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In October 2021, I planned a 9 day solo New England road trip to see some awesome fall foliage. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to cut the trip short. In the end, I did a 7 day solo road trip. Although my trip was short, I was able to see and do quite a bit. This is the 7 day New England road trip itinerary I mostly planned out and made up as I went along.

Location, Location, Location!

One of the hardest part of planning this New England road trip was determining where I wanted to travel to. New England is made up of 6 states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Some of those states are small-ish while others are a bit bigger.

I’ve already visited Connecticut and Massachusetts in the past. I decided to leave Connecticut out and I’d visit Massachusetts for a little bit. Maine is a big state and too far out of the way from the other states. If I had more time, I would’ve explored Maine. Rhode Island isn’t that big but again, a bit out of the way and not enough time. I’ll visit states I’ve missed another time.

Plus, when people think about fall foliage in New England, they usually think about Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine the most. That’s not to say the other states aren’t beautiful in their own right. It’s just that the aforementioned states are more popular when it comes to leaf peeping and fall foliage.

So, it was decided then. I’d visit Massachusetts for 3 days, New Hampshire for 3 days, and Vermont for 3 days. Three, equal days in different states. Definitely not enough time to thoroughly explore a state but it was the best I could do with the allotted PTO I had. In reality, I ended up only exploring Vermont for a day and a half due to circumstances beyond my control.

Nonetheless, the time I did have to explore New England was amazing! Here’s the itinerary; some of which I created before I left and some of it I made up as I went along.

Related Post: Traveling Alone as a Woman: My Solo New England Road Trip Experience

Day 1

So, the first day of the New England road trip was mostly me driving hours on end to get to the first state on the list, Massachusetts. From Pennsylvania, it was about a 6.5 hour drive to Massachusetts. Specifically, Woburn, MA.

Woburn seems like a random area of Massachusetts. And to be honest, it kind of is. I wanted to explore Salem, MA for a few days before moving onto the next state. I mean, it’s October, Salem is known for the witch trials, witchy vibes and festivals. I had to experience this for myself during the fall.

However, Salem at this time of year is very expensive and most accommodations are either booked up or sky high. I didn’t want to pay a ridiculous amount for accommodations in Salem when I was only going to be there for a few nights. So, I settled on a Crowne Plaza hotel in Woburn, which is about a 30 minute drive from Salem. It was a bit cheaper but not by much compared to Salem, however it was relatively close in proximity to Salem.

Therefore, I figured this would be a good option for me as I didn’t want to stay too far from Salem and have to drive a while to get to and from my accommodation.

Arrival in Woburn

After leaving Pennsylvania around 10am on Friday, October 15th, I arrived in Woburn around 4:30pm. Traffic wasn’t terrible, given it was a Friday. I hit a bit of traffic as I got closer to the Woburn/Salem area, which is expected. Once I got through this traffic, I made my way to the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

I was a bit tired from sitting in my car and driving for 6.5 hours. Once I relaxed for about an hour, I decided to look for a place to get dinner. I found this little Italian restaurant called Tremonte Restaurant & Bar. The place wasn’t too expensive and I liked the menu. Plus, it was about a 10 minute drive from my hotel, so I figured that’d be my best option.

Dinner at Tremonte Restaurant & Bar

This restaurant was very busy (I mean, it was a Friday at about 5:30pm) but had a nice atmosphere. I ordered the Tagliatelle Bolognese, which was amazing. While I was eating my food, this wonderful older woman asked if I wanted to join their table so I wouldn’t be alone.

I thought this was lovely. I didn’t and wasn’t expecting anyone to really talk to me, let alone ask me if I wanted to join them. I agreed and started talking to the other 2 ladies about why I was in Massachusetts. Needless to say, they were very impressed that I was solo traveling through New England.

The waitress who waited on me got wind of this and started talking to me about my trip as well. I told her about it and asked for recommendations in Salem. She gave some recommendations to me and we continued to talk about traveling. I had such a lovely and kind experience at this restaurant. I highly recommend it for the food and the kindness from people and staff.

