How To Plan Your First New England Fall Foliage Road Trip: Dates, Places + Itinerary

There are many places you can visit in the world to see leaves transform into vibrant yellows, oranges, browns and reds. But those places pale in comparison to the US northeast’s New England, where science and nature combine to dazzle visitors with an extraordinary light show each year. We’ve driven two New England fall road trips for a total of 6 weeks, and we can honestly say they’re some of the best weeks we’ve had since we began traveling full time in 2018.

In this comprehensive guide we explain everything you need to know about planning your first New England fall road trip itinerary, based on our extensive experiences. We’ll show you the dates you should travel, the places you should visit and itineraries for 5, 7, 10 and 14 days.

Our Experience

So you know we’ve spent a lot of time in New England during the fall foliage season. But where did we go and how did we plan our trips?

2020: We spent the last few days of September and the first 2 weeks of October driving a lot of miles through New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. We tried to fit in every place on the map, so we were constantly on the move. It was amazing but it was also exhausting. We included Acadia and even coastal towns like Boothbay Harbor and Portland, along with popular fall foliage spots like Stowe, Woodstock and Franconia.

2023: We learned our lesson! Instead of trying to cram, we focused mainly on Vermont and New Hampshire for almost 4 weeks. They were the two states we enjoyed most from our first trip because they had the quintessential rolling hills, dense forests, quaint towns, fun hikes and stunning photo spots we expected from a New England road trip in fall. We also did a few days in New York at the beginning and a few days in Massachusetts at the end. Now, we did not have peak fall colors for our whole trip, but we knew that would be the case. The goal was to slow down and spend more time in each place.

Using the knowledge we’ve gained, we’re going to help you plan your own road trip in this guide. But if you’re a serious planner like us, don’t forget to take a look at our popular New England fall road trip guidebook which goes into far greater detail with maps, itineraries and much more.

The Science Behind Fall Colors

First things first, you absolutely want to plan your trip so that you’re in New England for peak fall foliage colors. The peak is a small window of around 3-5 days when the colors are most vibrant in any given place. But each place has a different peak time and it’s very hard to predict. So what did we know about the science behind fall colors to give us the best chance of being in the right place at the right time?

Well, we knew that fall colors peak in the north first and then slowly work south. For instance, New England’s peak fall foliage season is a few weeks before the Blue Ridge Parkway’s peak season because that region is much further south. We also knew that elevation played an important role. Colors change first in the mountainous regions of New England before they do at lower elevations.

But the most important aspect each year is the weather conditions leading into autumn. The timing of peak colors can be impacted by climate events like a late spring or an intense summer drought.

In addition to latitude, elevation and weather conditions, there are more specific conditions once we reach autumn:

• Soil moisture levels
• Amount of sunlight during the day
• Length of night
• Day and night temperature (important)

So what are the perfect conditions for peak fall colors being their most radiant and predictable?

• Wet and warm spring conditions
• Summer without drought or unusually high/low temperatures
• Warm autumn days and cool but not freezing nights

And what causes the colors to change once conditions are right?

Sunlight pumps leaves full of chlorophyll during spring and summer. Once daylight wanes in autumn, so does the amount of chlorophyll. That leaves room for other pigments in the leaves, such as anthocyanin and carotenoids to shine. And that’s when you see the vibrant colors.

Prioritizing Vermont + New Hampshire

New England contains 6 states: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In autumn, the entire region transforms into an adventure playground for leaf-peepers and passionate photographers. But there are two states that we think you have to prioritize when planning your first New England fall road trip, especially if you’re short on time:

• Vermont: Rolling hills overflowing with charming rural towns, barns and covered bridges. The state is 80% covered in forest and that can only mean one thing, spectacular fall foliage everywhere you look. We think it’s the most photogenic place in New England.
• New Hampshire: Mountains, hikes and dramatic scenery. We think it’s the best place in New England for outdoor activities and hiking during the fall foliage season, and it even has a wonderful mini road trip called the Kancamagus Highway.

