georgel

I am a foreigner planning a visit for next fall (2007) in New England. I can come any time in September or October. My chief interest is the beautiful NE foliage. I come from Israel, and we have nothing like that here. I will have a week to drive around and I would love some advice on where to go and the time of year that I am most likely to experience the peak colorful foliage.
Thank you so much in advance.
George

Gretchen

Early October, late September. And it is spectacular. Make hotel reservations, particularly for week-ends.

gail

The traditional foliage "weekend" in central New England is a 3-day Columbus Day weekend holiday which includes second Monday in October - if your visit includes that time, lodging is tougher to get.

As a general rule, the mountainous areas of Northern New Hampshire and Vermont will start late September, moving south until early to mid October (Boston area). Although every year papers and weather guys spend a lot of time on foliage maps, I have read info that says times do not really vary more than a week from year to year. And distances are short enough so that you can usually head a little north or south or up/down in altitude to find beauty. Also, it is not like the only time to see foliage is at peak - it is not like they peak and all fall off the trees the next day (unless there is a major storm - but we won't go there).

Since you are likely flying into Boston, I might plan a trip for very end of September/early October.

Anonymous

If you come during the first or second week in October, you will find wonderful foliage someplace. The peak foliage date varies from one year to another. It starts in the northwest (more mountainous and further inland) and moves southward.

Late September is too early. In 2005, I spent the last weekend of September in Burlington, VT, which is in the northwestern part of the state, and the foliage was just barely beginning to turn. That was unusually late, but could certainly happen again next year.

dfrostnh

I vote for the first week in October for a visit to NH's White mountains and lakes region. Make sure you have reservations for the weekends. As the time of your visit approaches, visit Yankee magazine's website for local foliage reports and things to do. It's a great time to visit an apple orchard and can still be warm enough to enjoy a boat ride either on a lake or maybe Portsmouth NH harbor/inland rivers.

china_cat

I think late September is too early. The peak foliage varies from state to state, but your best bet is something from about October 10th-15th, more or less. This year I was in the Berkshires (MA) over Columbus day, which was October 12th, and it was still pre-peak.

The Berkshires, the White Mountains, the interior part of Maine, any of these would be very nice.

you can see a few of my foliage pictures from this year here: http://tinyurl.com/ylemvn

professors

I agree with those who have said late Sept. is too early. IThe foliage was great here in Maine the first and second week in Oct., and Southern NE
(Conn., Mass, RI)would be good even closer to the end of the month.
Marcia in Maine

escargot

Here is a link that might give you some ideas - it has popular foliage driving routes.
http://tinyurl.com/wbvnf

and another with state by state info:
http://tinyurl.com/yxqcct

most sites 'guess' at the peak for next year now -
peak is affected by our spring, summer and fall weather/ storms/winds - all those things can contribute to when the exact peak would be or how long it would last (ie; bad storms blowing all the leaves off early, etc)

But I agree with those who say your best guess is around Oct 5-15.

some other sites that might help you plan:
yankee magazine
yankeefoliage.com
gonewengland.about.com
and
newenglandusa.com

Mid vermont area is lovely, as are all the areas mentioned - White Mtns, Berkshires, section of NH, if you do some reading on sites mentioned, and NE in general, you can also plan so your driving will take you by other points of interests to you - museums, historical places, etc.

There are many good trip reports here on foliage trips and suggestions if you put "new england fall foliage" or "fall foliage" into the search bar -

Ira did a great foliage trip report - the link to it follows - he chose a lovely route -

http://tinyurl.com/yd9sq3

FainaAgain

When I was planning a similar trip, everybody was saying September is too early, first half of October is better to see the colors.

mary_11714

Last weekend of September--second weekend of October. Fly into Burlington, VT--shuttle flights from Boston or NYC--Drive south on Rt. 7, enjoy Ben & Jerry's, & VT Teddy Bear factoies. Lot's of cows in beautiful rolling hills..Continue down through the Berkshires of Mass, Norman Rockwell country..and onto Conneticut to the Long Island Sound..Straight through driving +/- 10 hrs., Plenty of places to stay along this route.

leeshiebean

Early October in Northern Vermont.

tovarich

Early October in the highlands. Best centre for viewing is Jackson New Hampshire in the White mountains.Plane to Boston-rental car drive to Jackson and make lovely excursions there.Back to Boston via the Berkshires.Paul

alliegator

Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a centralized location to rent a house in either NH or VT? Figured we would come the first week of October and hang out and drive around to leaf peep, apple picking or go to some State Parks with the tots. We want to fly into Manchester or and are pretty flexible.

capxxx

Don't expect to pick apples in mid October. Think about visiting a punkin patch and taking a hayride.

