For most, visiting New England in the fall is a travel bucket-list must and if you’re one of many who’ve added it to your list, you’re not alone. According to Discover New England, the six-state region welcomed 2.2 million overseas visitors in 2017 and according to USTravel.org, more Americans than ever before are planning domestic trips.
Are you one of those “more Americans?” Planning to travel domestically and to New England in the fall? Feeling a STRONG desire to go, but not knowing where or how to start?
If so, you’re in the right place. As with any travel, planning can feel burdensome, overwhelming and just plain hard.
So, what are we going to do about it? We’re going to plan it now! Using the checklist below, you and I can work together to make sure your 2020 New England Fall Foliage dreams come true. Let’s get started!
NEW ENGLAND FALL FOLIAGE ROAD TRIP PLANNING CHECKLIST
A few thoughts before we dive in:
I wish I would have created this for myself when we were planning our New England Fall Foliage road trip this year. It would have saved me hours of wasted time researching places in states we didn’t even know whether or not we were going to.
The checklist is created to build a foundation for your trip. We’ll start with the vibe, layer in a few routes, add some stops, and boom. You’ve got yourself a road trip.
You can use this checklist to plan a year or a month in advance! We planned ~one month prior and turned out fine, but I know people plan differently so use at your own discretion :)
1) Consider Your ~Vibe~
This is first on the checklist, because prior to booking flights and rental cars and hotels and the like, you’ll want to have a general idea of the direction you’re heading. New England is made up of six states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, with five of the six states bordering the coast (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island) and one landlocked state (Vermont).
When deciding where to go, you really have three ~vibes~ to choose from: city, woodsy or coastal. Want lobster rolls and vibrant leaves on the water? Pick a coastal state. Want a retreat in the woodsy mountains? Pick a landlocked state. City seeker? Boston is for you.
For example: I knew from the get-go I wanted woodsy vibes, which ruled out Maine and Rhode Island. I also knew I didn’t want city vibes, so Boston was out. I was left with Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire to choose from.
Check the Foliage Trackers
Once you’ve narrowed down you vibe, you can begin checking the foliage trackers (this is the one I used) for each state. These trackers let you know the status of the foliage and whether the leaves are turning, at peak, fading or gone. You can look at last year’s trackers to get a better idea of when in late September/early October you should plan your trip.
For example: in August, I began checking the foliage trackers almost daily. The trackers helped me get an idea that the best time for us to go would be the first weekend of October. Unfortunately, we had a few conflicts and couldn’t make it until later in the month. Even so, I could check the status of the foliage as the weeks passed to get a better understanding of what we could expect when we arrived.
Find a Few Scenic Routes
You’ve got your states and your timing locked and loaded, now it’s time to figure out your road trip route. This is where things can start feeling a bit overwhelming, but not to fear. A few google searches can help you find the best scenic routes in the state which can act as a starting point for the course of your travels. Below are some I found from a few quick searches:
Maine: For an Unforgettable Scenic Drive
New Hampshire: For 9 of New Hampshire’s Covered Bridges
Vermont: For the Best of Vermont Scenic Drives
Massachusetts: For a Long Scenic Drive
Connecticut: For the Most Beautiful Connecticut Scenic Drives
Rhode Island: For Rhode Island by Car
For example: We decided to take the route through the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, which built out a base layer for our trip. As a good starting point, I would recommend picking one or two from whatever state(s) you end up choosing.
Tay’s Travel Tip: The states are REALLY close together and you could easily hit most of the New England states in one trip. If you’re interested in hitting a few, find scenic routes that cross states or quick detours from the route that might cross from one state to the next.
Layer in Meals and Activities
With your scenic routes selected and a base layer built, you can now add those additional stops to help break up the trip and have something to look forward to. Consider things like National Parks or hikes, restaurants or coffee shops, pumpkin patches or orchards or even head to a big(ger) city.
Tay’s Travel Tip: One thing to keep in mind is that obviously a big chunk of your trip will be spent in the car, and some travelers, (littles, my husband) will get restless easily. For those restless travelers, make sure to add in extra stops/excursions to keep the adventure as enjoyable as possible.
Our picks were:
Circuit Coffee in Westfield, MA
Lunch with a view in Brattleboro, VT
Swung by Stowe, VT
Apple Picking in Shelburne, VT
Dinner in Albany, NY
With additional stops layered in, your route should be relatively complete! See our full trip below.
Calculate “Vacation Time”
Now that you’ve layered both your must-see scenic routes and additional stops, you should have a pretty good sense of how much time you’ll need for your trip. Interested in more than two scenic routes? Might need three to four days. Only doing one? You can probably get by with a long weekend.
For example: we only had one scenic route and knew we would mostly stick to the state of Vermont, so we opted to only take one day off of work (meaning two full days total). This was enough time for us knowing we have the opportunity to head back year after year to see more of the foliage.
Book Your Travel
Rental Cars & Flights
You’re all ready to book! Since this is a road trip, renting a car is an obvious must and there are a lot of airport options, listed below. Be sure to frequently check places like Scott’s Cheap Flights for discount tickets months in advance!
Another thing to keep in mind is if your road trip doesn’t complete a circle, you might be flying in and out of different airports. For example: we flew into Hartford and out of Albany!
Potential Airports
Albany
Burlington
Boston
Hartford
Portland
Manchester
Hotels
Should you book in advance or be more flexible? It really just depends on where you’ve decided to go. If you’re trying to stay in Stowe at a ski lodge, it would be best to book in advance. If you want to be a little bit more flexible, book as you go!
For example: we initially planned to stay in Stowe, but the further north we drove, the more the leaves were “fading” and when we arrived in Stowe they were all “gone.” Thankfully, we decided against booking in advance and were able to book in Burlington instead (a place that was not previously on our agenda but ended up being our favorite part of the trip - see why in photos below)!
Congrats! We made it! We just completed your New England Fall Foliage Road Trip Planning Checklist. Now you’ll be on your way to experience the foliage for yourself. Let the countdown begin.