I ended the night by sitting in my hotel room, relaxing and trying to buy tickets to some attractions in Salem. I knew I had to get there early in the morning to get a parking spot, so I went to sleep soon after.

Day 2

Breakfast at Jaho Coffee Roaster & Wine Bar

I woke up early and left around 8am to head to Salem. Due to traffic, I didn’t get there until about 9am. I parked in a parking garage located on Congress St. Even at such an early hour, there were still tons of people walking the street in witch outfits!

I went to Jaho Coffee Roaster & Wine Bar for some breakfast. I got a mocha iced coffee and a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel. The coffee wasn’t the best and the sandwich was ok, it could’ve been better. But I was impressed with the whole coffee shop and wine bar thing; I found it very interesting as I’ve never heard of a place like this before.

Witch Museums

After walking around the water front area, I decided to go towards the busy, crowded street where the witch museums were located. There are a few witch museums here but these are the ones I went into:

• Witch Board Museum – admission is $10 and it’s located in a gift shop. It’s a small room filled with Ouija boards that detail its history and stories from people who’ve used them.

 

• Witch History Museum – admission is $13 and it’s located farther down the street from the board museum. Here, you learned about the history of the witch trials and the people who are famous for putting people on trial. I must say, it was very dark down in the basement area and the figures they used were creepy.

Exploring Salem

Once I was done visiting some of the witch museums, I walked around Salem, exploring some more crowded streets and quieter neighborhoods. I love the witchy vibe of Salem and all the people who flock to this area during this time of year.

I decided to walk to the Salem Witch Trials Memorial cemetery. When I found the line, which is free to enter, I honestly questioned if it was the right cemetery. There was no sign or anything like that to signal that you’re in the right place. I just followed the line and eventually went into the cemetery.

When I was done walking through the small cemetery, I walked around Salem some more. Honestly, I pretty much stayed in the busy, populated area where all the attractions were. I enjoyed walking around, seeing the cool attractions, and the awesome costumes people had.

Dinner at Long Board’s Restaurant

With all the exploring I did that morning and afternoon, it was time for my early dinner. I decided to go with Long Board’s Restaurant because it was close by and there wasn’t an insane wait for a table.

The normal wait time for a table around 4 to 5pm in this area was about 1.5 to 2 hours long! Since it was only me eating, they had space and I got right in without a wait.

The one downside to this restaurant was how they didn’t allow customers to use the bathrooms. I guess they didn’t want anyone, whether they were a customer or not, using bathrooms when there was tons of people that day.

This was rough, because I needed to use the bathroom. This would be the reason why I can’t give this place a near awesome review. Besides that, my cheesy stixs and chicken quesadillas were pretty good and filled me up.

Witch City Mall

Dinner finished and still needing the restroom, I walked about 5 minutes from the restaurant to the Witch City Mall. Here’s all I can say about this mall.

• it has a cool name!
• It’s a very small mall and it’s on one level
• there were some stores and shops but not a lot
• the one bathroom was closed off

I went to the mall to find a bathroom to use. Come to find out there weren’t any bathrooms and the one bathroom I found was closed off to visitors. So, I didn’t stick around for long after that.

Peabody Essex Museum

I knew the Peadbody Essex Museum museum had to have bathrooms. This was literally my last chance to use one. Nothing against porta potties but I just don’t like using them. There’s lots of them around Salem for the public to use but I didn’t want to use them, that’s why I opted to find a whole bathroom.

I was one of the last few people to make it inside the museum. Since they were closing at 5pm, and it was about 4pm, I quickly went inside. Here are some things to know if you’re visiting the museum:

• costs $20 to enter
• if you have a backpack, you must wear it in front of you (security will be there to check)
• they have a special exhibit for the Salem Witch Trials in October  – be sure to get your tickets for that early because they sell out quickly.
• there’s a mini cafe inside to get food and drinks

After using the bathroom (finally), I walked around a small portion of the museum. It has lovely historical and cultural art from across the world. I enjoyed the few pieces and exhibits I saw, wished I had more time to explore more but I had another activity to do at 5pm

Walking Ghost Tour

I left the Peabody Essex Museum around 4:45pm. I walked to the meeting point for my Salem walking ghost tour at 5pm. I prepaid for this tour earlier; I stumbled upon the stand when I was walking to the Witch City Mall.

