New England in the Fall

Hi - we%26#39;re going to become leaf peepers between 5-22 October 2009 and are trying to decide on an itinerary. I%26#39;m posting this on all the forums of the states we will probably be traveling through.

We%26#39;ve booked our flights and just about decided on the accommodation for our first night in Boston.

What we are thinking of at the moment is:

Night 1 in Boston, picking the hire car up the next morning and having a leisurely trip along the coast taking in Salem and Portsmouth on our way up to kennebunkport for the next night.

Next day up to Portland and on along to Jackson for 2 nights, then

2 nights in Stowe,

2 in Bennington,

2 nights in Litchfield,

2 in Newport followed by

2 nights in Yarmouth and finishing off with

2 nights and 3 days in Boston before flying back home.

we%26#39;d really appreciate any advice of whether we%26#39;re choosing the right places to stay at to get the best from our trip or if we would be better going by different places, or even if we are being over ambitious!! We prefer to stay in small B%26amp;Bs in small towns (but with plenty to see and good choices of restaurants)

Any comments appreciated - cheers

New England in the Fall

I hope you have your reservations made if you are leaf peeping, especially during the first 2 weeks of your trip. I am assuming you mean Salem, MA. Great choices the first day. I love Jackson. Consider the Ellis River Inn (or something like that for your stay. You certainly have an ambitious itinerary, but you are certainly going to see it all. Try DeMillo%26#39;s restaurant in Portland for a treat - it is a ship. I love Portland, also - so good choices there. I think you have some great choices and I hope you have a ton of fun. Make sure you try Maine lobster. There are some great B%26amp;B%26#39;s in all those places. Good luck, and have fun.

New England in the Fall

Let us know if you have a preference in accomodations

or if we can help with any other information.

Please take all comments with a grain of salt.

Every visitor from the UK want to visit Salem. I do not understand why as I never visited when I lived in Ma for the first 20 years of my life. But some people really enjoy it so that is just a matter of personal choice. I suggest Rockport and Gloucester instead although they are a little out of way on Cape Ann- there is no high speed direct route to the NH coast but the drive along rt 133 back to rt 95 is very scenic.

While Bennington gets alot of attention, I think that if you stayed a little south in Williamstown you will get a better feel for the Berkshires. Unfortunately, you are going to be driving by so many great towns in all the states you are visiting and I hope that you leave yourself time to ';smell the roses'; and not just see flashes of color as you pass by.

I am not familiar with Litchfield ( I am assuming CT)

but the NW corner of CT is quite lovely, I hear.

Newport is often a daytrip for visitors although you certainly can spend a couple of days there.

Not much leaf peeping in Yarmouth as the Cape flora/fauna is very different from other areas.

You will already have visited a number of seaside villages so this may be a bit redundant for you. You could spread those days back into NH and VT ( I vote for NH) or use the time in Boston from where you can still visit the Cape by ferry to Provincetown. Cape Cod is very quiet in the fall and the seasonal places are getting ready to close up for the winter.

You will just have to decide if your trip is going to be appetizers everywhere or more full course meals. Either way, if it is how you like to travel, then you will have great time.

I think a two week trip is awesome...you should have a great time. It is nice not to be rushed and October 5-22 is prime leaf peeping time!

Litchfield County is pretty but if my math is correct then they will be getting to CT around October 13-14 which will be on the early side of fall foliage for that area (we are just starting to peak in Peterborough around that time and we are definitely ahead of CT).

I would probably skip CT and either extend my stay in the Northern parts by a day or two and drive straight from Bennington to Newport (perhaps Hanover/Norwich area or the White Mountains) or replace Litchfield completely by looping into the Monadnock Region of Southwest NH from Bennington and then heading south to Newport from there.

As for booking now which others have suggested...I would strongly agree but your choices are not drastically limited yet...I know plenty of very nice places that have availability for October