In our opinion, Vermont’s Green Mountains and New Hampshire’s White Mountains have the best scenery, colors, towns, hikes and photo spots. We also love New York’s Adirondacks (which technically isn’t in New England, gasp!) and think it’s the next best place to visit. And we also really like Acadia but it’s a long way from the core foliage areas in Vermont and New Hampshire.

You also need to make a decision about whether you want to focus on fall foliage destinations only, or combine the major fall spots with popular New England coastal cities like Boston, Portland and Providence.

We know there’s more to New England, but you should stick to inland Vermont and New Hampshire if you’re visiting primarily for the fall colors. If you do decide to tag on some days in the cities or coastal towns during peak foliage dates, you’ll have to compromise on the places we’ll cover in this guide.

What If You Have More Time?

If you have 10 days or more, you might want to consider tagging on one or two places in New York, Maine or Massachusetts. We recommend Lake Placid, NY and Acadia, ME above all other places. They offer the most bang for your buck based on the extra driving and organizing you’d have to do to accommodate them.

Lake Placid isn’t too far from Burlington and Stowe in Vermont, so it’s easy enough to include in your itinerary. Conversely, Acadia is a long way from the core foliage areas in Vermont and New Hampshire, but it’s a fantastic national park so it’s worth the effort. Our advice is to only include Acadia if you have enough time or you desperately want to see the park, otherwise leave it for another trip.

Lastly, we drove the Mohawk Trail (US-2) in Massachusetts at the end of our second New England fall road trip. It was nice, but it wasn’t as great as the other places we’ve already discussed. Maine is beautiful in the fall season but it’s enormous so you’d end up losing a lot of time driving between places.

New England Road Trip Dates For Peak Fall Colors

It’s near impossible to come up with the exact dates for a perfect New England peak fall foliage road trip itinerary. But you can give yourself the best shot by being savvy.

Here’s why dates are hard to plan:

1. You can’t predict the dates for peak colors. So how do you know when to book hotels for each place?
2. You can only be in one place at any given time. If Lake Placid, Stowe and Franconia have peak colors at the same time, how do you choose where to be and when?

But here’s how you can be savvy:

1. You can follow the peak fall colors from north to south. If you’re lucky with your dates, you’ll start with the peak and follow it down. This is best case scenario and it’s why we always start our New England fall road trips furthest north and work south.
2. Historical data can be used to play the percentages. Look at when places have peaked in the last 10 or 20 years, draw and average and aim for that date. It might not end up working, but it’s at least an educated guess rather than a stab in the dark.

Historically, the last 2 weeks of September and the first 2 weeks of October are when the colors change in New England. That means the middle of September in the far north of Maine and at altitude. And it means the middle of October in the lower lying regions of southern New England. So that would put October 1st in the middle and therefore a peak fall foliage target for northern Vermont and New Hampshire.

Here are the exact dates we recommend you aim for:

• 5 day trip: September 29-October 3
• 7 day trip: September 28-October 4
• 10 day trip: September 27-October 6
• 14 day trip: September 26-October 9
• 21 day trip: September 23 – October 13

Note: Search online for foliage trackers in the weeks leading up to your trip. They won’t be exact, but they will take live conditions leading into fall into account.

Should You Book In Advance?

We’ve always said the hardest part about planning a New England fall road trip is deciding whether to book in advance or book it all last minute. We booked last minute in 2020 and we booked the whole thing in advance in 2023. Both had pros and cons.

Booking last minute:

• Pros: Monitor live fall foliage trackers to guarantee hitting peak colors, itinerary flexibility to combat bad weather days, can choose how long to stay in each place.
• Cons: Limited hotel availability, higher hotel prices, stressful having to find and book hotels each night on the go.

Booking in advance:

• Pros: Don’t have to worry about planning on the go, can book better and cheaper hotels months earlier, far more relaxing.
• Cons: Lose all itinerary flexibility, risk not seeing peak colors, tough luck on bad weather days.

So in the end it comes down to your personal travel preferences. Are you willing to sacrifice flexibility to have it all planned before you arrive into New England? We can honestly say of all the people we met on both trips, it was 50/50 between people booking in advance and last minute.