The tour:

• cost $25 if you pay with cash
• cost $30 if you pay with a card
• has tours that last most of the day into the evening (9pm)
• tour lasts about 1.5 hours
• walk throughout Salem in the evening
• describes some of the history of the witch trials and subsequent tragedies which happened in Salem

I love this type of activity so I enjoyed the tour. It combines my fascination of witches and ghosts with history. If you’re visiting Salem, you should definitely do a walking ghost tour! It would be a shame to visit Salem and not do an activity like this.

Day 3

Coffee in Beverly, MA

For breakfast, I decided to try a new coffee place that wasn’t in Salem. I decided to go to Beantrust Coffeebar in Beverly, Massachusetts, which was 30 minutes from Woburn. I felt it would be nice to not only get coffee but to explore another part of MA, and see what it’s like.

Here’s my experience with my coffee and food from Beantrust Coffeebar:

• iced coffee was a cold brew – if you like cold brew, then you may like this but I don’t like cold brew
• I didn’t enjoy the coffee at all
• the blueberry muffin was very good – very fresh and soft

The town of Beverly is very small and there’s not much to do there. I took a chance on this coffee place because it had good reviews. But since the coffee wasn’t good and there wasn’t much to do, I decided to try coffee at another place close by.

With that, I found myself at the Atomic Cafe. I got another iced coffee and a bacon, egg, cheese sandwich. The iced coffee still wasn’t that good but it was better than Beantrust Coffeebar.

Now that I’ve had my breakfast, I did some research and found  my next place to visit in Salem.

Back in Salem: Pioneer Village

I found the Pioneer Village while searching for things to do in Salem. There was no parking in Salem if you came after 10am, so doing something in the busy portion of Salem was a no go.

The Pioneer Village was about a 15 to 20 minute drive from the downtown area of Salem, it’s not terribly far. Once I found the place and parked my car, I walked along the path to the village.

What drew me to the Pioneer Village was it’s set up to look like a small village that existed during the 17th century. I thought that was very cool and since I love history, I figured this would be fun to do.

• it cost $5 to enter but it’s cash only
• it’s a very small area with houses, tools, and gardens from the 1620s
• you learned about housing and life people (and some of the Native American tribes there) in the 1620s

You can walk through the whole village in about 10 minutes, that’s how small it was. But if you took your time, went inside the homes, and read about life back then, you’ll need about 30 minutes to an hour at most.

I enjoyed seeing homes, bedding, tools used, and mini gardens from the 17th century. You feel as if you’re back in the 1620s in Massachusetts.

Fall River: The Lizzie Borden House

With the Pioneer Village done, I pondered for about 30 minutes on what to do next. Salem wasn’t an option as parking would’ve been horrendous. Finally, I remembered a tour I wanted to. Cue the Lizzie Borden ghost tour!

I drove about 1.5 hours from Salem to Fall River, MA. This is where the Lizzie Borden house was located. I’m a HUGE fan of true crime and I’ve always been intrigued by the Lizzie Borden case. So a ghost tour made a lot of sense.

Here’s what you need to know about the ghost tour:

• it cost $25 for a normal ticket
• It cost $6 for an add-on which includes an extended tour of the 1st floor where the father was murdered
• altogether, I paid $33.49 for the ghost tour
• you need to use street parking for the tour – the small parking lot they have is reserved for guests staying at the home.
• on Sundays the meters don’t work – you can park for free across from the house
• there’s a parking garage down the block from the house if you can’t find street parking
• you spend 1.5 hours touring Fall River, it’s history, and the Borden’s history and linkage to the town
• you only spent 30 minutes inside the house on the 1st floor – that’s if you purchased the add-on

Overall, it was a bit underwhelming and I was kind of disappointed. Although I did enjoy walking around Fall River, I would have liked to have seen more of the house and about the murders.

To be fair, the house is an active B&B, so the upper floors of the home in the evening have guests. Basically, once the guests arrive after 4pm, you can’t go upstairs.

