New England in the fall
 

We are travelling to Boston on the 24th September this year we are staying three nights. We would then like to travel for eight days to see New England in the fall. We do not want to be driving every day. Please can we have ideas on the best way to see the autumn colours.
We are coming from the UK.

You are going very early to see the colors around Boston. Naturally the dates for leaves turning differs every year - but in the area around Boston it's usually more around the 10th or 15th of October.

Colors turn from north to south and also from the heights (mountainous areas) to lowlands and from inland towards the coasts.

So if you are going so early you will need to watch the web sites carefully and probably head up towards Canada and up into mountains to get a substantial amount of color.

The color that early will be up north toward the Canadian border in Vermont, New Hampshire, and western Maine or at higher elevations further south.

Asking to see this area without driving every day is a bit like asking to see the Highlands without driving. It is not a limited area like the Lake District or Dartmoor, and there is little or no public transport.

Draw a line on the map from Bethel, Maine, to Montpelier and Burlington, Vermont, and base near or north of that line. Some of this is fairly empty country with nothing much to "do" in the conventional sense, but the scenery is beautiful. If you are walkers, both states have fine networks of trails.

With the exception of Burlington, any of the towns can be seen in half a day or less unless -- and this perfectly fine -- you want to sit in a bar and drink beer or sit in your inn and read. There is a brilliant tradition of craft brewing in the region, and there is no reason not to enjoy it!

Though not part of New England proper, you could find foliage close to peak in the Adirondacks.

I've been in Stowe VT third weekend in Sept and not seen any color at all but we had some early color last year. No telling this far ahead. Suggest you make color a second priority and find some great activities to do. The NH Lakes Regional Barrel Tasting Weekend is first w/e in October but there are other events where you get off the main roads and onto some back roads. Depending on your interests, get wine, cheese trail maps for each state. If you are interested in organic gardening and rural living, Maine's Common Ground Fair is Sept 25-27 in small town about an hour from Maine's coast.

When your trip gets closer, some internet foliage maps and Yankee Magazine might help you with where you might find color. Color comes earliest to "swamp maples" in wet areas like around ponds. And sometimes there's a single tree that colors early. Whether you choose I93/I89 to Vermont or I93 to NH's north country, you're going to see some nice scenery even if you are on the interstate (i.e. distant view of mountains). A lot of VT is beautiful any time of the year. A walk thru NH's Flume is a great walking activity.

I don't think you have any chance of color at all on the coast but if you want the best seafood and restaurants, Portland ME and Portsmouth NH would be good destinations.

While you are here, find a good apple orchard and, if you're lucky, they also make cider and the wonderful smell will be in the air. There are several orchards in New England that grow a wide variety of heirloom apples. Gould Hill just outside of Concord NH and close to I89 has a good website and a really nice view from their small parking lot.

A lot depends on any special interests you might have. I love visiting farmers markets. We usually have very nice weather at the end of September beginning of October.

Here in central New Hampshire, foliage peak is generally the first 10 days of October, but there is still plenty of nice color before and after these dates. What you could do is spend a few days on the Maine coast (Kennebunkport, Camden, etc). You won't see much in the way of foliage, but it's quite scenic. From there, head north for a few days to some place like Jackson or Littleton NH. By his time there will be a fair amount of color up there. You could spend the last few days near Woodstock Vermont in central Vermont, which is an easy 3 hour drive to Logan airport. Of course a lot depends on the weather, but this time of year is typically very pleasant. Yankee Magazine's website is a great resource for New England travel.

Thank you very much for the advice and comments

August on the Vineyard would make me miserable - off season it can be gorgeous without the horrendous crowds that followed 2 presidents there.

oops I answered the wrong thread - another was condidering August travel