Places To Visit On A New England Fall Road Trip

Let’s move onto the fun part, choosing which places you’ll add to your itinerary. Now, there’s a bunch of great spots to visit all across New England. But you might have a different style to the next visitor, so we think it’s important to cover various types of destination so you can pick the best places for your preferences. For instance, some are relaxing but others are adventurous.

Personally, we think there are certain places that absolutely should not be missed. But that’s because we’re hikers and photographers, both of which may or may not interest you. So instead of listing just the spots we like the most, we’re going to show you a total of 15 places to consider including into your itinerary, then you can decide for yourself. We’ve been to all of them, which you can see in our photos below.

1. Acadia National Park, ME

Acadia is one of our favorite US national parks. We love its short but steep hikes leading to magical views over lakes, rolling hills and the ocean. It also has lots of great photo spots and it does transform into a stunning fall foliage destination. We saw vibrant colors from mountain summits, carriage roads, the park loop road and especially around Jordan Pond. Our favorite hikes were Beehive Trail and Precipice Trail.

The problem with Acadia is figuring out how to make it fit into your New England fall road trip. It’s awesome, but it’s also 200 miles from the nearest place we cover in this guide, North Conway. We drove across to Acadia in 2020, before driving the coast to Boothbay Harbor and Portland. They were all great, but Acadia was so busy and we missed out on peak foliage colors in Vermont and New Hampshire. In hindsight, we’d have saved the coast and Acadia for a separate trip.

Things to do:

• Hike the best Acadia trails
• Walk around Jordan Pond
• Drive the park loop road
• Visit Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse
• See waves crash at Thunder Hole
• Watch sunrise at Cadillac Mountain

READ: What you can’t miss in Acadia

2. Burlington, VT

Burlington is a fun college town that might appeal if you’d prefer to stay in a lively part of New England, rather than a quaint and quiet town. You can eat and drink along the famous Church Street, walk along the shores of Lake Champlain, visit museums, taste chocolate and even cycle along a causeway cutting through the lake. We visited Burlington on both our road trips, and we enjoyed our time but we didn’t stay for long.

You can see fall colors at Ethan Allen Homestead, but it’s not a classic New England fall foliage destination so only plan to stay here if you want to include a bit more of a built up area into your itinerary for a night or two. We struggled to book hotels in Burlington because they are very limited and expensive in the fall, so you might need to look in surrounding areas like Colchester for cheaper rates.

Things to do:

• Eat, drink and soak up the atmosphere along Church Street
• Walk through Waterfront Park alongside Lake Champlain
• Cycle the Island Line Trail to Grand Isle
• Explore Ethan Allen Homestead
• Stand on top of Ethan Allen Tower for fall foliage views
• Taste chocolate at Lake Champlain Chocolates flagship store

READ: Top things to do in Burlington VT

3. Crawford Notch State Park, NH

Crawford Notch is a hugely underrated state park located between Mount Washington and North Conway in the White Mountains. We missed it on our first road trip, but after researching more thoroughly for our second road trip we knew we couldn’t miss it. The star attraction is a 3-mile roundtrip hike with less than 1,000 feet elevation gain to the summit of Mount Willard.

So we hiked up to Mount Willard and the views were truly outstanding. If you’re a hiker and you’re looking for off the beaten path trails with great views, you should include Mt Willard into your New England fall road trip itinerary. We also hiked Arethusa Falls Trail, which was great but not essential by any means.

Things to do:

• Hike Mount Willard Trail
• Hike Arethusa Falls Trail
• Visit Willey House

4. Franconia Notch State Park, NH

Franconia Notch State Park has 2 places you simply can’t miss. First is Artists Bluff, a very short but steep hike leading to a summit with sensational views. We’d actually say it’s one of the most iconic fall photo spots in New Hampshire. And the second is Flume Gorge, a 2-mile walk through narrow gorges, forested paths and waterfalls. Our favorite part of Flume Gorge is the picturesque Flume covered bridge.

There are more things to do in the area, but these are the two things you should prioritize. We’ve done both twice, and we’d do them again next time. And a bonus tip, when you hike Artists Bluff we advise you to complete the loop with Bald Mountain for more amazing views over Echo Lake. Franconia Notch is definitely one of our favorite parts of the core New England fall road trip route.

