The Rough Guide to New England (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

The six New England states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine often regard themselves as the repository of all that is intrinsically American. In this version of history, the tangled streets of old Boston, the farms of Connecticut, and the villages of Vermont are the cradle of the nation. It’s a picture which has some truth to it, however, and, although nostalgia plays a big part in the tourist trade here, and innumerable small towns have been dolled up to recapture a past that can occasionally be wishful thinking, the appeal of New England is undeniable. It is the most historic region of the United States; its towns and villages are often rustic and pretty, with white-spired churches sitting beside tidy greens and colonial churchyards; and its landscape can get surprisingly diverse – ranging from some of its stark coastlines to its green rolling hills and mountains further inland. Like most regions that have a well-developed tourist industry, though, the trick is to find the unspoiled corners, and to distinguish the bogus from the authentic.

Above all, New England packs an enormous amount of variety into what is by American standards a relatively small area. There are the region’s literary connections – with well-visited shrines to Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton, to name just a few New England writers. There is no shortage of inviting places to ski, hike, boat, or just watch the leaves change color and drop from the trees – which phenomenal numbers of people come to do each fall. And there are the historic sights, which manage to catalog all manner of New England architecture and design, not to mention Yankee pride and ingenuity. Boston especially is celebrated as the birthplace of American independence – so many of the seminal events of the Revolutionary War took place here, or just outside, in Lexington or Concord; and, although the genteel seaside towns of Massachusetts and Rhode Island can seem a far cry from the first European settlements in New England, plenty of traces of those early years remain. This is, after all, the stretch of the United States where the Pilgrim Fathers and other religious sects put down their stakes, their survival aided by groups of Native Americans who themselves were eventually displaced, though their legacy remains, too, in place names throughout the region. Later, as the European foothold on the continent became more secure, the coastline became increasingly prime real estate, lined with grand patrician homes, from the Vanderbilt mansions of Newport to the presidential compounds of the Bush and Kennedy families. Inland, the Ivy League colleges of Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth and others still embody New England’s strong sense of its own superiority, and contribute to accusations of provincialism and snobbishness; in fact, the region’s traditional role as home to the WASP elite is due more to the vagaries of history and ideology than to economic realities. Its thin soil and harsh climate made it difficult for the first pioneers to sustain an agricultural way of life, while the industrial prosperity of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is now but a distant memory. Indeed, New England has pockets, in Vermont and the other more northerly states, that are as poor as anywhere in the US; and the southern states have all the problems that are normally associated with long-established urban conglomerations.

Despite the apparent gulf between its interior and coast – and, too, its northern and southern halves – New England is compact and well defined, and quite easy to get around; only Maine, New England’s biggest and most rural state by some way, takes any real time and effort to navigate. Most of its states offer the same mix (to differing degrees) of picturesque small towns and villages and at times dramatic landscapes, though each has its own distinctive character. When you’re working out where to go, plan to include coverage of at least parts of two to three states, in order to pick up on some of that difference. The southern states of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are more urban and historic and, where nature intervenes, it is usually along the region’s spectacular coastline. Here, the tourist facilities are aimed as much at weekenders from the big cities as outsiders – Cape Cod, the Berkshires, Martha’s Vineyard, all are convenient (and very popular) targets for moneyed locals. Further north, the lakes and mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire, and particularly Maine, offer wilderness to rival any in the nation.

Boston is the undisputed capital of New England, perhaps America s most historic city, certainly one of its most elegant, full of enough colonial charm and contemporary culture to satisfy most appetites. Together with its energetic student neighbor, Cambridge, Boston has plenty to merit a visit of at least a few days, including a fine array of restaurants, bars and venues for both high- and lowbrow culture. The city also makes a good base for day-trips out to historic Lexington and Concord, the rocky North Shore, where the witch sights of Salem probably hold the most interest, and Cape Cod an admittedly somewhat overrated, usually very crowded peninsula, but one which does at least have delightful, quirky Provincetown at its outermost tip.

West of Boston, there s the collegiate Pioneer Valley, which gives way to the Berkshires, a scenic if hopelessly twee retreat for Boston and New York s cultural elite much like its Connecticut cousin, Litchfield Hills, just to its south. Southwest of Boston, along the coast, tiny Rhode Island s two main attractions are energetic Providence and wealthy Newport, beyond which you can take in the better parts of the Connecticut coast the seaport of Mystic, and, further on, likeable New Haven, home to Yale University.

In the opposite direction from Boston, in the three states to the
north, New England is more varied: the weekenders are thinner on the
ground, there s a greater sense of space, and a simpler way of life
rules. In Vermont, outside of the relaxed, pleasant towns of
Brattleboro and Burlington, both worthy of exploration, you re best
off just wandering the state s backroads in search of country inns,
dairy farms, and some peace and quiet unless of course you ve
come to make the pilgrimage to Ben & Jerry s in Waterbury, to see how
an ice-cream empire began. Over in New Hampshire, the rugged glory of
the White Mountains is the most dramatic lure, with the highest peaks
in the area and countless outdoor opportunities; indeed, if you re an
avid camper or hiker, you won t want to miss this area. Coastal
Portsmouth is also as nice a town as you ll find most anywhere in the
region. Finally, there s Maine, in the far northeast of the country,
which has perhaps New England s most extreme blend of seaside towns
(Portland, Bar Harbor) and untamed interior wilderness, in which you
can spot moose outside of Rangeley, whitewater raft near Moosehead
Lake, and do some remote hiking in Baxter State Park along the
Appalachian Trail, which actually runs through all three of New
England s northern states.

WHEN TO GO

New England can be a rather pricey place to visit, especially in late September and October, when visitors flock to see the magnificent fall foliage. The region is at its most beautiful during this time, which makes the crowds and prices understandable, if not more bearable. It can get quite cold, unsurprisingly, during winter months, but that s fine if you re thinking of skiing or other winter sports, or a cabin retreat of sorts. Bear in mind, though, that, whichever resort you choose, you likely won t be alone. Summers are warm and dry, but this is New England s prime season and it can get extremely crowded, especially in overpopulated getaway towns like those on Cape Cod, Martha s Vineyard, the Rhode Island coast and in southern Maine though the upside of coming then is that at least you know everything will be open. On balance, late spring is probably the nicest time to come: the temperature is generally clement, if a little unpredictable, the crowds are more dispersed, and prices have yet to go up for the tourist season.