USA Guide
New England
The six New England states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine like to view 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 village greens of Vermont are the cradle of the nation. Although nostalgia is at the root of the region's tourist trade, with innumerable small towns dolled-up to recapture a past that is at best wishful, and at times purely fictional, this is undeniably one of the most historic parts of the United States; a landscape studded with aging clapboard houses, Revolutionary War sites and white-spired churches set upon immaculate rolling greens. The region was home to, and inspiration for, some of the seminal figures of American literature, from Mark Twain and Henry Thoreau, to Emily Dickinson and Jack Kerouac.
The Ivy League colleges – Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, et al – are the oldest in the country and remain hugely influential, dominating towns like Hanover and Amherst, attracting vast numbers of bright students from all over the world and setting a decidedly liberal tone throughout the region; though New Hampshire is something of a swing state, New England has voted solidly for Democratic presidential candidates since the 1980s.
Much of the Northeast is conspicuously wealthy. Indeed, the genteel seaside towns of modern Cape Cod and Rhode Island are a far cry from the first ragtag European settlements in New England. As the fortunes of industry magnates soared in the mid-nineteenth century, the coastline came increasingly to be viewed as prime real estate, to be lined with grand patrician homes, from the Vanderbilt mansions of Newport to the presidential compounds of the Bush and Kennedy families.
New England can still be a rather pricey place to visit, especially in late September and October, when visitors flock to see the magnificent fall foliage. Its tourist facilities are aimed at weekenders from the big cities as much as outsiders; places like Cape Cod and the Berkshires make convenient short breaks for locals. Connecticut and Rhode Island form part of the great East Coast megalopolis, but off I-95 you'll find plenty of tranquil pockets. Boston is a vibrant and stimulating city from which to set off north, where population is thin on the ground (and the seafood gets even better). The rest of Massachusetts is rich in historical and literary sights, while further inland, the lakes and mountains of New Hampshire and particularly Maine offer rural wildernesses to rival any in the nation. Vermont is slightly less diverse, but its country roads offer pleasant wandering through tiny villages and serene forests.
Highlights
1 Provincetown, MA Wild beaches, lovely flower-filled streets, and an alternative vibe on the outer reaches of Cape Cod.
2 Historic "summer cottages," Newport, RI Conspicuous consumption gone crazy in this yachtie WASP resort.
3 White Mountains, NH Ski, hike or just soak up the scenery on Mount Washington or Franconia Notch.
4 Montpelier, VT Relaxed, friendly, and relatively tourist-free, pretty Montpelier is bounded by rivers and a forest of tall trees.
5 Acadia National Park, ME Remote mountains and lakes, stunning beaches, and the chance to catch the sunrise before anyone else in the US.