Rhode Island
The smallest state in the US, known as the Ocean State, Rhode Island is less than 50 miles long and 37 miles wide but offers more than 100 miles of spectacular beaches interspersed with attractiveharbour fronts.
Its 400-year history has been carefully preserved in the hundreds of colonial and Victorian houses and buildings. Especially worth seeing is the historic East Side residential district – described as having the finest collection of 18th century homes in the US.
Turn-of-the-century mansions built by the Astors and Vanderbilts as summer retreats reflect the lavish lifestyle and society of the era. Places to visit in the town of Providence include the neighbourhoods of Federal Hill, Fox Point and Blackstone Boulevard.
Maine
The largest New England state covering 3,500 miles spanning the rocky Atlantic coastline of the far northern US. Once the shipbuilding centre of the nation, Maine’s strong nautical traditions are a favourite attraction, along with fishing, boating, outdoor activities and adventure, and the rugged wildlife of its national parks.
Acadia National Park covers more than 40,000 acres on Mount Desert Island and includes beaches for relaxation and swimming, over 100 miles of cycling and hiking trails, guided walks and whalewatching cruises. Maritime inns and resort hotels are available along the coast, and Maine is also noted for its hearty seafood, especially fresh lobster and clambake dinners. These are often cooked in seaweed-lined sandpits on the beach.
Other key places to visit are the Old Port Exchange district of Portland, Boothbay Harbour – the largest boating resort northeast of the Boston area – and Freeport for factory outlet shopping and Atlantic cruises.
Massachusetts
Outside of Boston, there are a number of historic country towns, villages and coastal communities worth visiting – including Concord, Salem, Marblehead, Gloucester, Rockport, Plymouth and the Fall River area.
Cape Cod, the 65-mile-long peninsula jutting into the Atlantic, reflects its past image as a fashionable summer beach retreat for wealthy families from Boston and Providence on Rhode Island. Falmouth, Sandwich, the Hyannis district, Yarmouth, Chatham, Harwich and Truro are maritime locations worth taking in, as is the painters’ and writers’ ‘colony’ at Provincetown, although it gets very crowded during summer.
The islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket can be reached by ferry service from the Cape – head for the quaint harbour at Vineyard Haven on the former island and walk the back streets filled with former sea captains’ homes.
Aside from the attractive touring countryside of the Berkshires, central Massachusetts offers Worcester – famous for its museums and discount factory shopping – and Old Sturbridge Village, where many original settlements from the region were brought to recreate a New England village and lifestyle of the 1830s.
Vermont
More widely known for its ski resorts, compact rural Vermont is a lush and laidback state, and combines well with New Hampshire as a touring destination in summer.
Also bordering New York State and Canada, Vermont is described as the Green Mountain State, with winding mountain roads offering some spectacular views of New England. The terrain also provides good autumn colours and 20 alpine ski areas and 50 cross-country ski areas in winter.
Small villages are scattered through the mountain valleys and there are plenty of inns and bed and breakfast accommodation characterising the state’s 19th-century lifestyle and ambience. Vermont’s independence was proclaimed in the 1760s in the village tavern at Dorset, and nearby historic sites and museums at Bubbardton, Bennington and Mount Independence provide a good insight into the events of that period.
Connecticut
Served by the gateways of New York or Boston, Connecticut is the southernmost state of New England. A big draw is Mystic Seaport, a recreation of a 19th century coastal town and community, complete with a marinelife aquarium and Olde Mistic Village. Newhaven was founded by the Puritans in 1638 as an independent colony and is now a major port with plenty of galleries, period shops and restaurants.
Other coastal towns include New London, with affluent waterside residences, and the oystering town of Norwalk. Connecticut’s capital of Hartford is the centre of the US insurance industry but for tourists, the 37-mile view from the Travellers Tower across Connecticut River is worth seeing.
Housatonic Valley in the Litchfield Hills is unspoilt, rugged countryside and ideal for trout fishing and canoeing, while Litchfield itself is a picture-postcard New England town.
New Hampshire
Like its neighbour Vermont, the state is dominated by the White Mountains, which includes Mount Washington – at 6,288ft one of the highest peaks east of the Mississippi River.
Mount Washington Valley offers plenty of land and water-based activities in summer, as well as alpine ski areas and cross-country trails in winter. Year-round resorts include Attitash, Bretton Woods, Cannon Loon, Wildcat and Waterville Valley. The Lakes Regions boasts more than 1,300 stretches of water and the 72sqm Lake Winnipesaukee is ideal for recreation.
In Merrimack River Valley, visit the Shaker Village at Canterbury. At the northern end of this coast is Portsmouth, which was the most important colonial town north of Boston. Worth visiting is Strawberry Banke, a grid of restored original streets from the 18th and 19th centuries.