New England in the fall
 

We're coming to Boston from the UK end September & staying there 6 days. We then plan to spend 6 days travelling from Boston to maybe North Conway & on down to NYC where we stay for 3 days before we go back to the UK. IS the Boston to North Conway to NYC possible in 6 days or are we trying to do too much? Any advice on where to stay along the way would be gratefully received.
Many thanks

you mean

6 days IN Boston
Next 6 days travelling
Next 3 days NYC?

That does not sound like too much to me.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire is really nice.

It is a total of 480 miles using the fastest routes. That too far for you?

I would not use a rental car for the trip down to NYC but return it to Boston and take the train or other transportation from there.

Are you talking about a total of 15 days? It wasn't quite clear.

The trip is certainly doable in that amount of time.

Any particular reason you chose North Conway? What do you plan to do there? There are a lot of lovely areas in NH that are nicer than North Conway, which is pretty commercial and not very charming. The village of Jackson is very close to NC, but is smaller, quieter and much nicer, IMO.

Really, in that amount of time, you can see other places in the area if you tell us more about your interests.

Just so you know you will be heading south before you get to the height of the fall color - which is usual Columbus Day Weekend (Sept 12th or so). Color does not get to NYC until later Oct or even november for Manhattan (heat effect of the city).

I would move the trip to a week to 10 days later. (The colors are nothing like those in europe since we have a large number of sugar maples - which give blazing reds - that you don't get - along with the fiery oranges and brilliant yellows)

Thanks for the responses. They're very helpful. The trip is a total of 15 days. I chose North Conway as it seemed a reasonable place to start (We know nothing about New England you understand!!). The suggestion about dropping the car back to Boston is really helpful. Maybe we should go further North to begin with? Any suggestions on stopping places will be helpful. We're interested in the fall colors, scenic, history & architecture - anything notable really!
Many thanks.

nytraveler meant Oct 12, not September. Do a Fodor's search on fall foliage because other posts will help answer your questions. Color depends on location, elevation, temperature and species of tree and since New England varies, you might see pockets of color in some places. Swamp or red maples turn color early so you should see some.

I agree that North Conway is too commercial and crowded but going further north isn't necessarily the answer. Plan NH's White Mountains for during the week when there will be fewer day trippers. When you head north from Boston via I93, the scenery will become less industrial the further north you go. There's some nice views once you get north of Manchester and eventually I93 goes right thru the White Mountains. But, find a good base and do day trips from there. Many people recommend the Kancamagus Highway which goes east from I93 to the Conway area. You can even do a short stop (it is pretty) but then south on Rt 16 to where you can go west thru Tamworth and Sandwich to Squam Lake area and back toward I93. This only takes half a day unless you spend longer in North Conway or any place along the way.

On the way north, you might visit Canterbury Shaker Village just north of Concord. Fascinating tour.

But you might get sick of just looking at scenery. I suggest you find some places you'd really like to see (visit The Flume? Find a waterfall?) Center Sandwich is one of the prettiest small towns in NH.

From NH you can continue north to Littleton and across to Vermont, maybe try the Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville. If you go over to Burlington you can head south along Lake Champlain for a visit to Shelburne Museum. If you aren't dropping the car in Boston you can continue south thru western Massachusetts and on to NYC.

Portsmouth would be a wonderful stop when you leave Boston. Take a boat tour. Then you can head west to NH and connect with I93. Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth is wonderful.

But try to avoid traffic on I93 and I95 on Friday afternoons northbound and Sunday afternoons southbound.

With 6 days, you can see a lot of northern New England. about 80% of New Hampshire and Vermont are rural, and covered with beautiful forests, farms and small villages. North Conway is very popular with tourists due to it's scenic location and it's large selection of outlet stores and restaurants. There are dozens of other small towns just as scenic, but less commercialized - Jackson, Littleton, Wolfeboro, Sunapee, Lyme, and Sugar Hill are a few that come to mind. You can also skip over to Vermont for a night or two. Vermont is a bit less rugged and more agricultural. Both states are very scenic - don't be afraid to drive on the less frequented back roads, that's where you'll see the most unspoiled countryside.