Vermont/New Hampshire
 

We will be traveling to Vermont for a wedding on September 7th, 2015. The wedding will take place near Lake Morey in Vermont. We plan to fly into Manchester, NH, drive to Lake Morey and spend 6 days in the area. September 6th and 7th will be devoted to the wedding. We are looking for ideas/places to go and things to do. We enjoy hiking, site seeing, visiting breweries and adventures. We are in our 50's, very active and would appreciate any suggestions on must sees, things to do, places to stay and eat. Thank you.
DJ

google maps suggests two routes. I93 N to I89 to Hanover NH area brings you close to Norwich VT. We've had two GTG at the Norwich Inn and baking classes at King Arthur Flour. I'm not a beer drinker but the Inn has a good selection. This is just north of Quechee VT (Simon Pierce restaurant and glass blowing is very popular.). One of the Fodorites planned to hike a portion of the Appalachian trail that runs through the Norwich area.

The second route option is to continue north on I93 and then west when you get to Plymouth NH. This is just as you are about to enter NH's White Mountains. Both I89 and I93 routes are scenic but I93 more so because you see the mountains ahead. I93 cuts through the White Mountains if you keep going north. Your hiking opportunities are numerous. Here's a link to the Vermont beer trail http://www.brewtrail.com/vermont-breweries/

The weather is usually great that time of year. You have the option of mountain trails or doing an easier hike thru a White Mountain attraction like The Flume. There are also zip line and kayaking opportunities.

If you want historic areas, there are several: St Gaudens, Cornish NH; The Fells in Newbury NH, Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner NH, Canterbury Shaker Village near Concord NH, Billings Farm Museum, Woodstock VT to mention the most popular.

Keep in mind the wedding is on Labor Day weekend so Friday northbound traffic from MHT is going to be extremely heavy by mid-afternoon. It will thin out once you get north of Concord NH or onto I89.

You can do some great day trips from the Lake Morey area.

> hiking, site seeing

Franconia Notch area has tons of both.

https://mooneymountainguides.files.w...9/dscn7168.jpg
http://www.dickndebbietravels.com/wp...4_1200x797.jpg
http://www.nhstateparks.org/uploads/...llWeb_2010.pdf

Even though the Granite Man of the Mountain is gone forever, the place is still a wonderful place to do as much hiking as you can handle.

While we were in VT and NH last May, we visited three very interesting places that are not far from Lake Morey: Saint-Guadens National Historic Site in Cornish NH, the Billings Farm in Woodstock VT, and the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth VT.

HTtY

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. I will be looking into each one and try to put together a travel plan. I so appreciate everyone's help.

Still looking for suggestions for our trip to Vermont/ New Hampshire in September.

VR 100 from Woodstock south passes through or near many of the picturesque Vermont small towns.

And VR 100 north of Woodstock has always been a favorite of ours too.

I live about 20 miles from Lake Morey. Beautiful area. Here are some ideas:
Vermont - Woodstock is a picture perfect upscale village with lots of restaurants and shops.
Billings Farm Museum & Rockefeller estate - old time farm with hands on exhibits, nice walking trails at Rockefeller estate.
Harpoon Brewery in Windsor
Mt Ascutney state park auto road -spectacular drive to the summit.
Norwich Inn & Brew Pub
New Hampshire - Hanover is a picturesque college town with several very good restaurants
St Gaudens in Cornish also close by is the Cornish/Windsor covered bridge, a great photo op.
the drive north from Hanover to Lyme to Orford NH is very rural and scenic.
Flying Goose Brew Pub in New London - very pretty spot.

if you did the Flying Goose Pub (New London is a beautiful college town), you could also hike little Mt Kearsarge. The state park on the Wilmot side (down the road from New London) has a nice auto road with switchbacks and wonderful views from the park. I understand the trail to the summit is steep. Or you could take the scenic route thru Sutton and Bradford to Warner and go up the Warner side.

Both New London and Warner are off Rt I89 which takes you to I93 on your way back to the airport.

