New England Fall vacation- advice needed

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Westernskies

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Turned 50 yesterday. DW gave me a great BD present- she rented a 39' Class A Diesel Motorhome for a week in October-pick it up in Philadelphia, will spend a week in the New England States looking at the fall colors, return it to PHL, then fly back home to PHX.
Anyone have any ideas about what to see and where to stay? I don't want to get up there and find all the parks full when we roll in at night, don't want to have to park at Walmart; according to our resident Canadian expert on American culture, I'd probably take up chain smoking, guzzling cheap beer, and eating supersized fast food meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while lounging in my worn-out lawn chair wearing a sweat stained wife beater undershirt and watching VHS tapes of Jerry Springer reruns......:rolleyes: Would greatly appreciate any and all travel tips, sightseeing advice, attractions, etc- neither of of has spent any significant time east of the Mississippi, if you exclude business trips. Thanks!

This was originally posted under the motorhome thread in "Other Topics"- might be more appropriate here under "Travel"
 
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My daughter went to school in Western , Mass and in the fall that area looks like a picture post card for new England . Northampton, Amherst , lots of quaint little towns .Also mystic Seaport in Conn. they usually have a chowder festival and of course you can go to the famous Mystic Pizza .
 
We have toured the New England states twice, but with a car. The fall color is spectacular, but the timing is tricky. I saw your post in the RV thread. Come to think of it, that may be the thread where other members can help you best. Places you can go and things you can do will depend on the RV logistics.
 
It is also a great time to see Cape Cod . I'm not sure where you would park an Rv to visit Boston but it is a not to be missed city .
 
Moemg said:
It is also a great time to see Cape Cod . I'm not sure where you would park an Rv to visit Boston but it is a not to be missed city .
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Try www.normandyfarms.com one of the nicer RV resorts in Mass. About a 30 min drive from Boston they probably have shuttles to the trains too. Cape Cod is about 1 hour away.
 
We do a Maine trip at least once a year and spend a day or two in the other New England states on the way to and from. Never did the leaf peeper tour.

Really to much to do in only a week. What you do depends on your interests. RV.net is a good spot for camping help. A friend stayed at some really great camping spots up by Mount Desert Island on the water (not cheap). Arcadia is worth while but stay out of Bar Harbor unless you like tourist trap type shops.

Highway One is a nice drive off peak, but it can turn into a long traffic jam at the peak of tourist season.

Jeb
 
Last summer we visited Rhode Island. It was actually a birthday present for our dd's 18th birthday. Rhode Island's seaside is made up of islands. From the mainland, a bridge connects to Conanicut Island and from there another bridge to Aquidneck Island. Newport is on Aquidneck Island. We visited Newport and toured the Mansions. The Mansions were the summer homes of the New York and Boston elite (think late 19th and early 20th century super-duper wealthy) which have been historically preserved. The week we were there the Tall Ships were arriving at Newport. We also visited a couple lighthouses and state parks. The coastline is gorgeous, and the beaches are beautiful.

On the mainland, we drove up to Warwick, which is a delightful old town dating from the 18th century. Townspeople still lived in houses dating from 1765. The town is situated on an inlet of the Narragansett Bay and has a picturesque harbor.

We also took the ferry from Point Judith to Block Island. I wish we had planned more than a day-trip to Block Island. Just one day on the island isn't long enough to see everything, and it is stunning. DH and I plan to make another trip just to Block Island, perhaps next year.

Oh well, I guess I gushed enough. It's just that I didn't expect much from little Rhode Island. It was our dd's choice, since it was her birthday present but we all loved it there.
 
Since you'll be here for a week, try and do your traveling on the "hot spot tourists routes" on Monday through Friday and leave the weekend for parking the RV and spending some time away from the vehicle. Here are some of the more well known routes that guarantee prime foliage. Timing is everything, but you can adjust a bit by going further north if the colors aren't at peak where you are, or by driving south if they are past peak (probably unlikely). Here in north-central MA (just on the NH border), the average peak spot is around mid October, from the 2nd to 3rd week.

1. Route 2 in northern MA, especially west of the Connecticut River. This is the Mohawk trail and the area from Charelmont to Williamstown gets heavy travel. A hilly and winding road but that's also the main attraction

2. Route 100 in Vermont. The backbone road up the center of the state.

3. Route 9 in southern Vermont, aka the Molly Stark Trail

4. Route 112 in NH. All of it is good, the heaviest travel is between I-93 and Route 16 in Conway and is called the Kancamagus Highway. Avoid traveling north through North Conway on Rt 16, especially on weekends. It is a tourist mecca with shopping outlets and traffic jams beyond description.

I'm not too familiar with campgrounds, but I think most take reservations if you have a specific route planned and can lay all that out in advance.

Have a fun trip. If you need any additional info as it gets closer to your depart date, let me know.
 
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