Things to do:

• Hike Artists Bluff Trail
• Walk through the popular Flume Gorge
• Take the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway
• Hike lots more trails

5. Kancamagus Highway, NH

The Kancamagus Highway is a magnificent 35-mile scenic drive through New Hampshire’s White Mountains. It’s loaded with far reaching vistas, great hiking trails and cozy riverside picnic spots. But you absolutely don’t have to hike to see the best bits along the route, it’s main highlights are accessible for everyone.

Despite only being 35 miles long, we recommend you allow at least 4 hours to drive the Kancamagus Highway. And plan for longer if you’ll be hiking. Stop as often as you can because this is pure fall foliage bliss, especially if you hit it at peak. We’ve driven it twice and it’s easily one of our favorite parts of the New England fall road trip route. You shouldn’t miss it.

Things to do:

• Stop at the many scenic vistas
• Hike to Sabbaday Falls
• Walk on the Rocky Gorge boulders
• Hike Mount Chocorua
• Photograph Russell-Colbath House
• See the Albany Covered Bridge

READ: How to drive the Kancamagus Highway in fall

6. Keene, NH

Keene is a small but vibrant and attractive city in southern New Hampshire. It has a great downtown area with highly rated restaurants and it’s surrounded by quaint covered bridges. We missed this area first time around, but after learning that nearby Mount Monadnock was one of the most hiked trails in the world, we couldn’t miss it on our second road trip and Keene was the perfect place to use as a base.

Mt Monadnock via White Dot and White Cross is a fun and challenging trail leading to sensational 360 degree summit views. It instantly became one of our favorite hikes in the US northeast, so we highly recommend including Mt Monadnock into your itinerary if you enjoy hiking. You’ll need to buy a hiking permit in advance, but it’s well worth it.

Things to do:

• Hike Mt Monadnock
• Drive south to covered bridges
• Relax in town

7. Killington, VT

Killington is the most popular ski resort in New England, so it’s peak season is winter. But it’s also a magical fall foliage destination because the mountain resort is surrounded by nothing but trees in all directions. We prioritized nearby Woodstock first time around, but we decided to spend a night at the mountain resort second time around and we’re so glad we did.

When you spend your trip in jam-packed places like Stowe and Woodstock, it’s nice to have a break, sit back and soak up the tranquility in a place like Killington mountain resort. We sat in the Grand Resort Hotel’s outdoor hot tub staring at mountain slopes covered in deep reds and oranges for hours, then the next morning we flew our drone at sunrise to capture photos with soft light. Highly recommend!

Things to do:

• Take a day off and recharge
• Stay at Killington Grand Resort Hotel
• Eat on the mountain road
• Cable car to Killington Peak
• Mountain biking in the forest
• Hike to Thundering Brook Falls

8. Lake Placid, NY

Lake Placid is a charming four season mountain resort village in the heart of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. Although it isn’t considered New England, we’ve started both our fall road trips in Lake Placid and we will do the same again next time because it’s awesome. There’s a ton of great things to do nearby, including mountain drives, hikes and even Olympic history.

If you’re looking for a relaxing road trip with few activities, don’t bother with Lake Placid. But if you prefer to visit places overflowing with attractions and hikes, you should seriously consider making the extra effort to fit it in. Other than Stowe, we’d say Lake Placid is the best town on the New England road trip route to use as a base for adventurous outdoor activities.

Things to do:

• Walk around serene Mirror Lake
• Tour the Olympic ski jumping complex
• Visit John Brown barn
• Drive Whiteface Mountain auto toll road
• Take the Cloudsplitter cable car to Little Whiteface
• Walk through picturesque High Falls Gorge
• Hike Mount Marcy, the tallest peak in New York
• Visit the Olympic Museum

READ: The things you can’t miss in Lake Placid NY

9. Lake George, NY

Lake George is definitely a bit of a wildcard entry into our list. We spent a few days here at the very beginning of our second New England fall road trip, before going to Lake Placid. Now, it’s a lovely spot, there’s plenty to do and we enjoyed it. But for us Lake George is not a quintessential fall foliage destination.