If you want to explore more of the house, like the upper floors, you can do a day tour. That way, you get so see and explore the whole home instead of only the 1st floor.

After the tour, I made the almost 2 hour drive back to Woburn.

Day 4

Today was the day I had to leave Woburn, Massachusetts to head to my next destination. I knew that was New Hampshire but I didn’t quite know yet where I wanted to go in New Hampshire.

After getting my coffee from Dunkin Donuts, and finishing my corn muffin, I set my GPS to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The 1 hour drive north wasn’t too bad and I knew the fall foliage would be better the farther I went up north.

Exploring Portsmouth, NH

Once I arrived in Portsmouth, I parked my car in the Hanover Parking Garage which is near the entrance to the area. You pay $2 per hour for parking, not bad at all for a parking garage. When I arrived in that garage early in the morning, and even when I returned later on in the afternoon, there were plenty of parking spaces available.

Portsmouth is a cute area that has a small town vibe to it. I enjoyed walking around, reading the plaques around the area to learn more about it’s history, and taking in the beautiful fall foliage. Here’s what I did, and what you can do as well, while in Portsmouth:

• walk down Market Street – there’s a lot of cool little shops, restaurants, and cafes
• walk to Prescott Park – it’s a cute but quiet park that has a lock fence and a little cemetery. A very interesting and quaint park
• walk over the bridge to Pierce Island – while I didn’t explore the whole island, I don’t believe there’s much here. There’s a municipal pool, playgrounds, a place for boats, and paths for joggers, walkers, and bikers.
• check out some of the many local stores and cafes

An Unexpected Walk In Maine

While I was walking around Prescott Park, I noticed a bridge and wandered what was on the other side. I saw people walking across, so I figured there was a path that lead to another island like Pierce Island. However, I did not expect what was going to happen next.

The bridge I saw is called the World War Memorial Bridge, it’s dedicated to the soldiers who fought during WWI. I walked along the path to Badgers Island, the bridge connected this island to Portsmouth. But, I thought Badgers Island was part of New Hampshire, it seemed like it when I looked on my Apple Maps.

What I did not see was the thin, red line which separates states. When I crossed the bridge, I thought I was still in New Hampshire. So, I kept walking to explore the island. I walked further and before I knew it, I saw a “no texting and driving” sign for the state of Maine. I was very surprised and shocked that I walked into another state!

Since I walked into Maine, Kittery, Maine to be exact, I decided to walk along the sidewalk towards the little suburbs – I saw signs for the Appalachian trail, which runs up into Maine, so I thought it’d be good to follow the signs to keep my bearings.

I walked for about 40 minutes, following signs for the Appalachian trail, until the sidewalks ended. That was a sign to turn around and walk back to New Hampshire. Before I left Maine, I visited Found Legion Pond Lake. It’s a beautiful, quiet little area with a view of the pond and trees. A lovely stop to get a peak at the fall foliage!

With that, I walked across the bridge and entered New Hampshire again. If you’re looking to walk around and explore a bit of Maine without driving too far, I recommend visiting Portsmouth and walking into Maine.

Related Post: The Appalachian Trail – Pulpit Rock Trail

Dinner at Portsmouth Gas Light Co.

After a fun day of exploring Portsmouth and adventuring a bit in Maine, it was time to find a place for dinner. I found this place earlier while walking around and thought it’d be a good place to get food.

The Portsmouth Gas Light Co. has a variety of food choices on their menu. From fish and burgers to pizza, there’s a bit of everything. You can’t forget about the selection of beers, wines, ciders, and other alcoholic beverages. Although their items area a bit on the pricer side, the food and drinks are worth it.

I had the gas light pizza with the night shift nite light lager. Delicious pizza with a nice, light beer to end my day in Portsmouth. Highly recommend this place. Everything, from the food to the staff, was amazing!

The Gonic Trails in Rochester, NH

I had a bit of daylight left and wanted to do some hiking before turning in for the night. So, I took to Google Maps to look for some trails that were relatively easy to do. With that, I found The Gonic Trails in Rochester, New Hampshire.

