I would love to plan a trip to New England for October 2026.
We would love to find a route that would take us through smaller villages so we could stay in quaint BnB's and see the countryside. Of course the fall foliage would be nice to see if we hit the timing right. We have no must see's, just want to go off others recommendations of what they loved and why.
Can you suggest?
Thank you!
Hi, Susan and Monte, how long are you planning to visit? That would help to frame an answer.
And I would imagine you know this, but the leaves start turning first in the north and then head south as the days progress. Here is a good site to start looking at average fall foliage. It has maps and will give you an idea of timelines. Of course, you can't predict exact dates, but given that there has been a lot of rainfall this year, it will probably be a good year for color. https://www.explorefall.com
Hi Marlee,
I don't know how long? 2-3 weeks? We don't have a time restriction, so maybe depending on costs will decide the length of time.
We will plan for 2026! I wish it was this year :-)
Hope to catch up with you in person this fall with some resources. We’ve done 3 trips to NH in the past 6 years staying in NH each time but day tripping to a lot of beautiful towns in the Fall. https://www.visitnh.gov/plan-your-trip/fall/peak-foliage-map Like Mardee says, the leaves start to turn as the weather cools from north to south. We usually stay for 3 weeks over at least 2 weekends in October to take advantage of village festivals and fairs. In addition to our exchange home near Meredith, NH we typically also visit Vermont and Maine. We lived in Massachusetts for 2 years a long time ago and I can also recommend that state but I think of anything outside of the upper three states for a 3 week fall trip is stretching yourselves too thin. I can’t think of a single town in NE that doesn’t have charming B&Bs.
Having said that above, I'm actually thinking of doing the same thing next year. My route will be determined by relatives, as I have a cousin in Middlebury, VT, one in Connecticut and another cousin in the Berkshires, so I will be heading to those three places, but of course will be stopping at some other towns along the way. And I really want to get back to the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, which is wonderful. I enjoyed Litchfield and loved Glastonbury (which I could easily move to), in Connecticut. I'm thinking I might start in Quebec City, then work my way over and down through Nova Scotia, then Maine and so on.
Here is a thread from 3 years ago that I started when I was traveling to Connecticut with my sister and she wanted to see fall foliage. I got some great advice here from people, so you might want to check out the suggestions here (this was limited to Connecticut): https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/question-about-connecticut-towns
Hi Susan and Monte, I am sure you already know this but leaf-peeping season is one of the most popular and most expensive times to visit New England. Also, stay away from the Boston area when Head of the Charles regatta takes place in October as 10,000+ competitors and 300,000+ spectators flock to the area. Lastly, most colleges and universities have “Parents Weekend” around mid-October, which also drives up hotel prices.
About 10 years ago we did an inn-to-inn self-guided walking tour in Vermont. The inns were located in Chester, Ludlow, Proctorsville and Weston. The Vermont Country Store, you may be familiar with that catalogue, is located in Weston. Chester is particularly nice. Other towns to consider (yes we did the college tour) are Williamstown, MA (home to Williams College), Hanover, NH (home to Dartmouth), Brunswick, ME (home to Bowdoin) and the area around Blue Hill, ME (no colleges but I highly recommend the Bagaduce Lunch - takeout only, or eat on their picnic table).
The Kancamagus Hwy between Conway and Lincoln in NH is a fall classic for leaf peeping. Needless to say, you won't be the only ones there. Nearby is Hanover NH, home to Dartmouth and a quintessential New England college town. From the Lincoln end of the Kancamagus it isn't terribly far to Stowe VT and the von Trapp Lodge if Salzburg did not sate all your Sound of Music yearnings. Further south in VT, Woodstock is directly out of Currier and Ives (but with modern day traffic) and nearby Quechee has glass blowing artisans at work beside the waterfall. Newfane is a classic tiny village with a white Congregational church from 1839 and the Windham County courthouse with 17 green shuttered windows. If you want coastal New England, Cape Ann with Gloucester and Rockport is far more beautiful than Cape Cod. Marblehead has old whaling Captain's houses and Salem has the somber graveyard where the victims of the witch trails were laid to rest. In Maine, rocky Ogunquit, Nunan's Lobster Hut near Kennbunkport, Boothbay Harbor for the mix of pleasure and lobster boats with lobsters served on the dock, Camden for the classic Maine town, Port Clyde for the Wyeth lobster hut vibe. There's more but I'll stop. The fall colors are beautiful but the peak varies, it is wildly popular, and those cute BnBs fill up. Happy planning!
Wonderful information, thank you!
I think NH, Vermont and Maine sound perfect! I love the idea of just small villages, walkable, and beautiful scenery. And, small festivals sound wonderful too.
I have no knowledge of New England so I'm excited to learn more. I love the idea of festivals, the Kancamagus Hwy and old churches and towns.
What general areas of Maine, NH and Vermont would you suggest?
Looking forward to chatting with you Mona!