It’s a slow pace kind of place, so it’ll be a great addition to your itinerary if you’re going with a relaxing, easy going road trip theme. But don’t bother if you prefer places with lots of outdoor adventure or if you just want to see the core foliage spots. Our favorite activity was the Lake George cruise with audio tour, closely followed by Fort William Henry Museum.

Things to do:

• Take the Lake George steamboat
• Visit Fort William Henry Museum
• Relax at the beach
• Drive up to Prospect Mountain summit
• Hike Shelving Rock Falls

10. Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Lake Winnipesaukee is a popular New England vacation spot for tourists and locals year round. The lake is surrounded by trees, which means stunning colors light up its shoreline during peak fall foliage. What sets Lake Winnipesaukee apart is that it has 4 very different towns to visit: Meredith, Weirs Beach, Laconia and Wolfeboro. It also has a fantastic hike to Mt Major for awesome lake views.

We spent 3 full days driving the 81 mile loop road around the entirety of the lake. In that time we took to the waters aboard M/S Mount Washington, played arcade games, visited Castle in the Clouds and hiked to Mount Major. The hike is excellent, so don’t miss it. We also took the scenic railroad which we think is great for kids but not for adults. We liked Meredith the most out of the towns, so book your hotel there.

Things to do:

• Cruise on M/S Mount Washington
• Visit Castle in the Clouds
• Tent a boat for the day
• Visit the Belknap Mill Society
• Ride the Lake Winnipesaukee scenic railroad
• Play arcade games in Weirs Beach
• Hike Mount Major Trail
• Visit the Wright Museum of World War II

11. Manchester, VT

Manchester is located in the heart of Green Mountain National Forest. It’s a small and quaint town enveloped by rolling hills covered in trees, so this is another unmissable stop for your New England road trip in fall. One of our favorite things to do in Manchester is simply drive around narrow roads in the area looking for great photo spots of the colors. Some of our most unique fall foliage photos are from this part of the Green Mountains.

Manchester can be split into an old historic district and a newer modern resort town. The newer part is livelier and closer to amenities but the historic district is quieter, prettier and more colorful. Two of our favorite hotel experiences across both our trips were here, first was the luxurious The Inn at Manchester and second was the budget friendly but fantastic Arcady Mountain Motor Lodge. We drove the auto toll road to Mount Equinox but Hildene was closed both times we were in town.

Things to do:

• Drive Skyline Auto Toll Road to Mount Equinox
• Explore Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home
• Walk around Manchester Historic Village District
• See the American Museum of Fly Fishing Museum
• Buy a book in Northshire bookstore
• Visit nearby covered bridges
• See the Bennington Battle Monument
• Visit Robert Frost stone house museum
• Hike Lye Brook Falls Trail

READ: Unmissable things to do in Manchester VT

12. Mount Washington, NH

Standing at a towering 6,288-feet, Mount Washington is the tallest peak in northeastern United States. It’s renowned for wild and unpredictable weather, including the recording of a world record wind speed over 230 mph. You can hike, drive or take a cog railway to reach the summit of Mt Washington. The colors were vibrant for our first visit in 2020 but it rained heavily. And for our second visit in 2023 we had a beautiful sunny day but the colors weren’t at peak. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.

We’d love to hike it one day but we didn’t have time. We also considered the cog, but tickets were expensive and only middle seats were available so it wasn’t worth it. So we drove up instead, which was equal parts incredible and terrifying! But it was definitely worth it to stand on the summit. The views are immense in all directions, plus there’s a bunch of great educational exhibits about the mountain. We highly recommend you get up to the summit one way or another.

Things to do:

• Hike to the summit via Tuckerman Ravine Trailhead
• Or hike from Ammonoosuc Ravine Trailhead
• Drive Mt Washington Auto Road to the summit
• Take the Cog Railway to the summit
• Visit nearby Glen Ellis Falls

13. North Conway, NH

North Conway is a popular place to use as a base for exploring the White Mountains. It’s on the east side of the Kancamagus Highway, and it’s not far south of both Mt Washington and Crawford Notch State Park. We stayed there on both our trips because it made sense logistically. But it also has great restaurants, a few fun attractions and a tax-free shopping outlet.

