My wife is trying to plan a weeklong trip for fall 2017 to take her mom and sisters to see the fall colors in New England.

They are set on wanting to fly into Boston. They are willing to drive 2-4 hours from there to stay but they want to stay in the same place each night and then venture out up to 2 hours each day toward upstate NY, Vermont, NH, Maine, Rhode Island, etc. and see as much as they can. The colors are obviously a big part of it, but parks, mansions in Newport RI, etc. might become part of their itinerary.

Any recommendations on a good town for them to stay in -- good food and picturesque New England but also well-located?

Thanks!

Folks live in providence.
Some years you have colors in sept and some in nov.

Be willing to drive 2-3 hours north or south of location to get the full 80-90% colors

The mansions in Newport are a must see. Stunning.

Let me think of a central New England town that would be ideal. I assume they don't want to stay in Boston?

I don't think so. I think they want to rent a house somewhere fairly central in a small Norman Rockwell-like setting.

Let me know how this goes. I want to do something similar.

Let you know how the thread goes? So far, not terribly helpful. Don't feel like you've got to start your own thread. It will just split the lack of information.

I'm sure people are still in holiday mode so it's slow.

I will tell you Zamira that we did an October trip to coastal Maine a few years ago and it was AWESOME. They aren't wanting to do coastal this time, though.

It's Sunday. Slow down! I'll be back with info

As it's already been said, peak foliage can be pretty variable. I think the first couple of weeks of October would be a fairly safe bet. Personally, I prefer northern New England. For a base of operations, Portsmouth, NH would be my choice. Within a couple of hours of Newport, Portland, Boston, the White mountains, and Acadia would be a manageable trip too.

Thank you!

I think they are looking at October 7-12, more or less.

If they decide Portsmouth and flying southwest they can also fly into Manchester and not have to deal with Iogan airport

Parents getting back to me

I meant report back on the trip next year.

Yeah Manchester isn't a bad bet. You can find cheaper fares into there and providence over Logan, but there just aren't as many flights.

Kennebunkport, ME

their vote is Portsmouth, NH as well. That is 2 hours from the mansions and awesome town of Newport, RI and you could also go 2 hours north of Portsmouth, NH in case it is warm and you need to get to colder climates to see more colors

newport RI town
newport mansions
40 steps in newport
acadia national park & bar barbour is stunning
could do salem ma (witch based town)
gloucester ma
flume white mountains
kennebunk port me


those places all are about 2-3 hours from Portsmouth, NE in all directions and Portsmouth is your typical New England coastal town


your "inland" New England towns are about as backwood as any other

all of your lobster shacks typically close for the season around Labor Day.
You could make 4-5 nights out of what I mentioned above.
Let me know if any other questions.

http://m.imgur.com/L8sfqtd?r

Thank you Matsui! Great advice.

Bumping this thread. Wife and I are planning this trip also. Probably 2nd week in October. Any other suggestions?

I've heard that some of the best is around the "Northeast Kingdom" area of Vermont. Haven't been myself, yet, but hoping to in the next year or two. That said, it's not hard to find fall colors up here. We've got pretty good views here in PA.

Old Jock 1997 said:

---

Thank you!

I think they are looking at October 7-12, more or less.

---

Just wanted to point out that will land them square in the middle of Columbus Day weekend which is pretty much a 3-day weekend for everyone up there. Flights will be more expensive and lots of people, even locals, use the weekend to go leaf peeping.

This site is a good resource for tracking how the season is going foliage-wise.

http://www.foliagenetwork.com/index.php/foliage-reports/foliage-reports-northeast-us/current-season-northeast-us

You can also look at past seasons to get a feel for when each area (north to south) generally hits its peak. It also has recommendations for scenic drives and places to stay.

Also, this is probably too far north for where they want to stay, but we love The Common Man Inn in Plymouth, NH. Quick access to southern NH as well as the White Mts. Oct 7-12 is generally around peak color up there but it hasn't made it south to Boston yet.

http://thecmaninnplymouth.com - it used to be a lumber mill that they turned into lodging.

h1ag said:

---

Yeah Manchester isn't a bad bet. You can find cheaper fares into there and providence over Logan, but there just aren't as many flights.

---

FWIW just booked flights into Boston Logan on SW. Got "Get Away" fares rediculously cheap. Roundtrip for both less than $400 and it's SW so bags fly free.

From DAL or HOU?

agdaddy04 said:

---

From DAL or HOU?

---

Houston

It seems that if you leave on a Tuesday, you get better fares. $82/person going and $120/person coming back. $404 total. So I fibbed a little.