First Trip to New England

Hello! I am just starting to plan my first trip to New England. My husband and I will be arriving in Hartford CT in early October and flying home to CA a week later. My daughter plays college soccer and will be playing at U MASS on a Friday evening and then in Kingston RI on Sunday afternoon. We fly in and out on Wednesday 10/8-10/15. I am hoping to find a great trip itinerary to see as much as possible of the area in a week. I am looking for ANY suggestions to help us decide where to go and what to see. Thanks for any and all help!!

First Trip to New England

You could do a big loop through southern VT,southern NH, over to the coast, maybe stop in Boston,head back to CT with a stop at Sturbridge Village. You are travelling during peak foliage season so I would make rooms reservations, especially for the weekends as soon as possible. I can give more specific suggestions if you like.

First Trip to New England

With such limited time, I don%26#39;t know that I would do both VT and NH; one or the other would give you a flavor of the foliage.

Newport RI is beautiful, and right next door to Kingston, so allow some time there - beautiful, quaint New England sea town with shopping, restaurants, sailing, etc.

Visit Boston and maybe Mystic CT

Thanks to both of you!

I definitely want to do Newport and any hotel info would be great. I agree that we don%26#39;t want to rush through the trip. Do you think NH or VT would be a better choice? Also, what do you two think about Mystic? There seems to be mixed reviews. Any specific hotel info would be appreciated since I need to make reservations as soon as possible.

It sounds like an amazing trip %26amp; I can%26#39;t wait!

The area around UMass is beautiful - lots of antiquing, fall foliage, great time of year - I would advise finding a hotel in that area for the beginning of your trip and do some exploring there, then leave after the game and head towards RI - You can visit Newport, Watch Hill, Naraganssett, take a ferry over to Block Island for the day- all an easy ride from Kingston.

OK, Unless you are taking the red eye it will probably be evening by the time you arrive here so I%26#39;d suggest staying in the Hartford area, maybe Residence Inn in Avon. You should bring your GPS or rent one. On Thursday ride west to the Litchfield Hills. Have lunch at the West Street Grill in Litchfield. Then take RT. 83 and 7 to the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge Mass. Friday look around and head for Amherst. Saturday head for Boston. Hopefully the Red Sox are playing for the World Series then but if they%26#39;re not in town Priceline a hotel in Back Bay and take a Duck tour. Sunday head for the game in Kingston and stay in Newport. I like the B %26amp; B%26#39;s within a couple blocks of the harbor. Monday you can either spend the day seeing the mansions then maybe consider a day trip Block Island. Mystic is not too great unless you like old boats, then its fantastic. The Seaport which is 5 Min. off I-95 has the best nautical gift shop I%26#39;ve ever seen and you don%26#39;t need to pay the admission to visit it. You might also want to visit the Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods, 2 huge casinos in eastern CT. I think the Mashantucket Pequot Museum near Foxwoods is great. If you go that way consider a stay at the Griswold Inn in Essex, CT on Tuesday (be sure to visit the taproom).

If the foliage isn%26#39;t close to peeking in RI and CT then maybe as an alternative after the game on Sunday you could head for southern New Hampshire and Vermont. Go to the Nashua New Hampshire area then head west on RT. 9 to Brattleboro, VT. then back down I-91 to the airport. Keep and eye on the foliage reports and enjoy New England.

NH state tourism web site www.visitnh.gov offers foliage reports from around the state by ';official leaf'; spotters. I would head more towards the western part of southern NH as it allows easy access to NH, VT and MA. For lodging try www.nhlodging.org or www.southwestnh.com. Area offers idyllic scenery including covered bridges, great restaurants, nice lodging, strenuous or not hikes, woods to walk, small museums, apple picking, concerts, theater etc.

Hi

I visited the %26#39;Summer cottages%26#39; in Newport, RI a couple of years back and they are amazing. If you like a bit of history, I%26#39;d definitely recommend visiting them.