The 30 minute drive to the trails from Portsmouth was pretty good. I had a bit of trouble finding it at first. The parking lot for the trails is between Steel Rd. and Taylor Ave. off Rochester Neck Rd. It’s a small parking lot as well, so be sure to go slow and keep your eyes peeled for it.

The trail I went on was the Isanglass and Watson Loop:

• it’s a easy trail – mostly flat until you get to the waterfall area
• there’s an amazing waterfall!
• it was very quiet – I only saw a few people on the trail and they seemed to be locals
• beautiful fall foliage on this trail

I didn’t finish the trail because half the trail, according to AllTrails, seemed to go into the woods with no path. So, I turned around and walked back. But overall, I enjoyed the trail and recommend it to see an awesome waterfall and to get an easy hike in.

To finish off the day, I booked my accommodation in Dover, the Hampton Inn, and relaxed until I fell asleep.

Day 5

The Kancamagus Highway was at the top of my list of places to visit while I was in New Hampshire. Since I had the whole day ahead of me, I checked out of my hotel and drove an hour from Dover to the highway, which is technically called NH-112.

Unexpected Scenic Overlook in Ossipee

But before I could get to the highway itself, while I was driving, I saw this scenic overlook at the last minute. If you were speeding by, and not looking to your left, you would miss it. When I made a U-turn, I entered the parking lot and was surprised that no one else was here.

The actual name of the area I found is called the Ossipee Mountain Conservation Area. The views of the mountains and fall foliage are amazing! I even contemplated doing some of the trails in the area, in the Ossipee Mountains. The Ossipee area looked stunning and there weren’t many tourists around. It seemed like only some locals would stop by and visit, because the area is so small and spread out.

However, if you want to do some hiking or leaf peeping in a less touristy area of New Hampshire during the fall, I recommend checking out Ossipee. I wish I had more time in the day to explore and hike, maybe next time.

The Kancamagus Highway

If you’re taking a road trip through New Hampshire, I recommend driving along this 34.5 mile stretch for some of the best views of fall foliage! This highway takes you through the White Mountains National Forest, which not only has stunning views of the mountains but amazing trails we well, so you can hike to see some more beautiful views!

While driving along The Kancamagus Highway, I:

• made multiple random stops along the highway – very beautiful and breathtaking!
• visited some scenic view points – Lower Falls and Rocky Gorge
• hiked a little bit on the Rocky Gorge Trail but didn’t complete it – stunning views of the pond, gorge, and forest
• stopped at the Sugar Hill Scenic Vista area
• stopped at the C.L. Graham Wangan Grounds Scenic Overlook
• some of the area points have a $5 fee

Of course, there are more trails and scenic overlook areas throughout the highway. What stopped me from exploring the rest was time and the weather. It started to rain while I was out exploring, so I decided to just drive the remainder of the highway in my car, looking at the misty mountains through the rain.

Dinner at The Black Mtn. Burger Co.

When you finish driving along the Kancamagus Highway, you come into the little town of Lincoln, NH. It’s has a lot of hotels and resorts for visitors who ski in the mountains, hike, and overall visit the area.

After driving through Lincoln for a bit, and looking for restaurants with great reviews, I decided to go with the Black Mtn. Burger Co. It had awesome reviews and the menu looked amazing. As you probably guessed, their specialty is burgers but they have other things on the menu like hotdogs, chili, chowder, and sandwiches. They’re reasonably priced as well, so if you’re not looking to spend a lot of money but want awesome food, I recommend visiting this location!

I had the fried mac n cheese balls, the brie and bacon burger which came with their special mayo maple sauce, and the summer palesner beer. The food, especially the burger and that special mayo sauce, was awesome! And the beer was great too, loved it here and I would definitely go back!

Sugar Hill

Now, although it was raining, I didn’t want to call it a day when it was only about 4pm. What did I do? I got out my Google Maps and found this area called Sugar Hill, and figured this would be a cool spot to explore. It didn’t seem like a big area and I saw that there was an observation deck of the mountains here, so I had to go see it.

