New England Road Trip advice wanted.

[Staffordshireknot]

Hi,

We are travelling over to the states from the UK for a 3 week trip mid september to early October and want to do New England. We are looking at flying into Boston or Newark.
The wife wants to see all the colours and natural scenary and we are wondering the best places to see this for the time of year we are travelling. I also would like to visit Cape Cod, Niagra falls and Acadia NP if this is not to much to do at once.
We also want to experiance the history and some culture and I would like to visit a Rodeo if possible.
Any tips and advice or suggested circular routes would be much appreciated.

[Mass Tim]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America Forum!

Three weeks is a good amount of time to fit in all of the places that you want to see. The time you will be starting out your trip, the colors will be starting in the northern parts of New England. Here's an interesting view of how the colors typically change.

My recommendation would be to make a loop trip out of this, starting in Boston. From there, head north to Maine, then west across New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. Then back East into Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, on to Cape Cod, then back to Boston.

Within New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, you will have the White, Green, and Adirondack mountains, respectively. you are sure to find some spectacular scenery in these areas, even if the foliage isn't at its peak.

I'm not aware of any rodeos in the fall in this area - the last time I was at a rodeo in New England was many years ago. They seem to be more of a summer event around these parts.

[AZBuck]

I agree with Tim on the general route he has laid out for your trip, but disagree just a bit on the timing. When you arrive, the foliage really will not have started turning yet. With global warming, this is happening just a bit later in the year and so I would suggest that you time your loop so that you are in the northern New England, the White and Green Mountains, as late in your visit as possible. That, in turn, would imply that you should see southern and coastal New England first. In fact you might want to look at two loops out of Boston.

The first would go down through Connecticut to Hartford and then to the coast and work your way eastward through Mystic CT and Newport RI to Cape Cod. This is definitely 'off-season' in those parts, so traffic will be light and many motels and inns will have lowered their rates. Look at taking a ferry (but leave the car on the mainland) to Block Island, Nantucket, or Martha's Vineyard. Also, either before, between, or at the end of your two loops explore the area around Boston as well as the city. Salem and Cape Ann, both north of the city, are two destinations to consider.

The second loop would entail more driving, so you may want to leave just a bit more time for it. But you could certainly have a great time with as little as a week. First head up the coast with possible stops in Portsmouth, Portland, and one or two of the peninsulas that jut out into the Atlantic 'Down East' of Portland. All this is on your way to Acadia National Park. From Bar Harbor, then, you'd head inland and cross country through the Longfellow Mountains of Maine (Rumford, Bethel), the White Mountains of New Hampshire (Gorham and the Kancamagus Highway, the Green Mountains of Vermont (Montpelier), Lake Champlain (Burlington), and the Adirondacks of New York (Lake Placid, Saranac Lake), making the return to Boston on the Mohawk Trail (MA-2) through the Berkshires. Unlike the southern loop, you will be traveling this part at one of the peaks of tourist season, so reservations are recommended.

For more suggestions on New England, both general and specific, check the discussions linked to here

AZBuck