I am in the process of planning a trip to the New England area in the middle of October. I have never been to that part of the country before and I need some guidance on what to see and do. I will only have a week and I know there is so much beauty and history in the area that I will only be able to get an overview. I will have a car and should be able to get around fairly easily.

I plan on spending two or three days in the Boston area and then plan on spending a couple of days in Maine in either Portland or Bath (open to recommendations). The other two or three days that I have left are kind of open at this point, again I'm looking for recommendations.

Some of the things I'm interested in seeing are historical sites, small fishing towns, lighthouses, old covered bridges and of course the autumn foliage. I'm a bit of a photo nut, so I'm looking for great picture taking opportunities. Also, recommendations on good places to eat for a person who will be on a bit of a budget, seafood is of particular interest because of the location.

Thanks for your input.

TopFlight4

Portland, ME is a great place to spend a day or two. I highly recommend it. If your budget is tight, there are many chain hotels like Days Inn and Super 8 in South Portland, and then you can take your car down into the downtown area (not even a 10 minute ride) to do your eating and sightseeing. The Old Port section can't be beat for fun shops and great pubs. Have fun! On your way through from Boston to Maine, think about stopping in Portsmouth, NH for a few hours. There is just enough "downtown" to burn through in a 1/2 to 3/4 of a day and it's pretty charming and some of it is right on the water. Many great places to eat too. There is a historical plantation called Strawberry Hill or something like that, but we didn't explore it ourselves. We did drive by however, and it seemed pretty "authentic" looking.

The middle of October is PEAK weekend so you may have some trouble finding a place to stay in Maine, or New Hampshire.

You probably need to book this as quickly as possible and know that the prices may be a bit higher since it is peak season.

Try yahoo, and do a search of hotels in the areas you want to stay in and make some calls to see who might have rooms available.

You might have a better time staying just outside Boston, like Framingham, there is a nice Sheraton right on the Mass Pike and easily accessable to downtown Boston, or you can head north for foliage.

I would suggest getting a travel guide on the area so you have some ideas of what you want to see and maps so you have some ideas of the distance between sites.

The Freedom Trail in Boston is alot of fun, and will cover many of the more historical sites and it is a walking tour, that starts at the State House an goes all the way to the Norht End, (lots of good eating there).

Have a great time and enjoy your trip.

New England in one week--Wow! There is so much to see. However, I would head up to Maine, stopping at Portsmouth, N.H. as someone suggested. It is a small, charming town. In Maine, you needn't go far to get the flavor. The Ogunquit and Kennebunkport areas are very nice. If you venture further north, Bath, Wicasset, and Boothbay Harbor
are nice coastal locations. The best place for color is the White Mountains. You could drive across Maine, although it would take you several hours--but well worth doing. The Kancamagus Trail in North Conway is spectacular with mountain views and lots of color. Great photo ops. I would spend a few days in Boston and see all the historical sights. If you venture north of Boston, the small coastal town of Rockport has wonderful scenery (home of the famous motif #1), fabulous shops and restaurants.
I am jumping around a bit, but there are nice lighthouses (Portland Head Light) and others in the Maine area. A wo;nderful state is Vemont--our favorite fall destination.
When you have your itinerary more established, write in again. I can make more specific suggestions.

Hello,
I would recommend staying in Portland instead of Bath. We stayed at the Pomegranate Inn last spring. It is a lovely B & B in a very pretty residential district but close to downtown and the harbor. Portland has a great art museum, the indoors farmers market (where you can get lunch, buy interesting food stuffs); and a great waterfront called the Old Port, with numerous shops and restaurants. My daughter just graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, just north of Portland, so we traveled to that area quite frequently. You should drive around the Casco Bay region for beautiful scenery. I recommend Harpswell Island, Orr's and Baileys Islands for spectacular scenery and seafood. Restaurants on those island I can recommend are: Cook's Lobster House, Estes I, Estes II and Estes III, and the Dolphin Marina. But first you should check to see when they close for the season. Some might close after Columbus Day. Popham Beach is a great beach for walking.

Some suggestions for Boston sightseeing: Freedom Trail, Old North Church, Swan Boats, Aquarium, Science Museum, Museum of Fine Arts.

You should make hotel reservations soon because you are travelling during peak foliage season.

Good luck and enjoy beautiful New England!

When we planned to go to New England, I didn't know much about it either. So I went to the library and got some books. One of the most helpful was the Travel Smart Trip Planner. It had ideas for each of the six NE states. I think it would be a help to you too. We loved New England and you will be there at the height of the beautiful leaves. Enjoy and take lots of pictures. May I especially recommend the Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, MA if you in that area. We loved it!

Boston, and the Maine coast are both fabulous places to visit. The further up the coast you go, the more rocky and scenic it will become. However, if you want to see spectacular foliage and covered bridges, the mountains are your best bet. If you are in the Portland area, NH's White Mountains would be the closest. From Boston, you could visit the Berkshires, central NH, or central Vt. Another factor will be the weather, and how far along the leaves are. The Whites generally peak in early October, the Berkshires a week or so later.

I live in the New England and Fall is perfect for a vacation and beautiful foliage. My recommendations would be Portsmouth NH, Ogunquit, ME, Kennebunkport ME, up to Portland ME., if you love the coastline. Camden Maine is beautiful but quite a drive from Boston, about 3 hrs. Boston is a fun city to explore, on foot and subways. Driving can be awful crazy. Another favorite area is Newport RI, and the touring the Mansions. We can't forget about the White Mountains of NH, We will be heading there ourselves the beginning of October. Make certain to make reservations early. Massachusetts has a holiday October 13th and many events are planned around this weekend. I would recommend www.yankeemagazine.com for fall fairs and events.