We visited Echo Lake State Park, Cathedral Ledge Lookout and Diana’s Baths. Of the three, we recommend Diana’s Baths. We also took the cheapest route on North Conway Scenic Railroad, which wasn’t great. With that said, there is a special fall foliage route which looks much better, but it’s also more expensive. The nearby small town of Jackson is also worth visiting to see covered bridges.

Things to do:

• Hike to Diana’s Baths
• Drive to Cathedral Ledge Lookout
• Visit Echo Lake State Park
• See covered bridges in Jackson
• Shop at the outlet mall

14. Stowe, VT

Stowe is arguably the most unmissable place to visit on a New England fall road trip. We love Stowe because it has fun hikes, scenic drives, waterfalls, stunning photo spots, great restaurants and awesome breweries. So it really ticks a lot of boxes. There’s a handful of New England fall foliage photos that you’ll see in every calendar, and Stowe’s white church is one of them. We recommend you photograph it from Salon Salon and Sunset Rock. And don’t miss a drive through the scenic Smugglers Notch, it’s awesome.

Stowe consists of three different areas: Downtown, Mountain Road and Stowe Mountain Resort. Downtown is nice to walk around and the Mountain Road is where you’ll find most hotels, restaurants and breweries. The Mountain Resort is where you’ll find Mount Mansfield, which you can drive, hike or take a gondola. We did the gondola first which was expensive and there’s not much to do at the end unless you hike up a steep trail to the summit. So we also drove the auto toll road and then hiked a gentle trail across the ridge which was amazing.

Things to do:

• Photograph Stowe church
• Drive Mt Mansfield auto road
• Take the SkyRide Gondola to Mt Mansfield
• Hike Mt Mansfield nose to chin
• Drive through Smugglers Notch
• Take a walk on Stowe Rec Path
• Ride a bike through Lamoille Valley
• Hike to Bingham Falls
• Hike to Moss Glen Falls
• Visit von Trapp Brewery
• Don’t miss the other breweries

READ: What you cant miss in Stowe VT

15. Woodstock, Vermont

Woodstock is the most picturesque and charming town you’ll visit on your New England fall road trip. It’s not adventurous but it’s extremely attractive, so this is a place to relax and pull out your camera. Two more photos you’ll find on every New England fall calendar are Sleepy Hollow Farm and Jenne Road Farm near Woodstock. Unfortunately, the roads to those farms were closed when we visited in 2023 because inconsiderate tourists were littering and even entering the properties, which is a real shame.

But the whole town of Woodstock is photogenic, so walk around the streets, find lots of covered bridges, see the cows at Billings Farm, visit Marsh Billings Rockefeller park and maybe even hike up to a Woodstock viewpoint at Mt Tom. You should also visit nearby Quechee. Woodstock is one of the most expensive places to stay in New England, but you might get a good price if you book way in advance. We’d love to stay at the Woodstock Inn but it’s not cheap!

Things to do:

• Walk around the charming town
• Photograph Jenne Road Farm and Sleep Hollow Farm
• Visit the various covered bridges
• Explore Marsh Billings Rockefeller Park
• See Jersey dairy cows at Billings Farm and Museum
• Visit nearby Quechee Gorge and village

READ: Fun things to do in Woodstock VT

Itinerary Considerations

Okay, so you know the best places to visit but how do you string them together to plan an efficient New England fall road trip itinerary? Well, everyone will have different ways of traveling based on things like hiking or not hiking, budget, preferring cities over villages and most importantly time frames.