Indigenous Peoples weekend is the big fall weekend in southern Vermont. Dummerston has their annual apple pie festival that weekend, and it is big with two groups that you would not expect to co-exist peacefully, but they definitely do - bikers and cross-dressers! Scott Farm (also in Dummerston), the location where "Cider House Rules" was filmed, also holds their annual Heirloom Apple Festival that weekend. The Four Columns Inn in Newfane is a quintessential New England inn and is about 10 minutes away. There is a lot to see and do in Vermont in October. :)
Do some research. I find Youtube videos especially helpful. There are many, many places that are of interest to me that you might have no intetested in. some places I’ve enjoyed -
Artist related - Augustus St. Gaudens National Historical Site, Norman Rockwell Museum, Chesterwood ( home of sculptor Daniel Chester French who sculpted the lincoln Memorial )
In Vermont. - Hope Cemetary in Barre, VT, Bragg Farm Maple Syrup in East Montpelier, Ben and Jerry’s factory tour in Waterbury
In Maine - Nubble lighthouse in York, Lobster boat tpur ( several places, I did one in Portland ) Rockland/Rockport/Camden area ( superb Owl’s Head Transportation Museum is just one atteaction ), Boothbay Harbor, Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, Greenville and Moosehead Lake.
As a fellow Californian, I recommend not going to Acadia NP. We enjoyed it but the scenery wasn't better than northern California. and you're looking for more small town New England. There are many historical villages there. Our son lives near Deerfield, MA and they have interesting houses to tour and several interesting places nearby. Old Sturbridge Village is a fun day. Williamstown has a wonderful art museum. Newport, Rhode Island is adorable and you can tour mansions. There are so many beautiful towns others have mentioned. There will be many fall festivals on the weekends---google the towns you're interested in to narrow them down. Make reservations early---hotels are expensive in the fall. We were there early October, 2024 and the leaves were just starting to turn. Ironically, the most colorful foliage we saw was in the parking lot of our hotel in Westchester, NY! I suggest that you research more, decide what you want to see/do, and come back to post your itinerary. You can't make bad choices!
I think we should go in the fall, especially since we are planning (hopefully) a big trip to Europe in the summer, and it will be our 40 wedding anniversary. The idea of crisp air and beauty sounds wonderful, yet my draw is probably the village/small town, old USA, quaint etc. I love history and old stuff! The tree color might be secondary?, so if we miss it or are not the in best place, it will be ok. For us, the place we stay is not just a place to lay our head but an experience, so quaint BnB's in old towns sound like what I want to see. Festivals sound great. I hope I can find what I"m looking for and hopefully under $300 a night. We are so spoiled with Europe being cheap!
Thank you all for the ideas and feedback!
Last fall, Acadia National Park was crowded..too crowded for my taste. For similar scenery and the Roosevelt summer cottage I enjoyed Campobello Island. Bring your passport. It's Canada. Connected by a bridge to Maine but there is a border station.
Woodstock, Vermont, Camden, Maine and Newport, RI were standouts on our trip.
Coming from California, the Kangamaugus highway was a meh for mountain views. But it's not very long.
This sounds like a great trip! My first trip to Maine was when I was a teenager, so you know how long ago that was. ;-) I was on the southern coast in York Beach staying in a beach cottage that belonged to a friend’s family. I loved it there. We finally had to leave when the water was going to be shut off for the season. It took until 2009 to get back to New England and we spent time in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and from NH we did a couple of day trips to Vermont. We plan to see more of Vermont in the future. Both of these trips occurred in October. Our multi-state trip was 3 weeks. Are you going to be at the meeting in August? I have a guidebook from 2009 - Frommer’s New England “With the best inns & scenic drives.” Obviously the inns may or may not have changed, but the drives should be the same. I can bring the book to the meeting and you can take it home and see if it has any good information for you. Let me know.
Thank you Andrea! I would love to borrow your book.
I'm not sure about the August meeting. We may be camping or have house guests, but if those don't happen we will be there!
I also need help with Brittany and Normandy, and I also need to research Norway. Hopefully all those travel thoughts will be a reality next year!
We loved the Rockwell museum and the town. Also Newport RI but sounds like you are not going that far south. If you ever get back east again NY state is great also. We were in Normandy twice in last two years if you still need help with that. Keep on traveling. That is what we are doing.
Thank you Gail!
Late September to early October is peak leaf peeping season in Vermont. It will all be over by the third week in October. Waterbury, Montpelier, Stowe, and environs are quite pretty and they will be crowded. Plan accordingly. If you’re interested in knitting or all things wool, the Vermont sheep and wool festival is usually the first weekend in October in Tunbridge. The drive from Barre down to Tunbridge via route 110 is quite lovely. If you’re interested in history, heading over to Fort Ticonderoga is also a fun day trip. Getting off the interstate (I-89) and driving route 2, which runs parallel to it, is a really pretty route.
Here are some good suggestions from previous threads:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/new-england-foliage-trip
Have fun planning, and feel free to ask if you have specific questions as you get into the detailed planning stages!
Just FYI Newport is still crazy into October. If you're looking to avoid crowds I'd skip it. Agree with the person who said to skip Acadia. It gets super crowded and isn't worth the loooong drive all the way up there. Maine has gorgeous coastline further south as well and there are some inland state parks that may be worth a visit.
For individual towns consider North Conway NH and Woodstock VT (quite ritzy). If you change your mind and decide to head toward Eastern Mass, skip Salem in October for sure, but if you go a bit earlier like September it should be okay. It has some nice museums and shops, though it may be larger than what you're looking for. Gloucester, Rockport, Newburyport, and Portsmouth are options for coastal towns on your way up to Maine.
Once you get off the highway parts of central and northern CT are quite quaint.
Thank you, thank you! Such great info!
It might be a minute before I get back into specific planning. Even thought its more than a year out, I'm sure it's wise to book accommodations in the next few months.
