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.

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 more nights in Litchfield,

2 in Newport followed by

2 nights in Yarmouth and finishing off with

2 night 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

Hi cuddly53,

That looks like a very nice itinerary to me. Based on your timing, you should see some wonderful colour.

I don%26#39;t think your plan is overly ambitious. You%26#39;ve chosen some very nice towns to stay in as well. The only one I%26#39;m not sure about is Yarmouth, but that%26#39;s only because my knowledge of Cape Cod isn%26#39;t that great. A lot of people seem to recommend Chatham or Eastham, but at any rate Yarmouth seems like it would be a good base for exploring the Cape.

My one suggestion would be to consider subtracting one night from Bennington and adding it to Jackson. There will be a lot to see in the White Mountains, and you might also want to make a trip down to the Lakes Region (Castle in the Clouds, Sandwich, Squam Lake, Meredith, etc.) if you have time. Bennington, on the other hand, has the great monument, but I think you%26#39;ll cover most of the nearby attractions on the drive there (Mt. Equinox Skyline Drive, for example).

You might also consider staying in Manchester, VT instead of Bennington -- it%26#39;s smaller, but it would make the drive from Stowe a bit shorter (and also allow you to make a side-trip to the lovely town of Woodstock if you wanted).

Anyway, those are minor suggestions to consider -- otherwise I think your plan looks great!

New England in the Fall

Hi TerrMys - Thanks for your suggestions its great to have this sort of input so we can tweak things before we go to get the best from our trip - I think we will stay the extra night at Jackson and choose one of the other places instead of Yarmouth. Thanks again - cuddly53

Your plan sounds perfect and once you tweak it a bit more, it%26#39;ll really be a great itinerary.

When you get to Stowe, Vermont and are all settled in %26amp; when you%26#39;re ready to go out to dinner look for Harrison%26#39;s up there. It%26#39;s really really good and has a lot of great reviews on it all the time on a lot of the sites:

http://www.harrisonsstowe.com/

I see that one of your destinations could be Kennebunkport, Maine %26amp; since you really like B%26amp;B%26#39;s, may be you could get a room at the Cape Arundel Inn. You%26#39;ll really enjoy it there a lot, it%26#39;s right along the coast, wait till you see it! The owner has done an amazing job with this beautiful Inn these days. They%26#39;ve got a gorgeous art collection filling this Inn now, it%26#39;s positively stunning. It%26#39;s also got a great dining room too, chef Lemoine helped with the White Barn Inn %26amp; the Salt Marsh Tavern before he started here. If you don%26#39;t get the chance to stay here, definitely try to have dinner in their dining room, by making reservations for it as you get closer to your trip. You%26#39;ll have to see this Inn to see what I mean:

www.capearundelinn.com

Here%26#39;s info on it:

208 Ocean Ave

Kennebunkport

ME 04046

E-mail: cai@capearundelinn.com

Telephone: 207-967-2125

Fax: 207-967-1199

You%26#39;re going to have a wonderful time with this trip!

Cuddly - have you picked a place to stay in Jackson?

We all respond to these requests for itinerary comments from the viewpoint of our own prejudices. Mine is that I would never spend that much time in a car on a vacation as I do not find hours of driving to be relaxing. So, with that grain of salt. I would spend more time in Stowe or Jackson so you get to relax, walk around, take a short hike, etc. Bennington is nice but I would also substitute Manchester, which has the Equinox Hotel and many nice B%26amp;B%26#39;s. Or I would travel further south just a little to Williamstown, MA or any of the very quaint Berkshire towns. Any of the Cape towns are fine, just understand that it is very quiet on the Cape and not alot of leafs to peep at as the flora is very different on the Cape from elsewhere in NE. I am not sure why so many folks from the UK have Salem on their itineray and can only assume that it has a great PR machine. There will be alot of people in Salem around that time. I love Rockport and would skip Salem.

I agree with neslaw. When we first went to England I drove around like a madman wanting to see everything. The second time I really took my time exploring areas amazed at how much I missed the first time.

Also, Southern New Hampshire is a great area to explore and there should be less traffic.

Thanks everyone for all your comments and ideas - I%26#39;ve printed everything out and will use it all in my final planning - will take all your suggestions into consideration - its great to get local knowledge and info from people who%26#39;ve already done the trip.

Cheers Cuddly53

Thanks everyone for all your comments and ideas - I%26#39;ve printed everything out and will use it all in my final planning - will take all your suggestions into consideration - its great to get local knowledge and info from people who%26#39;ve already done the trip.

Cheers Cuddly53

Hi Cuddly,

Like a previous poster, I highly recommend the White Mountains region of New Hampshire. I was there last Columbus Day Weekend (mid Oct) and found the fall colors breathtaking.

New England is beautiful in the fall and I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll have a great trip wherever you go. When in Maine, try to incorporate a trip to Acadia National Park. You can drive all the way to the top of Cadillac Mt. and the views en route and from the top are wonderful!

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