My fiance and I are planning to be married on October 5, 2003 and want to plan a New England honeymoon to see the leaves change and enjoy some brisk Autumn weather, antique stores, bed & breakfasts, small town charm.

Any suggestions .... I've been searching a bit on the internet, but would like suggestions from people who have actually been to some cool places.

Oceangurl - - how long will you plan on being here? I can make some suggestions - but if I knew how long, it'd make it a bit easier.

I've lived here in MA all my life and can make some suggestions based on the info you already provided .....

Also - how long would you like to stay in one place??? This will just give me a little to go on...

Lydia -- we're thinking about a 10 day trip. We would like to make it a driving trip with a day or two at each town. We're interested in places that have unique things to do -- for example, I saw an ad in a magazine for a train that rides through the mountains so you can see all the fall colors -- I think it may have been New Hampshire?

We really want long winding roads in the countryside with lots of autumn color, little towns along the way with antique stores and restaurants, and we'd like to stay in a B&B each night instead of an ordinary hotel. We're hoping for cool, fall weather so we can wear sweaters and jackets (it's hardly ever cool here in Southern California and I'm sick of wearing warm weather clothing year-round).

I went to Boston and Cambridge when I was a girl, and I remember it was beautiful, but I was too young to remember any more details.

Any location recommendations, websites, or travel agency recommdendations would be very appreciated!!

Thanks!

OG

My brother and his wife went on their October Honeymoon to Southwest Harbor on the coast of Maine. They stayed at Pier One and loved it.

http://www.acadia.net/pierone/

More places to stay in the area.

http://www.acadiaguide.com/swharbor.html

fall in New England - so beautiful - I live here but it is actually my favorite time of the year.

Some suggestions - - spend a night and one day in Boston - head to the Cape (Cape Cod) - take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard and spend another day there (bed & breakfasts galore - try the gingerbread house section) - bike around the island - hit the shops.....head back up through Massachusetts and visit the infamous Salem, MA - then ENTIRE month of October is dedicated to the "halloween" holiday - check out the museums, witch trials, antique shops up the whazoo.....if you do want to visit Salem, you've got to head up to Newburyport, MA - on the coast - quaint little artsy town (VERY CLOSE to MY HOUSE by the way - - but if you were interested in heading to Newburyport, say from Salem, you might want to look into the possibility of renting the LightHouse for dinner (it can be done for just you....) - then spend the night at one of the Inn's and then in the a.m. - head up to New Hampshire for a couple of days - White Mountain Region - lots of options for bed & breakfasts.....
drive the Mt. Washington Auto Road http://www.mountwashingtonautoroad.com/
Ride the Conway Scenic Railroad http://www.conwayscenic.com/
Head to Vermont or Maine (gondola ride up Killington MT in VT maybe?) If you're thinking Maine from the previous post - Acadia/Booth Bay is very nice, but it's pretty far up there so plan a good part of the day just driving up (from the Mt. Region in NH anyway). Maine - check out Portland, Kennebunkport (Daddy Bush's summer homeland)...

I'll give more thought to other suggestions - but this was what I thought initially - so you get all kinds of "flavors" of NE.....from the cape right on up through all the states...hitting all the states for a couple of days - is very doable...

A site you might want to visit for planning purposes is www.gonewengland.about.com

check out:
http://www.newenglandusa.com

You could fly into Burlington, VT, Manchester NH (not the best option), Portland, ME (beautiful town on the coast) or Boston, MA. You may be best off flying into one - say Boston - and work your way up and fly out of Portland, ME - it's a bit more expensive this way for both airfare as well as rental cars - but worth it so you don't have to waste time getting places.

Tell me what sounds good to you - and I would be able to tell you how long it'd take you to get from one spot to another - and the most appropriate "tourist" roads to take - you definitely don't want to come here and see nothing but highways

Oh - - and do I get to tag along? Just thinking of all these places makes me want to go!!

AAAH OceanGurl, it's always funny to me that people want to come here just to look at leaves, but I suppose when you grow up with it, it's nothing all that interesting... (The colors lose some of their appeal when your raking your lawn every 3 days, ha)

I think Lydias suggestions are great...
Here's a pretty good site with info for all over New England.
http://www.fs.fed.us/news/fallcolors/

Oh my gosh! All three of you have been so wonderful to help us! Lydia, thank you for your very thoughtful recommendations!!!! I will print these responses and keep them in my weddding file! I'm checking out all of your recommended websites and keeping them in my "favorites" lists! Thank you again for your wonderful suggestions. We felt slightly discouraged this week because one of our friends here is from Connecticut and he told us if we didn't have reservations by now, we wouldn't get anything decent! After reading your responses and getting the chance to check out your recommended websites, we're more exited than ever!

I'm another one who has lived in New England (Massachusetts) all her life. I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world in the fall. That is why I got married here in October.

I live near Sturbridge MA which is home to Old Sturbridge Village. You can walk back in time to the colonial days. It is fun and interesting for all ages. There are lots of B and B's here too. Antique shops and gift shops galore. if you want any further info on Sturbridge or other parts of MA please feel free to e-mail me!!