shannon44

Hi Tish! Since I'm from this neck of the woods, I thought I would offer my "two cents worth", especially since there are a few large considerations, which haven't been mentioned, that you should know about. Early October...northern New England....PEAK FOLIAGE SEASON. From the Berkshires, thru NH, VT and ME, this is hands down their busiest tourist season. Even if you still have your pick of accomodations, expect a great deal of traffic on those quaint little New England routes. (Personally, I like the Mt Washington Valley area, or even further north in NH. But this time of the year, all those little B&B's fill up fast.....As for Salem....ho/hum. Touristy and tacky. Get a much better room for less, with way more ambience, at or within walking distance to one of the most beautiful and historically significant harbors in the US in Marblehead, the next town over.

djkbooks

Here's another recommendation for Chatham, and the Bradford Inn there.

On the Cape, you should get shoulder, or even off season, rates, as this is not the typical foliage destination and accomodations are always plentiful.

Many places quote high rates assuming you don't/won't know any better.

One year, I phoned to reserve the weekend after Labor Day. Rate quoted was the "summer" rate. When I said that, according to my AAA guide, your rates drop after Labor Day, the response was "Oh, yes. I was looking at the wrong chart."

I don't know why anyone would describe Salem, MA as touristy and tacky. It's a beautiful town, with tourist attractions.

Check out the Lighthouse Inn on West Dennis Beach (see website). Great basepoint location for Provincetown one day (45 minutes each way) and ferry to either of the islands the next (10 minute drive to Hyannis, 30 minutes to Woods Hole).

carolyn

I'm not sure from your post if you plan to spend a night on Martha's Vineyard. We made a New England fall trip once (my husband tells everyone we drove 2,000 miles to look at leaves, but the trip was wonderful). At any rate, we took our car over to MV on the ferry and spent the night but in retrospect wished that we had gone over as foot passengers just for the day.

We did stay at the Golden Eagle Resort in Stowe and enjoyed it. At that time, you could tour the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory located on the road into Stowe, and the Van Trapp place served afternoon tea--maybe not as exciting to you as to us. Do try the maple sugar candy.

Tish

I have now booked up for Chatham, 2 nights at the Cyrus Kent House! Thanks to everyone for all the great advice and help, it has been invaluable to have input from those in the know. Only a month to go now and we cannot wait. I will report back about how we get on and thanks again...Tish