With that, I drove 30 minutes from Lincoln, through Franconia Notch State Park, to Sugar Hill to visit the observation deck. Sugar Hill is a very small town with not a whole lot to it. But, it has amazing views of the mountains and that was reason enough for me to visit.

When I got to Sugar Hill:

• I visited the observation deck on Sunset Hill – amazing views of the mountains but it’s a small deck and there weren’t any other tourists when I went. At least, not on that day, at around 4:30pm, after it rained
• I went to the Sugar Hill State Park to hike for a bit – hiked a small portion of the Philip Robertson Memorial Trail before I turned around

If I had better weather and more daylight, I would have continued to hike in the state park and drive throughout Sugar Hill for more stunning fall foliage and mountain views. It’s the perfect little hidden gem; a small town with cool views and trails to hike.

After I struggled for about an hour to get signal, I eventually booked a room for the night at the Woodwards White Mountain Resort to rest. I’ll be creating other blog posts dedicated to reviewing the hotels I stayed in, so stay tuned for those!

Day 6

In the morning, I woke up and decided to visit Franconia Notch State Park. Not only was it on my itinerary of places to visit but I was literally about a 10-15 minute drive from the park. After my morning breakfast and coffee (of course), I drove to Franconia Notch State Park.

Franconia Notch State Park

Where do you even start when you enter Franconia Notch State Park? With a variety of trails and activities such as camping, swimming, kayaking, and more, how can you choose what to do? Well, since I only planned on spending half a day here, I figured hiking was my best option.

The trail I went with was the Flume Gorge Trail:

• the trail takes about 1.5 hours to complete
• I’d say the trail is easy to moderate – there are some stairs and elevation involved, so it’s not totally flat
• it cost $19 to enter the trail – there’s a fee to enter all the trails in the park unless you have a pass
• great views of the gorge, the mountains, and fall foliage – highly recommend!

After the trail, I was very hungry and a bit tired from the hike. I believe all my hiking, exploring, and driving was catching up to me at this point. I decided not to do another hike, One, because I didn’t want to pay another fee and two, I wanted to find food.

I searched for a while for places which sold food. I wanted to go to a restaurant or cafe to eat, because I didn’t want a snack and wanted to save the snacks I did have for my long drives. Most of the places in the Lincoln area were closed, even though it was the early afternoon, and I’m not sure why.

I contemplated about what I should do and ultimately, I chose to leave New Hampshire to head for Vermont. Why? At the time, I wanted to eat at this cool brewing company and I didn’t want to do anything else in New Hampshire, to be honest.

Dinner and Beer at The Idletyme Brewing Co.

And with that, I left New Hampshire and drove 2 hours to Stowe, Vermont. The drive out there was peaceful and beautiful. I didn’t encounter much traffic or other cars on the road, for that matter. It was just me and the surrounding views. New Hampshire and Vermont sure are beautiful.

When I arrived in Stowe, I drove straight to the Idletyme Brewing Co., which has a good selection of beers, wine, and food. Some of the beer is brewed on site as well and you can even get a tour of the brewery as well. It’s pretty cool!

My dinner consisted of mac and cheese with truffle oil, a Helles Brook lager, and the brownie Sunday for dessert. The truffle oil got to be a bit overwhelming after a while but other than that, the food and lager were good. Plus, the outdoor/patio area was fun because it had music and beautiful lights.

Afterwards, I booked my accommodation for the Talta Lodge, which was a 5 minute drive from Idletyme. I just relaxed for the rest of the night as I was very tired.

Day 7

The next day, in hindsight it turned out to be the last day of the trip, I decided to walk around and explore Stowe despite the fact that it rained the whole day.

Sunset Rock Trail

To start my day off in Stowe, I drove to the Sunset Rock Trail, which was about a 7 to 10 minute drive. Although it was raining, Google Maps said this trail was easy, so I went through with my plan. I drove to the top of the trail and made my way down.

However, if you decide to do this trail, I recommend just parking your car somewhere in the town and walking through the little neighborhood to get to the beginning of the trail. When I discovered the entrance to the trail when I finally got to the bottom, I realized I had past it while driving to the parking lot and kicked myself for not parking somewhere near by.