Most of the Vermont ski places have condo's avaliable in fall. Killington, Mt. Snow, Smuggler's Notch, Stowe, ...

Hannover is nice.

The towns around Lake Winnepesauki (misspelled) are nice.

leeshiebean

alliegator,
from MHT to northeastern VT it's about 2 hours, maybe a few minutes over. So if you're interested in a centralized location, perhaps the area around Plymouth, that way you're an hour from the airport and an hour from NE Vermont. The drive to VT through the Notch is very nice, well when the weather is nice. I've made that drive in snow and it's not good!

dfrostnh

I think it would be best to look at some things you would like to do with children. I hear lots of good reports about Charming Fare Farm near Manchester NH. (hayrides and lots of animals) Warner NH, between Concord and Sunapee on Rt 89 has a foliage festival over Columbus Day weekend. Very small midway but nice parade, farmers market, etc while up past Lake Winnipesaukee, there's a small traditional agricultural fair in Sandwich. Storyland in Glen, up past North Conway is very popular with young children. Plymouth area to Lake W isn't far via 93 and there's other attractions such as Clarks Trained Bears, Cannon Mtn Tramway, the Flume that would be great for kids. So I'll second the other poster's recommendation for the Plymouth area. I thought the Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville was terrific. It would be a do-able day trip since it's in northern VT near Littleton/Rt 93. We tried a local corn maze last fall and I was very disappointed. Danville does it up well. It's a great family activity. Also, driving up Rt 93 will be a great introduction to foliage since it's so beautiful the entire way and views get really nice further north because of the mountains. Head further south if color has peaked in the mountains. Plymouth to the Seacoast might be a 2 hour trip but is a do-able day trip. You can take a foliage cruise out of Portsmouth. Closer would be cruise of Lake Winnipesaukee on the Mt Washington. I think Wolfeboro on the north side of the lake has a scarecrow festival but I'm not sure of dates.

alliegator

Thanks for the responses! Yes we will have our 4yrs old and 2yr old, so stopping along the way is ideal. Last time we went with our daughter, we did the Conn>Mass route. We did a local farm and Apple picking and pumpkin patch and had a great time. So all your suggestions sounds good. With NE States being so close together, we can travel to find the leaves, if we miss them in one area.

I heard Columbus Weekend was crazy so I was thinking maybe visitng Oct 3 (mid week)and avoid the weekend madness.

escargot

If you pass near Lincoln, MA with children that age, they would likely enjoy Drumlin Farm - it's great fun in the fall with hayrides, activities, farm animals, pumpkins, etc - that time of year they often have special craft activities for little ones and my kids used to love some time there at that age.

suze

You're correct that with a car, you can drive (if need be) to see the peak folliage. Since each year is a bit different, it's impossible to predict exact dates for each area (VT to NH and north to south in each state). I used to live in both states... incredibly gorgeous part of the country. Enjoy!

dfrostnh

The weekend madness is mostly limited to certain highways and certain times of the day. Friday night and late Sunday afternoon will have very heavy traffic on I93 and I89. Arriving on a Thursday would make it a lot easier since there's a lot of traffic around Manchester. HINT: the airport is about halfway between Rt 293 (the old highway west of the river) and Rt 93. this can be very confusing because both go north. After you leave the airport get in the right hand lane so you can take a right hand turn to go east on Rt 101 to Rt 93N. Traffic starts to get heavy around 4. In Concord it can be almost stop and go until you get past exit 14. I'm finding that even now Friday night traffic is traveling a less than the speed limit simply because of volume. Get a good map. There are alternate routes but keep in mind when heading south at the end of your visit, Rt 89 is feeding into Rt 93 around exit 12 and then can get backed up because of the toll booth. Just avoid the peak travel times. There's plenty of beautiful places to see but I would definitely avoid the Conway area on Sunday afternoon.