USA & Canada | Destination Guides

Travel Director, Jeannine, takes us on a journey through New England

Recently updated on July 5th, 2023 at 10:46 am

With autumn in the air and the crunch of leaves underfoot, we caught up with Jeannine, one of Trafalgar’s most experienced Travel Directors, who took us on a journey through New England and gave us a taste of what guests can expect on our popular Autumn Colours tour.

Autumn Colours is a 9-day historical/cultural tour starting in Boston, travelling through Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine in New England, in northeastern United States.

Tell us about your experience as a Travel Director and the Autumn Colours tour?

I have been working with Trafalgar for 6 years now, doing various trips that take me all over the United States. But my very first tour working for Trafalgar was in fact a New England fall foliage – now called Autumn Colours – and every year since, I’ve returned in the autumn to do more of them.

I grew up in New England and I still have family there. Many of the places we visit on Autumn Colours are near and dear to my heart, from spots I think of more as my local swimming hole than historic battlegrounds (like Concord) to favourite yearly family summer camping trips (White Mountains) to my grandparents house (Bar Harbor).

What will first-time travellers like about their journey through New England?

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It may be a bit cliche, but truly, the riot of colours that is New England in the autumn is one of the most staggeringly beautiful displays of nature you will ever see. It brings people back time and again, and makes me excited to return to my place of childhood over and over. Its amazing, ever-changing, ephemeral nature. (Even the beautiful photos don’t do it justice). No journey through New England is the same. And no two autumns are the same; from the deepest of crimsons to the palest yellows, and the whole range in between, the differing mixtures that appear each year create a complex, diverse palette. 

RELATED CONTENT: 6 most beautiful towns to visit in New England

What are the most scenic drives on this journey through New England?

The Mohawk Trail is an early Native American and colonial trade route, and the first designated scenic drive in New England. It’s simply gorgeous and the scenery gets more spectacular as the trip continues. 

Even better is the drive along the scenic “Kancamagus Highway” (named for a prominent New England Native American chief) winding its way along the Swift River in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. This drive is one of the highlights of the tour, offering the very best of the foliage there is to see. The rocky river burbles through the mountains, creating many mini waterfalls and popular swimming holes in the summer season. The swathes of granite the river has cut its channels into offer a natural playground for kids and adults alike as people clamber over rocks to find that perfect picture spot. What’s amazing for guests is that flora and fauna specialists give them insights along the way!

What is the Freedom Trail, and what makes it special?

The Freedom Trail weaves its way through some of Boston’s oldest buildings, museums, churches, meeting houses, and historic monuments that tell the story of the American Revolution. A few steps walking you and you immediately get to know the years and decades of the tumultuous beginnings of America as a nation. The clearly marked red path is an easy walk that can be done in small pieces or as a whole. It passes through what were (and remain) the most vibrant neighbourhoods in the city.

Is Acadia National Park as good as it looks?

​​Yes, it really is. This is definitely one of my favourites parts of our journey through New England. On a clear day, the near 360 views from atop Cadillac mountain are breathtaking. Especially at sunrise. Though a relatively short peak, due to its barefaced granite top, with more bushes than trees, and being on an island, with the surrounding landscape by default at sea level, it offers a commanding view, a photo-perfect vista from nearly every angle. The rocky coastline makes for dramatic breakers for the crashing waves, with the echoing boom of Thunder Hole as the water rushes into the natural cave a siren call to visitors.

GET INSPIRED BY: Autumn Colours tour

RELATED CONTENT: Best National Parks in the USA

Could you share any inside knowledge on Woodstock, Lexington Green and Concord?

We visit all these towns on our journey through New England. Woodstock (Vermont) is a quintessential charming New England town, featuring a historic covered bridge, old country homes, delightful little shops and the classic white steeple churches, all framed by the vibrant autumn foliage. It’s a charming town full of history and character.

Lexington and Concord were small sleepy towns at the time of the revolution, and remain so today. Historic homes surround the greens and former battle grounds, not much different from how they would have looked over 200 years ago (with a few more coffee shops squeezed in perhaps).

Concord is perhaps most famous for that ‘shot heard round the world’ – this was the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord (April 1775) that started the American Revolutionary War and eventually led to the United States being born. It’s also famous for the bridge that [the shot] was fired from – a reconstruction of which still remains and can be walked across. Our guests have the opportunity to delve into history like on their journey through New England and ask questions.

The town itself has a rich literary history as well. Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau all called it home at various points in their lives, and several of their original homes are still viewable today.

Did you enjoy reading about this journey through New England on the Autumn Colours tour. Let us know in the comments below!

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