Thanks for all your replies and information. Any additional thoughts would be helpful and appreciated. As soon as I get a feel for what areas suits my interests, I'll list my itinerary and perhaps you can all add ideas for that particular area.

Thanks again, TopFlight4

I'd book a few nights in Ogunquit at either Seachambers.com or the Sparhawk if you can get in. From there you can explore a vast amount of the area, York, Kennebunkport etc....

Where to see good foliage color depends a LOT on the weather, both in summer and fall (and a good rain or windstorm can bring it sadly to an early close).

I live in northern Connecticut, and peak foliage time in the Berkshires of MA and Litchfield Hills of CT is Columbus Day weekend. It's also a holiday for a lot of folks, and very busy on the best "leaf-peeping" roads. Local news stations such as WFSB have good Web sites that show where the best color is as it progresses from the Canadian border to Long Island Sound.

Our first year over here, we went to Vermont to see the leaves, which were just starting to color in our region. We were very surprised in mid-Vermont to discover snow, and all the leaves on the ground... So keep a weather-eye open.

We love Portland too. Less foliage, but lots of good food!

I have friends from out west who are making their first trip to NE in October. I'm making myself nuts trying to come up with the best of everything I know of--history, fishing/clamming towns, foliage, lighthouses. If it helps, this is the current state of our itinerary:

2 Days-overnight to Lincoln, NH for foliage where we will drive the Kangamangus Highway, shop, and hike. Rooms were available as of last night. You might want to check out Yankee.com. They have a map that gives date ranges for "Peak" color.

2 Days--overnight to Nantucket. Rates go down after 10/13 and rooms are available. I found a few B&Bs at $85/night

Day Trip -- North Shore towns: Marblehead, Salem, Essex, Gloucester, Rockport, Ipswich (Route 1A loop)

2 Day Trips to Boston--one for ducktour and Freedom Trail/history; the other for museums and North End.

Concord and Lexington for more history

My friends want to fit Maine in, but we haven't gotten that far yet.

Hope this helps

Jackie, wouldn't it make sense to put the North End on the same day as the Freedom Trail?

Closer day trips by car or boat are Rockport and Gloucester.

Annonymous: North End works on either day. I was thinking the MFA in the morning, either the Aquarium or Museum of Science in pm and then having dinner in the North End. Too much to see and do!

OK, here?s my itinerary? after reading your posts and talking with an associate that once lived in the area, I went ahead and booked my hotels last night. I will be arriving on Oct. 11th and returning home on Oct. 18th. I will first spend 2 days in the Boston area and then head north to Portsmouth, NH where I?ll spend the night and part of the following day. I then plan to drive up towards the White Mountains and stay in North Conway, NH. I?ll spend a short time in the area around the White Mountains and then drive to Portland, ME. I have a room for 2 nights in Portland and then I will return to Boston where I will spend the last night before returning home to Salt Lake.

I hope this will narrow down your recommendations on what would be of interest in the areas I?ll be in. Again some of the things I am interested in are lighthouses, covered bridges, historical areas, autumn foliage and hopefully a couple of really good seafood meals.

Thanks for your previous replays, they have helped to direct my itinerary. Now any specifics based on my plans would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, TopFlight4

Okie, if you want to see some covered bridges there are two in Conway, NH just off Rt.16 They span the Saco river.On your way to Portland if you take Rt 16 to Rt 25 there is one just off of Rt 25 in Porter ME.It is just off of Rt 160.It spans the Ossipee river.For a nicer ride take Rt 153 from center Conway to rt.25.

Sorry about the strange "?" showing up where there should be an apostrophe. That isn't the way I originally typed it, I don't know what happened but I can't seem to edit it out. Oh well... it must be a poltergeist

I went to New England for the first time last month and had a wonderful trip. I recommend that you spend 1 or 2 days in Boston. Be sure to do the Freedom Trail and a Duck Tour. Then spend at least 2 days along the Maine coast. Be sure to stop in Camden and spend a full day in the Acadia area (including Bar Harbor). If you want to see the fall foliage and some great scenery, drive through the White Mtns of New Hampshire and then spend the night in Montpelier Vermont. On the next day, drive down along the Green Mtns of Vermont. Be sure to stop in Woodstock, VT (the quintessential New England town). I went to all of these places in 3 1/2 days. Thus, it's possible to see A LOT of sights in just a few days since the states are so close together.

Portsmouth was a great choice! Strawbery Banke historical area is next to Prescott Park on the water. We just had a great boat ride on the Heritage which docks on Ceres St behind the Oar House (restaurant). Park in the parking garage. We chose the inland river cruise up the Piscataqua and into great bay. If you want great fried seafood or steamed lobster, try Newicks on Dover Pt Rd (head toward Durham). The best lobster roll is supposed to be at the Ice House, a little drive-in restaurant in Newcastle. Make sure you drive Rt 1B thru this beautiful area. On one section of narrow causeway you can see the old naval prison on your left and a view of the renovated famous Wentworth-by-the-Sea on your right. Also head over to Rye to drive past the beautiful mansions on the coast. Odiorne Pt is an old military site but now features a marine biology science center and nice walk along the ocean.
I'm guessing that you will take Rt 16 to North Conway. I'm not sure this is very scenic, maybe someone else will say. If you go this route make sure to visit Wolfboro, a very pretty town on Lake Winnipesaukee.
Portland is close enough for a day trip to the Pemaquid Point lighthouse. There are two lobster places in nearby Round Top. Both are on the water and both are budget oriented, eat on a picnic table places.
You'll have a great time!