new england
 

I will be traveling to the New England states this summer. What is the best time to visit and what are the best towns to visit? I enjoy hiking, biking and antiques. I will be visiting for about one week and want to see the best areas. Any advice is appreciated especially regarding hotels, inns, or B&B's.

For antiques, try Essex, MA. It's about an hour north of Boston. Another great Antique area is Route 7A between Manchester and Bennington, VT. <BR>Have fun!

The "lake area" of Vermont is relatively flat and excellent for biking. It's in the center of the state. The state has tourist info about lodging and biking throughout--all free; 800 number. Best time there is any time except weekends.

Good activity and scenic routes info can be found at Yankee Magazine's website: www.Newengland.com <BR>Northwood NH (rt 4) between Concord and Durham is known as Antiques Alley because of the number of shops. You can end your day in Portsmouth which is a beautiful coastal city, great restaurants, small shops, historic Strawbery Banke. Also lots of music and theatre. There are great hiking trails in NH's White Mountains from easy to difficult/short to long. Other great cities: Burlington VT, Portland ME. Smaller towns: Middlebury VT, Hanover NH, coastal towns north of Portland ME. It would be too much to try and take in Mass, RI and Conn in just one week. If you are flying in DEFINITELY choose Manchester NH airport or Providence RI. They are much smaller than Boston's Logan and you should get good fares. Keep in mind that it is very quiet at night in places like Concord NH but if you're a morning person, it's the best time of day to get in a bike ride before the heat of the day sets in. Late June is usually after black flies but they might still be a problem in the mountains...I would choose August. Summer theatre is going strong, weather is usually great, tomatoes are fresh. Ocean is warm enough for swimming! <BR>

Why not give Cape Cod, MA a try. There's miles and miles of bike trails, plenty of places to bike and an incredible amount of antique shops. Not to mention the beaches, there are ocean beaches and bay beaches and all are white sand and beautiful. One nice place to stay is in Orleans. It is centrally located on the Cape giving you access to all the sites. What is also nice is the historical points. If you think you might be interested you can email me and then I'll give accomadation ideas. Good Luck! Sue

Cape Cod is a great place to go! You can take a drive down the length of the Cape on Rte. 6A, which has TONS of antique stores and little inns and B&B's. It's a beautiful location. I would not recommend biking on 6A as it is a small road, however there are numerous places to bike on the Cape. I am quite sure that you can find places easily to hike as well, although there are no mountains of course.

The best place hands down for biking in New England is the bike path in Stowe, Vt. The path is about 5 miles long each way, the view is beutiful with green mountains and horses grazing in pastures and the air is pure and clean.

Another suggestion (all of the previous ones are great) -- if the weather is clear, the White Mountains area of northern New Hampshire has very accessible mountain hiking. The drive up Mount Washington gives great views. <BR> <BR>Note: if the weather is lousy, don't bother to go, unless you like hiking in cold and wet conditions. <BR> <BR>Your best bet may be to give yourself some free days (but NOT on the weekend) and head for this area depending on the weather. If it's miserable, just go antique shopping.

Go to block island if you like to cycle!

One of my most favorite places is the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. The mountains and the countryside are beautiful, there's a lot of cultural activities (Tanglewood, Jacob's Pillow Dance and lots of theatre during the summer months), good hiking, kind of hilly for biking, but so is a lot of New England (or at least the parts not on the ocean). Although there is no beach, there are lots of pretty lakes in the area, and a lot of wonderful B&B's (not cheap, though). E-mail me if you want specific suggestions. New England has so many wonderful areas, a week will not do it justice!

My favorite spot is Acadia National Park, near Bar Harbor. Boothbay harbor is another favorite spot. Further south, Portland Maine has an interesting downtown, and see if you can arrange tfor a boat tour around Casco Bay. In Mass., I like Cape Ann and Glouster, the latter for its mix of tourism and genuine Atlantic fishing industry scenery. <BR>BAK