List of VT breweries by region
http://www.vtbeer.org/breweries/region/

some other places to visit not far from Lake Morey are the Enfield Shaker Museum
http://www.shakermuseum.org/

the Justin Morrill homestead

Dartmouth's Hood Museum of Art

Is it worth the drive to travel to the coast for one night? Thought about driving to Hampton Beach the day our plane arrives in Manchester, NH. We pick up the rental car about 3:30 pm. The next day we would travel to Lake Morey Resort in Vermont. I am trying to find a fun place to stay for one night before heading to the wedding destination on Sunday. Thank you.

The coast is an easy hop from MHT though if you're arriving on Friday going into a labor day weekend , traffic will be heavy. If you arrive Saturday, it will be hard to find a one-night reservation on a holiday weekend. Next day you'd have a little over 2 hrs drive to Lake Morey which, with a stop along the way for breakfast or lunch, should be a nice drive.

Portsmouth would be great since you like breweries, but Sheraton Harborside is @ $500 that weekend.

The Victoria Inn in Hampton shows $269 on their website.

I checked two other Portsmouth hotels and was shocked by the price which drops after Labor Day. These are within walking distance of shops and restaurants. I recently had lunch at Surf with a friend who showed me all the restaurants on that street share a rear deck overlooking Portsmouth harbor. You can walk the back deck from one to the next. Should you get there, it's a fun stroll and if you can find a table, a perfect view. You can see the draw bridge and several of the tour boats which includes the gundalow.

The beach is going to be mobbed. For a 3:30 pm arrival, you might be better off considering a night in Manchester which has a great variety of restaurants. If you go to the website, Hippo Press is a weekly newspaper which focuses on Concord, Manchester, Portsmouth and beyond with things to do and list of events. You can pick up the hardcopy when you arrive at MHT. There should be a stack at the visitors info booth near baggage claim.

Perhaps a sunset cruise of Portsmouth harbor?
http://www.portsmouthharbor.com/crui...ights-cruises/

Thank you. I'm so appreciative of your suggestions. I think I need to rethink the beach idea. It's hard to get it all in with such a short time. Maybe I need to find a cute place to stay on Saturday on the way to Fairlee, VT. The prices for lodging are so high for this weekend. Hope to get a decision her

Once you get into your rental car etc it'll be 4:30pm so not a lot of time to see/do things on Saturday. The retro Lamplighter Motor Inn in New London is one of the few places that I see has availability for one night. Have dinner at Peter Christian's Tavern up the road.

Dinner at The Inn on Pleasant Lake would be terrific, but they only have one sitting at 7pm and since your flight could conceivably get in an hour late or so, a reservation here might be puMshing it. MHT to New London is about an hour's drive.

Six South Street Hotel about 30 mins further up the freeway in Hanover also shows availability that evening. Slim pickins on a holiday Saturday....I wouldn't wait too long to book something. SixSouth.com allows you to cancel up to 24 hours before arrival if you want to lock something in while continuing to browse around.

If you end up having to stay in Manchester or Concord there are good restaurant choices. You could go kayaking near Concord. Hike Mt Kearsarge close to I89 in Warner or Wilmot (next to New London mentioned by Clark), there are two parks on the mountain on different sides.

Not much between New London and the Hanover/Lebanon area for lodging choices. Suggest you find a place ASAP then post location if you need ideas for local activities. It sounds like you have Saturday to do on your own, then wedding, then more vacation time.

It is awfully late to be hoping to find "something cute" on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I looked quickly at Expedia in the Lebanon/Hanover area and saw what looks like a good deal at the Six South Street Hotel in Hanover, mentioned above. Hanover is a pleasant town to explore with some good restaurants and the hotel is supposed to be nice. i would go for that

The drive from Manchester airport to Fairlee Vt is about 2 hours.There is no need for an overnight stop halfway, unless you want to explore the New London/Sunapee area which as others have mentioned, is quite nice.

If you do Lebanon/Hanover area, Norwich VT is right across the river with a terrific farmers market on Sat plus I understand there's a portion of the Appalachian Trail nearby. There's Quechee gorge. You can enjoy local beer at Norwich Inn pub.