So we’re going to cover two different itinerary ideas for 5 days, 7 days, 10 days and 14 days to give you lots of options and references to work with. The first itinerary for each time frame assumes flying into Montreal (or another airport further north) and out from Boston (or NYC), and the second itinerary assumes flying into and out from Boston (or NYC). This should cover most visitors.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself before we get into the itinerary ideas:

• How many days do you have available for your trip?
• Which places are top of your list? Vermont? New Hampshire? Acadia?
• Are you in New England primarily for fall colors?
• Or are you focused on hiking with foliage as an added bonus?
• Do you want to book accommodation in advance or take it day by day?
• Will you stay in towns or remote rural areas?
• What is your budget? Can you afford to splurge on activities?

Remember, the itineraries below are just examples. Use them to help plan your route, but adapt them to suit your style of travel. For instance, we like to see and do as much as we can when we travel, whereas you might prefer to take things slow and spend more time in each place.

Note: We cover 15 different itinerary ideas in much greater detail in our New England fall guidebook.

5 Days New England Fall Road Trip Itinerary

We’ll be honest, 5 days isn’t a lot of time to get through much. You have 2 choices, either spend your trip in just a few places or drive a lot to pack in as much as you can. We’d do the latter, so here are two different ways to plan a 5 day trip:

Itinerary 1: Stowe VT to Manchester VT

• Day 1: Stowe
• Day 2: Franconia Notch and Crawford Notch
• Day 3: Kancamagus Highway
• Day 4: Woodstock
• Day 5: Manchester

This itinerary hits the major fall foliage spots in both Vermont and New Hampshire in just 5 days. You won’t have long in each place and there’s a fair bit of driving involved, but you’ll see the best bits.

Itinerary 2: Lake Winnipesaukee to Manchester VT

• Day 1: Lake Winnipesaukee
• Day 2: Kancamagus Highway and Franconia Notch
• Day 3: Stowe and Burlington
• Day 4: Lake Placid
• Day 5: Woodstock and Manchester

This itinerary has even more driving and even less time in each place. But it takes in 3 more places than the itinerary above. We’d cut Lake Winnipesaukee first if we wanted to free up more time somewhere else.

7 Days New England Fall Road Trip Itinerary

With a week you can relax a bit more, but we’d still stick to those core fall foliage spots to save losing time on longer drives. Here are two different ways to plan a 7 day trip:

Itinerary 1: Lake Placid NY to Manchester VT

• Day 1: Lake Placid
• Day 2: Stowe
• Day 3: Franconia Notch
• Day 4: Mt Washington and Crawford Notch
• Day 5: Kancamagus Highway
• Day 6: Woodstock
• Day 7: Manchester

This itinerary is action packed but it covers the best spots in a week. You can accomplish quite a lot with one full day for each stop, so this is a great route to follow if you have 7 days and prefer to fit in as much as you can.

Itinerary 2: Lake Winnipesaukee to Manchester VT

• Day 1: Lake Winnipesaukee
• Day 2: Kancamagus Highway
• Day 3: Franconia Notch and Stowe
• Day 4: Burlington and Lake Placid
• Day 5: Lake Placid and Woodstock
• Day 6: Woodstock
• Day 7: Manchester

This itinerary shows how you can split up certain places into half day visits. Combining stops can significantly increase your efficiency if you’re shorter on time. Again, we’d cut Lake Winnipesaukee first if we wanted to free up another day.

10 Days New England Fall Road Trip Itinerary

Having 10 days available is when you start to get into the more difficult decisions like including Acadia or Keene for Mt Monadnock versus spending more time in each of the core spots. Here are two different ways to plan a 10 day trip:

Itinerary 1: Lake Placid NY to Manchester VT

• Day 1: Lake Placid
• Day 2: Stowe
• Day 3: Stowe
• Day 4: Franconia Notch and Crawford Notch
• Day 5: Mt Washington
• Day 6: Kancamagus Highway
• Day 7: Woodstock
• Day 8: Woodstock and Killington
• Day 9: Manchester
• Day 10: Manchester

This itinerary gives you more time in the most popular fall foliage spots like Stowe, Woodstock and Manchester. This is how we would do 10 days if seeing the fall colors was our top priority.

