Is 5 days long enough for Fall Foliage Driving Tour ?
 

We will be travelling from Australia. Our Fall Foliage touring plan is to drive from Boston to Montreal where we will pick up a Cruise to New York. We only have 5 days for that drive through New England then on to Montreal - is that sufficient to do justice to your spectacular Fall Foliage?

It is enough time and it isn't. You can only spend so much time looking at leaves and scenery. First week of October should have great foliage in the north but may be too soon in Boston. Pick some special places to visit where you can get out of the car and walk around. The Flume in NH is popular with visitors. After NH's White Mountains I would make a loop thru Vermont. Esp over on the west along Lake Champlain there is beautiful farm country so the scenery is a lot different than in NH. You might check out suggested drives on Yankee Magazine's website.

Thanks dfrostnh - sounds good. Happy Christmas

You don't have to just look at foliage. There are historic sites to see, Sturbridge Village, etc.

You're headed in the wrong direction. Leaves change from the north to south and from inland towards the coast. So the leaves willl still be green in Boston when they're fully changed in Montreal. If they're fully changed in Boston the trees in Montreal will be bare.

You don;t give your dates - presumably controlled by the dates of the cruise. If you give specifics people will be able to give you an idea where the leaves will have changed by then.

Drive through Vermont, South to North on Rt.100 for beautiful mountain scenery and hopefully mulit colored leaves.
Or if in the Burlington, VT area drive east of MOunt Mansfield. Vermont usually has the best leaf colors of all.
And buy some of the famous Vermont maple syrup to take home.

Dates are depart Boston approx September 19th to arrive in Montreal for Cruise to depart September 24th

That is very early for foliage, even farther north. You should research some things to see that will interest you because there will be very little if any color that early - perhaps the Freedom Trail in Boston, the Lakes region of NH, Franconia Notch and Mt.Washington in NH, Woodstock and Burlington, VT, rt. 100 in VT - there are many pretty drives through New England, foliage or no. The Yankee magazine suggestion is a good one for scenic drives. You may also want to spend a day in Montreal.

Southern and Mid Vermont colors usually peak first and/or second weekend in October, depending on weather and temperatures of course. irishswampyankee has some good suggestions. Do spend some time in Montreal.

Thanks for your advice - may try and push back

The typical most colorful weekend in the mid NE area (high elevations and Canada will be earlier) is Columbus Day weekend - about Oct 10 or so. In mid Sept it's not likely you will have a lot of color even in Canada - although it does vary every year based on the weather.

NYC doesn;t get full color until the very end of Oct or early Nov - but that's the last place the trees change due to the ambient heat of the city.

If you can, push your trip up to October, but not on Columbus day. 5 days are enough, and plan not just watch the foliage (gets old fast) but other activities as well.

Thank you all for your information and advice - much appreciated

Others have provided info about the fall colors -- but maybe there is another spanner in the works. Have you checked out car rentals? Many will not allow one way rentals from the USA to Canada (but a few will between specific city pairs) and those that do often have huge drop off fees.

Dayenu - what other activities would you suggest ?
Janisj - thanks, will check that out

Just out of curiosity, I checked out www.carrentals.com. They list lots of choices Boston to Montreal. After you check that out, you may want to go directly to the car rental co.'s website. I think it's easier to cancel with a rental direct from the co. There is no cancellation fee. Also, I know driving our own car from US to Canada, we need special proof of insurance so check what you need for that.

Things to see and do: It kind of depends on your route:

You could mostly follow I-89 d to Montreal, with visits to the Lake Winnepesaukee and White Mountains, the White River Junction / Hanover, Labanon area, then on to beautiful Burlington VT

Or you could go west then north, following Rt 2 through northern MA, visiting Lexington/Concord, to cute little towns like Turners Falls, Deerfield, North Adams, and Williamstown. (The western part of Rt 2 is itself very scenic, with lots of stopping places to take pictures.) Then straight up I-91 so visit Brattleboro, WRJ/Hanover/Lebanon, then to Burlington.

Thank you so much
Any other suggested Boston to Montreal Fall Foliage Routes ? Any info on Canada's Eastern Townships ?

The Eastern Townships are lovely. There is a particularly nice inn, Auberge Ripple Cove, which is located on Lac Massawippi just over the Vermont border at the Derby Line crossing. From the south you travel through the beautiful Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, where the foliage turns ahead of the rest of the State. A route through the Eastern Townships would be a very scenic way to approach Montreal.

Yes, please do not ignore Happytrvler's suggestion of VT Route 100. From end to end, it is extremely scenic. When you reach the northern end, you can go east through the Northeast Kingdom to Interstate 91 or west to Burlington and Interstate 89. Both will take you to Montreal. The I91 route is longer but the scenery may be better.