I've diligently read other similar posts and gleaned so much helpful information, but a little different angle here. We're two folks from Alaska, most happy on trails. We hope to see beautiful leaves, visit museums and other sites, but from Sept 30 to Oct 16, after 4 days in Boston, we hope to drive north through Vermont and return to Boston via NH. We also would like 4-5 bases from which to wander, bike, hike. Recommendations would be great, especially amazing trails and bike paths (street biking with rentals) not to be missed. Thank you!
Posted by
CT
96 posts
Those first two weeks of October are peak fall color, which will be beautiful, but also very crowded. You should try and book things asap, especially around Columbus Day weekend.
It’s hard to go wrong, though. Everywhere is beautiful that time of year. Woodstock VT and the nearby Queechee Gorge are spectacular and iconic. The Kancamagus Pass NH is a very popular scenic drive, but will have lots of traffic, especially on the weekends. The area around Conway gets crazy busy, so maybe try to avoid that area. Lake Winnepesaukee has lots of very pretty towns.
There are hiking trails pretty much everywhere.
That will get you started, anyway. Have fun!!
Posted by
white plains, ny, usa
4160 posts
Sorry to be a bit of a curmudgeon , but temper your expectations for vibrant color . So far ,this has been a brutal summer ( I live three miles from the Connecticut line , and frequently spend time in New England ) We have been having weeks of massive heat , into the nineties and virtually no rain . The possible impact of this , is that leaves will tend to brown and then fall , without much chromaticism . Keep your eye on the forecasts for color and weather going into Autumn to avoid potential dissapointment . I remember one season , some years ago in Queechee VT and Woodstock , with nary any color and all the leaves a crackling brown on the ground
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16435 posts
Treehouse, I'll echo the advice to book ASAP. Things were really booked up when I was nailing our arrangement down a couple weeks ago. and what's left what running really high. There were a fair number of ski-area condos left for OK prices but most had cleaning and other fees on top of taxes which kicked the $ up. While we often book apartments/condos for longer stays, they weren't quite what we were looking for on this trip or in areas we necessarily wanted to be in. We were also wanting in-town whenever possible for walking to dinner and adult beverages at day's end.
We'd hoped for Woodstock for one base to be near Marsh - Billings - Rockefeller National Historic Park for some hiking but were priced out/booked out of better-rated (not looking for top rated) accommodations for our dates. Will try and work some of that one in en-route to our lodge south of Manchester.