Overall, it took me about an hour in the rain to go from the top of the hill to the bottom, and back up again. The view from the top was still pretty but not what it could be, because of the rain. I still enjoyed the view and the trail itself. There was some elevation but not much and it was well marked.

I’m not too sure if people know about this trail. Maybe it was because of the rain that kept people away. At the time, I literally didn’t see anyone until I got back to the top again. Even then, it was an older couple and they appeared to be locals instead of tourists, but I can’t be too sure. Either way, it’s a lovely and easy trail to do if you want to see some fall foliage.

Stowe Recreational Path

From the trail, I drove back into the little town, parked my car at a 2 hour parking spot, and walked around in the rain to explore Stowe. It’s a tiny town with a few shops, cafes, restaurants, but is very busy and crowded with tourists.

I discovered the Stowe Recreational Path while walking in the town. Again, like with Ossipee, I just happened to look to my left and saw a sign on a building pointing downward towards the direction of the path. When I was done exploring the town, I thought a nice walk on the path would be nice.

Even in the rain, the fall foliage and the views were beautiful. I wish the weather was better so I could’ve had my Lumix GH5 out to take better pictures and footage, but the GoPro Hero 9 was good enough. The path:

• is very quiet
• is used by joggers, cyclists, and walkers
• stretches 5.3 miles through Stowe
• is free to use
• has a variety of scenic views
• you have access to restaurants, shops, cafes, and hotels throughout the path – there are separate entry and exit points you can use

It’s overall a great way to see Stowe while getting some exercise, even if it’s raining. Great thing to do if you’re visiting Stowe.

Related Post: Busy Traveling? How to Exercise While Traveling

Piecasso for Dinner

After some hiking and walking for a few hours, it was time for a late lunch/dinner. I was in the mood for pasta and Piecasso seemed to be the best option that was actually open. I’m not sure why so many restaurants and cafes in Vermont and New Hampshire weren’t open at all, or didn’t open until like 4pm.

Anyways, I drove about 10 minutes from the path to this restaurant. Piecasso is known for their awesome pizza so if you dine here, definitely give it a try! However, I just felt like having pasta, so I ordered plain spaghetti with marinara sauce. Pretty basic, right? Basic but good, nonetheless. For dessert, I ordered chocolate ice cream. To finish my meal off, I ordered the Narragansett lager to drink while I chilled in the restaurant for a bit.

I enjoyed my meal at Piecasso and I definitely enjoyed my lager. I have to say, the lagers in New England are pretty good!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

This was the end of my New England road trip. I had planned on staying in New England for another day or two, as I wanted to visit other parts of Vermont. However, due to tragic and unforeseen events with my boyfriend’s family, I decided to cut my trip short to be there for him.

I don’t regret cutting my trip short, although I was a bit sad that I had to do it. But that’s ok. You never know what’s going to happen while traveling and sometimes, things happen that need to take priority over traveling That’s what happened to me.

I would still love to return to Vermont to “finish” my road trip and explore some of the other places I had on my list. A lovely follower or mine, Shipping Across The Globe, recommended a lot of cool places and things to do since she’s from Vermont. And I do intend to, one day, visit those places and do those activities.

Overall Thoughts

Despite the fact that I had to end my trip by about 2 days, I still had a wonderful time. I really enjoyed driving through different areas and states, and peeping at all the beautiful fall foliage. New England is beautiful during the fall!

All of the hiking and exploring I did was nothing short of awesome. Not to mentioned finding unexpected places or hidden gems, this added to the beauty and challenge of traveling. Although there were some hiccups along the way, I made the most out of the situation and remained flexible.

Overall, the flexibility and simplicity of the itinerary was key for this road trip. It gave me a rough idea of where I wanted to go and when, while allowing me to be flexible and to change my direction when needed. This itinerary also enabled me to visit the main tourist spots while also allowing and encouraging some off the beaten path exploration.

This itinerary is great for those looking for rough ideas on how to do a New England road trip for the fall. It also allows some space and flexibility to add or take away places a traveler may or may not want to travel to. Definitely worth the time and energy to explore and see what New England has to offer during the fall.