips (backroads) to see the fall foliage. What cities/states would you visit? In general, what would your itinerary look like?

Just trying to generate more ideas...

Drive from Connecticut to Maine (Acadia National Park) and do plenty of hiking, eat good seafood and shellfish..yum yum yum

Thank goodness...

I was thinking that you meant NEbraska

Oops...NE means New England...sorry!

Up through New Hampshire (Lake Winnepesaukee then White Mountains), then into Western Maine, Rangeley Lakes area or Moosehead Lake...then on to Acadia and down the coast...maybe Sebago Lake depending on where the foliage is peaking at the time.

Fly into Manchester NH. Attend either the Warner Fall Foliage Festival or the Sandwich Fair. Head over to VT. Visit VT Country Store, have lunch at Simon Pearce in Queechee. Try the Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville VT. Have dinner at the Miss Lyndonville Diner. Have breakfast the next morning at the Littleton NH diner. Drive down thru Franconia Notch as long as it's mid week. Do some hiking. Make a run over to Portsmouth NH. Take a foliage cruise up an inland river. Have lunch in Portsmouth. Drive over to Newcastle. Get an ice cream cone at the Ice House. Admire Wentworth-by-the-Sea and wonder how much it costs to stay there. Walk on the beach in Hampton.

Definitely see the White Mountain area of N.H. b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. We were only there in the Summer, can only imagine how great it would be in the fall. If you like b&bs, try (a very homey place with an amazing proprietor) the Hilltop Inn, in Sugar Hill, N.H. While not overly elegant, it was the cleanest, and most helpful B&B we've stayed in in a long time. http://www.hilltopinn.com/.

Definitely see Acadia. However, be warned that by that time, and I may be wrong on this, Acadia will be towards the end of it's leaf peeping. But it's still worth a drive up to the top of Cadillac Mountain. Stunning!

Flying in and out of Manchester is often cheaper than other airports, and is incredibly easy to get around.

What else are you interested in? There are a number of wineries in the area, very fun. Photographic opportunities will abound.

I have lived in VT, NH, and MA. All of these states are beautiful and have plenty to offer for hiking and scenery however the week in October that you are planning to visit is actually a little late to be up north very far to see good foliage. I would try southwestern Vermont (Green Mountain Nat'l Forest) and the Berkshires at that time of year. Also, the southern Maine coast would be nice (it is warmer on the coast when compared to the mountains). Finally, I recommend Mt. Monadnok in Peterborough, NH for that time of year. I hear it is the most climbed mountain in the world. You could stay in Peterbourgh or Keene, NH. Both are nice little towns.

Question for rshersnow please. I know this is another topic, but you mentioned that you've lived in three of the New England states. In your opinion, is it true that people who live there, particularly in Vermont, do not like it when people from out of state move there? I've heard it said that they don't like "outsiders" moving there. My husband and I have talked about moving there, but have heard that we probably wouldn't be welcomed. We are from California. Thanks!

We took a 9 day road trip in October , my first trip to the NE. We spent the first 2 nights in the Hudson Valley--very scenic and historic, tons to see and do. Loved it. Then we went to Lake Placid for 2 nights, lots of fall foliage to see. Then we spent 4 nights in Manchester, VT at the Equinox where hubby went to 3 days of Orvis fly fishing school. I drove all over Vermont looking at the cute towns and the spectacular foliage. Went down to the Berkshires and to many towns in western MA. Nice trip, next time I'd like to go to Maine and Cape Cod/Boston.

I'm a big fan of southern Vermont myself. You might check close to your vacation because the colors are a bit different - time, place, intensity - depending on the weather conditions that year.

I also have lived in the 3 states mentioned (Mass, NH and Vermont) and will attempt an answer to *vacation bound*. Depends who you are talking to and how you act, IMO. All my friends in the state had moved there from somewhere else. If you sincerely get into the 'lifestyle' and do things the New England (hard) way you'll most likely prove yourself to the locals & be accepted fine. If you bring your California ways with you, then less so.