Itinerary 2: Acadia ME to Keene NH

• Day 1: Acadia
• Day 2: Acadia
• Day 3: North Conway and Crawford Notch
• Day 4: Mt Washington
• Day 5: Kancamagus Highway and Franconia Notch
• Day 6: Stowe
• Day 7: Stowe
• Day 8: Lake Placid
• Day 9: Lake Winnipesaukee
• Day 10: Keene

This itinerary is how we would spend 10 days if hiking was our top priority. It involves and awful lot of driving, but this route has amazing trails at each of the stops.

14 Days New England Fall Road Trip Itinerary

Two weeks gives you a good balance between being able to see more places at a slower pace and also keeping costs at a reasonable level. Although an even longer trip would be great, you do start to get into the super expensive trip category. Here are two different ways to plan a 14 day trip:

Itinerary 1: Lake Placid. NY to Keene NH

• Day 1: Lake Placid
• Day 2: Burlington
• Day 3: Stowe
• Day 4: Franconia Notch
• Day 5: Kancamagus Highway
• Day 6: Mt Washington
• Day 7: Acadia
• Day 8: Acadia
• Day 9: Acadia
• Day 10: Lake Winnipesaukee
• Day 11: Woodstock
• Day 12: Woodstock and Manchester
• Day 13: Manchester
• Day 14: Keene

This itinerary hits plenty of great spots at a quick pace and it includes Acadia. Three days in Acadia might sound a lot but remember it’s a 4 hour drive there and back to pick up the route.

Itinerary 2: Lake Winnipesaukee to Keene VT

• Day 1: Lake Winnipesaukee
• Day 2: Franconia Notch
• Day 3: Kancamagus Highway
• Day 4: Mt Washington
• Day 5: Stowe
• Day 6: Stowe
• Day 7: Burlington
• Day 8: Burlington and Lake Placid
• Day 9: Lake Placid
• Day 10: Lake Placid and Woodstock
• Day 11: Woodstock
• Day 12: Woodstock and Manchester
• Day 13: Manchester
• Day 14: Keene

This itinerary doesn’t include Acadia so you can see how much more time that gives you in places like Lake Placid and Stowe. We think this route has a fantastic mixture of hiking, photo spots, relaxing and limited driving.

Planning Tips

• It’s logistically better to start in the north and work south
• Drive VT Route 100 from Woodstock to Manchester
• Booking hotels in advance is cheaper but you’ll lose flexibility
• Plan your trip around a core of places you like the look of
• Pack for all types of weather
• We had a very rainy first trip and a very sunny second trip
• Always carry lots of water and snacks in the car
• Try to find elevated vantage points as often as possible
• Some of the most unique fall photos are along rural country roads
• Take multiple spare batteries and SD cards for your camera
• Read our road trip packing essentials guide
• You can use a drone in certain parts of New England
• Don’t worry too much if you miss peak colors
• Read our road trip planning guide

The Morgan Conclusion

What we like: We absolutely love how photogenic New England is in the fall. It’s such a diverse road trip route with great places to hike and take photos. Vermont and New Hampshire in particular are stunning when the colors turn. We really like the towns of Stowe, Woodstock, Manchester, Lake Placid and Keene. They’re great places to spend a night or two along the way.

What we don’t like: The weather can be hit or miss, it rains a lot and without flexibility that can put a real damper on the experience. Hotels are limited and expensive in many of the towns along the route, especially when left until the last minute. Places like Stowe and Woodstock are jam-packed during the peak fall foliage weeks, which can make it slightly less fun.

Is a New England fall road trip worth it? Yes, New England in fall is one of the most memorable road trip routes you can drive in the US. It’s beautiful, rural, picturesque, and it’s filled with quirky attractions and great hikes. After spending almost 6 weeks driving around New England in the fall, we can confidently say it’s one of our favorite road trip destinations.

More From New England

• Fun things to do in Burlington VT
• Top things to do in Woodstock VT
• Best Kancamagus Highway stops
• How to visit the Flume Gorge
• Top things to do in Lake Placid NY
• Unmissable things to do in Stowe VT
• Top things to do in Manchester VT
• Fun Acadia National Park activities

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We hope this New England fall foliage road trip guide helps you plan the perfect leaf-peeping vacation!

Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Happy Travels,

Mark and Kristen

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