New England Foliage Tours
 

Just wondering if anyone has feedback on Globus tour company. If not, can anyone recommend a good company for New England Foliage Tours?

Any particular state? We did northern Vermont in late Sept and early Oct, we were too early by about a week. If you are driving your own vehicle, plan your own tour, visit any Vermont web site for info. The area around Montpelier is great. The drive thru central Maine is very nice also, if you drive hiway 1 up the coast you get foliage and beaches to boot!

JAYNE: Are you JayneL from Mass?<BR>Tracie: In most cases early Oct would be fine for northern New Eng. I'd rather be a week before peak than a week after! Back to your original question, I'm sorry I have no experience with the tours. Anyone?<BR>

Sorry, don't know anything about tours.<BR><BR>But as others have indicated, when you sign up for a tour you risk missing the peak of foliage. The peak dates are very hard to predict in advance, they depend on the weather which has been crazy lately.<BR><BR>So here's a recommendation for doing it yourself. You can find out which areas are USUALLY at peak during the week you'll visit, and plan to stay there. But if you're on your own you can easily drive a half-hour farther north or south if that's what it takes to get to the peak foliage if this year turns out to be ahead of (or behind) the norm.

Here's another recommendation for going on your own. The tour companies run tours from mid-September through late October. I've seen the buses out and about well before the leaves have really started to change, as well as far beyond peak when most of the leaves are gone. I would imagine that at some point during the "tour" they find some color, but it's much better to plan your own trip. The foliage moves from northeast to southwest, starting toward the end of September. It may last in Western MA and CT through Columbus Day or beyond, but it's generally prettier before that. The best way to enjoy the foliage is to drive all over all day. You can see much more from the front seat of a car than a seat on a tour bus, even if it makes frequent stops.

I usually don't go on tours as I prefere to be independent. However, I did use tour (Tauk) because was flying into Boston from West Coast. Not being aware of "best "places to see the "colors" I did not know where to book lodgings and felt if I drove I'd spend most of my time looking at maps and the road!! Sept. 28th thru Oct.7 -color was at its peak in our most northern sites.<BR>The tour route was north into Vermont across upper and middle New Hampshire and into Maine. <BR>Most breakfasts were included and wereusually buffet type. Dinners were aranged at very nice places with time to relax at lodging before eating. Accomodations were excellent. We also stopped at many places of interest;Shellbourne Museum, Ben & Jerry's, Mt Washington,North Conway, Stowe &<BR>little shops in some of the little towns off the beaten track.<BR>I really liked the printed explanation of the days activities handed out each AM-It also included local history<BR>Overall, it was a nice experience & I would go on another. <BR>I did miss the freedom of skipping some shops and spending more time on "local" stuff. I really liked not having to drag my luggage around.<BR>For people having time to choose when the "color" is at its best, there is a web site, as a link to www.newengland.com that give daily summary of the best areas.<BR>Hope rthis helps...<BR><BR>