Vacationbound: you might want to post this question on Yankee Magazine's website that has a topic devoted to Moving to New England
www.newengland.com
First, you have to understand that in many small towns there are extended families that may be very close knit. It may feel like exclusion but it might not be. Joining a local organization or church and doing volunteer work are the quickest ways to get involved and accepted. Do not have the electric company install a street light in front of your house. Don't move to the country if you are afraid of the dark. Do not let your dog run loose. Never offer suggestions on how to do it better. (If the last place you lived was so great, why did you leave?) Someone recently told me that when she moved back to NH after a very long time someplace else, she chose a new neighborhood where people didn't already have long established connections. It worked for her. The whole neighborhood is friendly and holds block parties. The newspaper recently did a story about a neighborhood like that where neighbors started having Thanksgiving together because they didn't have local relatives. And never ever find fault with the road agent.

Thank you so much Suze & dfrostnh. Your feedback was very helpful as well as reassuring. That all just seems like common courtesy. It is a shame that there are many who don't seem to have that, especially in a new place where they maybe need to adjust. Anyway, I do have a couple of questions.

Suze: I'm a litte hesitant to ask but... what do you mean by "California ways"?

dfrostnh: Thanks for the tip about Yankee magazine. I will definitely check it out. Your specifics were great. It is a shame that they need to be mentioned. I am wondering if examples like that were what Suze meant. But, what is a road agent?

Once again, thank you for your feedback. It is nice to hear this from people who are from there. Comments like "Vermont! You've got to live there for 3 generations before they accept you!" can be daunting.

The peak for fall colors is 80 miles east of me is in Ohiopyle State Park, PA and it occurs around October 10 (true, been there at this time). This park is about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, PA in the Laurel Highlands. This park is 18,000+ acres and if biking the whole 35 miles of it the scenery would spectacular especially when you go over a wooden bridge and can view the hills around it. You may want to go to upstate NY along Lake Erie and then travel to Niagara Falls, NY and Canada to visit. I never get sick of the falls. The foliage should/may be peak there too at that time.

Vacationbound: the Road Agent is either the elected or appointed person to take care of the roads in all seasons. He and his crew must plow during all kinds of weather, clear clogged culverts, grade gravel roads during the summer, cut back brush in the town right of way, and who knows what else. Needless to say, there is someone who has never done this kind of work who knows how to do it better or doesn't think it is done well enough. There is a shrinking population of people who are qualified to be road agents. In small towns it might be a part-time job. Best wishes for the future. Vermont is beautiful.

Whenever someone asks a question like VacationBound's, I think of the movie "Funny Farm" with Chevy Chase. Take a look at that one, and "Baby Boom" before you visit!

I don't think "being accepted" to the area is much of a problem any more. It's more like DFrost's description: city dwellers who move to the country and then want to increase taxes to pay for conveniences. Kind of the ol' chews (chewing tobacco) vs the yuppie families! Most towns find some middle road, however - progress can't be stopped. DFrost, I LOVE your road agent comment!

You do know... Many people who live in Vermont communities don't have cable TV, sidewalks, and public trash pick-up. It may take 20-30 minutes to get to your closest grocery store or Walmart - never mind a mall. Sometimes it snows so hard the power goes out, leaving you with no heat and no running water (well pumps! ) for hours (or even days on occasion). There are NO leaves on the trees from Halloween until May.

That said - it's a great place to raise families, and a beautiful place to visit! Good Luck!

Vacationbound, I moved from NJ to a small town in rural New Hampshire many years ago, so I have some insight on your concern. What it boils down to is that most rural New Englanders want their neighborhoods to stay rural, and don't welcome developers or people who move in and want to pave the dirt roads, put in a strip mall, etc. However, families moving in to make a go of it in a small town are usually most welcome. You will find however that the true natives, even though they will be most kind and friendly, will never totally look at you as one of their kind.
What you sould be more concerned about are extremely harsh, long winters - you really have to be a winter person to be happy here!

Thank you so much to everyone for the tips.

Blair Hill Inn in Moosehead is the most perfect inn I've ever stayed in. GORGEOUS rooms, GREAT hosts, WONDERFUL setting. It's not on the coast -- it's up in the lake area of Maine, so it's particularly perfect for hunters and fishermen. We do neither of those things, but we do love an elegant inn. It was written up recently in Conde Nast's travel magazine, and I think it deserves all the credit they give it. What a place! I can't even imagine how gorgeous it would be in the fall.

How strange... This exact post appears on five different Maine threads.