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New England Travel Planner & Guide | |
| Fall foliage season is here, beginning in New England's northern mountains and wending its colorful way southward to the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Make reservations early! Here's an idea: Thanksgiving at Plimoth Patuxet Museums (formerly Plimoth Plantation). | ||
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COVID-19 is on everyone's mind. Vaccination rates in New England lead the nation, and normal activities are restarting. Local driving trips and outdoor adventures are the favored travel escapes now. New England, with so many things to see and do in a small space, is perfect for this! Boston MANew Englands' oldest, largest and most historically significant city should appear on the itinerary of any traveler interested in art, music, literature, culture or education: greater Boston boasts fifty colleges and universities. Within a short drive of the city are many more historic towns such as Cambridge (Harvard & MIT), Salem, Marblehead, Gloucester, Lexington and Concord. In Plymouth you can visit Plymouth Rock and revisit the 17th-century Pilgrims and indigenous Americans at Plimoth Patuxet Museums (formerly Plimoth Plantation.) More... Cape Cod MAWith its charming historic towns, Cape Cod National Seashore, beaches and bike paths, Cape Cod has something for every visitor. More... Nantucket & Martha's VineyardThe islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, offshore from Cape Cod, are beautiful upscale resorts very busy in symmer but now visited year-round. More... Sturbridge MACentral Massachusetts is where you'll find Old Sturbridge Village, a faithful recreation of a New England town of the early 1800s. A similarly historic site from the 1700s is Old Deerfield, not far away in the Pioneer Valley. More... Berkshire Hills MAThe hills of western Massachusetts are noted for summer festivals of music, theater and dance, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Tanglewood Music Festival, the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Shakespeare & Company, and the Williamstown Theater Festival. More...
Providence RIThe capital of Rhode Island is a delightful small city with a fine Capitol, several outstanding universities, excellent art museums, and a vibrant and varied dining scene. And then there's Waterfire! More... Newport RIRhode Island's Gilded Age oceanside playground boasts palatial turn-of-the-century mansions that must be seen to be believed, as well as scenic drives, good restaurants and beaches. More... Block Island RID'you like cozy inns, sea views, biking and beaches? Head for Block Island, only a short ferry ride from Rhode Island's South County shores. More... Watch Hill RIThis fine little 19th-century summer resort town used to be sleepy...then Taylor Swift arrived. More... New Haven CTBesides the lovely campus of Yale University, New Haven has several first-rank museums and a lively cultural season during the college year. More... Connecticut ShorelineConnecticut's shoreline along Long Island Sound is alive with maritime history at Mystic Seaport Museum, a carefully-preserved New England maritime town of the 1800s; at New London, home of the US Coast Guard Academy, and the Navy submarine base at neighboring Groton, as well as in the beautiful historic towns such as Guilford and Stonington. More...
Portsmouth NHNew Hampshire's short seacoast is long on attractions, starting with l-o-n-g Salisbury and Hampton beaches. Strawbery Banke, in Portsmouth, is a living museum of the 1700s, with artisans actually making their livings (not just "demonstrating") at their centuries-old crafts. More... White Mountains NHNew Hampshire's White Mountains are perfect for scenic drives, hiking or camping. Mount Washington, highest peak east of the Mississippi, boasts extreme weather, but great hiking. North Conway is the outdoor activities capital of the region; Franconia Notch has many natural wonders, hiking and camping. More...
Maine CoastThe southwestern coast of Maine is lined with pretty beach towns, among them Kittery, York, Wells, Ogunquit, Kennebunkport and Old Orchard Beach. LL Bean is in Freeport. Midcoast is wilder and more scenic. Bar Harbor is far Downeast, but many visitors make the trek to visit this turn-of-the-century summer resort of the wealthy, and neighboring Acadia National Park.
Some continue all the way downeast to Eastport and Lubec, easternmost points in the USA, and—with their passports—even into New Brunswick, Canada, for a Two-Nation Vacation. Want the true Maine experience? Sail the rockbound coast on a Maine windjammer sailing ship! More...
Green Mountains VTFrom gracious Bennington in the south to alpine Stowe in the north, Vermont's Green Mountains are dotted with cozy inns, charming villages clustered around their village commons, and excellent possibilities for outdoor activities. Drive Vermont Route 100 for a good introduction to the Green Mountain state. Just south of Burlington, the Shelburne Museum has perhaps the best and fullest collection of Americana ever assembled. More... New England OutdoorsOver 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of ocean coastline, the highest mountain east of the Mississippi, nearly 200 lakes for recreational use, the Appalachian Trail and hundreds of regional, state and local parks, trails and paths, dozens of ski and snowboarding resorts—New England is an outdoor destination in all seasons of the year, with all the best things to do: beaches, biking, birdwatching, camping, canoeing, fishing, hiking, kayaking, skiing, snowshoeing, whalewatching and windjamming. More... New England Country InnsDid New England invent the American country inn? Whether or not, we have some of the oldest and finest country inns dating from the 1700s and 1800s, updated with the comforts of the 21st century. More... New England Fall Foliage SeasonNortheastern and Midwestern USA and southern Canada all have splendid autumn foliage color, but New England has the full range of color from the slopes of Mount Katahdin (5,270 feet /1,606 meters) in northern Maine to the temperate Connecticut Shoreline on Long Island Sound—you can follow the color from north to south for a long foliage season.
New England has the rugged coast, the smooth beaches, the salt marshes, the endless forests, the pretty towns and villages, and the deep history that make a fall foliage tour here a memorable experience. More... Itineraries & ToursDon't know how to plan your New England travel itinerary? Click here... Want to take a guided tour? Click here! New England Fine Art MuseumsWhen I researched the number and quality of fine art museums in New England, I was astonished. Dozens of museums have Rembrandts, Monets, Wyeths and more. The 19th- and 20th-century wealth of New Englanders, their fine taste, and the region's many colleges and universities explain all this art—yours to enjoy! More... Famous New EnglandersNew England is what it is because of its people, from Massasoit to Paul Revere, from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau to John F Kennedy, from P T Barnum to Louisa May Alcott and Emily Dickenson. You'll find reminders of them everywhere. More... —by Tom Brosnahan
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Autumn in New England...
Here's a great way to dream about and decide on your New England adventures: veteran travel writer Steve Jermanok's new book, New England in a Nutshell. With 50 categories and 300 things to see and do in New England, the book (paper or e-book) is a virtual encyclopedia of the region's destinations and delights. Click on the cover for more. |
