New England: one of the nicest places to enjoy the flaming fall foliage. But with almost 72,000 square miles of options, how can you possibly choose where to go?
One of my absolute favorite places is North Conway, NH; it's the perfect blend of nature and civilization. You can be just a few minutes' drive from the outlets for some cold weather essentials, and then hike a mountain only a few miles from there. Pretty perfect!
In fact, for the third year, I spent a long weekend in North Conway last month. Let me walk you through what my time looked like, and maybe you'll be inspired to pop over to the mountains, too!
Friday
My travel companions and I headed out mid-afternoon, since we couldn't get to our Airbnb until after three. Our starting point was in Maine, since that's where we live.
We drove up through Limerick, and stopped at the lookout to take in the view. Our next stop on the way was Cornish, where we checked out a wonderful artisan gallery called Full Circle. It's a place where local artists and crafters can sell their products and goods. You could spend hours in there; there's always more to see! From jewelry made of spoons, to repurposed post office boxes, to locally written novels, they had it all. An amazing place to check out!
The next and final stint of our mini journey was from Cornish to our Airbnb, an old farmhouse in Freedom, NH; that would be our home for parts of the next four days.
All six of us easily fit into this unique and cool Airbnb. The house had six bedrooms, but one of them had four bunkbeds in it, so bigger groups would work, too. The outdoors was the shining star of the property, with a large yard that dipped down to a river bank. There were kayaks and life jackets, although the water level was too low for us to use them this time around. Still, it was a gorgeous spot, and the two dogs in our crew loved the space!
Friday afternoon and evening, we decided to stay at the Airbnb instead of heading out to adventure. After all, you pay to stay there, might as well use it to the full! We roasted sausages over a fire for dinner – or attempted to, with limited success. Word for the wise: use thin, precooked sausage, not the good stuff!
S'mores also made an appearance, and thankfully were much less stubborn than raw, squishy sausages.
To wrap up the night, we headed back inside for games; a perfect way to end our first day!
Saturday
After a homemade pancake breakfast, it was time for Conway! With a loose itinerary, we started off late-morning on our thirty-ish minute drive. The Airbnb was a little further out than some people may prefer, but we didn’t mind.
It was a gorgeous drive through winding backroads and around the curves of Crystal Lake in Eaton, NH. You didn't hear any complaints from us!
We stopped first at a delicious burger joint called Wicked Fresh Craft Burgers, owned by two friends and brothers-in-law. Fun fact: they also used to own the White Mountain Cupcakery, and won Cupcake Wars on Food Network! As for savory food achievements, one of them also was the runner-up in Chopped: Comfort Food Feud in 2020. What do you think, good credentials?
Well, the food speaks for itself, especially the burgers! And the best news of all is that everything on their menu is gluten-free.
After fueling ourselves, we drove up to the lookout of Cathedral's Ledge. There are also hiking options, and even mountain climbing, for the more adventurous. We just wanted to take in the view, though, and opted for our car to do the hard work. And what a view it was! You can see for miles, everything from mountains to lakes to forests.
After taking in the view, we circled back to North Conway Village. Colorful locally owned shops line the street, and in the center of it all is the historic Conway Scenic Railroad Station. I still haven't been on one of their old-fashioned, scenic excursions, but just the sight of the station transports you back in time.
In front of the train station is a large grassy field, usually covered in picnickers and dog walkers. We came at the best possible time, though, because a craft fair happened to be going on that weekend! The rest of our time in Conway for the day was spent at the craft fair, perusing locally made jewelry, candles, salsa, and even 3D printed dragons (like this shop!). This was right up my group's alley; we were like kids in a candy store!
After a full afternoon of shopping in the sun, we retired back to the Airbnb for dinner and relaxation. I did a little bit of writing, one of my favorite hobbies, and just like that, day two was behind us.
Sunday
Another late start had us out the door around eleven on Sunday. Where did we decide to go? Back to the craft fair, of course! First, though, we grabbed coffee and a to-die-for almond croissant for later at Frontside Coffee Roasters, and then enjoyed Flatbread pizza outside in the fresh air. Funnily enough, at another table were two men from our neck of the woods: Alfred and Wells! Quite a coincidence. We all hit it off, and they took great pleasure in feeding one of the dogs in our party pizza crust.
We had intended to walk to the craft fair, but got distracted by a few shops along the strip. And I'm so glad we did, because they're my two new favorites!
The first one has a strange name, The Naked Bohemian, but don't worry; it's a family-friendly store. From floor to ceiling, this store is stuffed with unique, creative metal artwork. Their most common sculpture type is a cute but crazy-looking monster, which comes in multiple sizes, forms, and varieties. So fun! They also had small animal sculptures made of nuts, bolts, and other scrap metal. I bought a little dog, and I adore him!
The other shop was called New England Charms and Imports, which specialized in boho fashion. They also had leather goods, jewelry, scarves, and more. Another favorite!
Finally, back to the craft fair we went! We stopped at a lovely woman's booth called Dottie's Designs. Dottie had beautiful, well-priced handmade jewelry, which my friend and I were happy to peruse. After my friend bought a pair of earrings and then decided to trade them in for a slightly higher costing pair, Dottie waived the extra! All of her jewelry came with a little anti-tarnish strip to protect it.
We also popped into Zeb's General Store with a single goal: to find a cute magnet to memorialize our trip. My friend/roommate and I have an ongoing magnet collection of all the places we've been, so I needed one for this trip! It was incredibly busy as usual, but there were a bunch of magnets in different styles to choose from, and we settled on a colorful autumn forest; the best representation of our weekend! We also broke our rule of "only going in for a magnet" by perusing a tiny bit –it's too fun of a place to just run in and out of!
After a fun but exhausting day of shopping, we headed back home for our final night at the Airbnb. The weather was gorgeous, so we all lined up our chairs on the riverbank to take it all in.
Monday
For whatever reason, vacations almost always end with rain! Funny how that happens. Since it was pouring, it was the perfect time to go out to breakfast. About fifteen minutes from us, in Tamworth, NH, was Rosie's Restaurant. All the staff was incredibly nice, and the décor was cozy but up-to-date. There was even a little gift shop next door, but unfortunately it was closed at the time.
Our server, Charlie, was especially wonderful. She was attentive, friendly, and took personal interest in us. When my friend brought up in conversation that I'm an author, she even asked for the titles of my books to find them online! She was incredibly sweet and a good reason in itself to go back to Rosie's.
After we packed up the Airbnb, it was time to head out. Not the end of our vacation, though! We stopped in Cornish again on the way home, this time checking out two antique shops: Libby's Antiques and Smith Co.
Libby's was more to my taste, and there was so much I would've loved to get! From jewelry to antique tins to even some antlers that looked great on my friend's dog, it was chock-full of gems. There was even an entire section dedicated to "the childless cat ladies", full of cat-related jewelry!
Smith Co. also had a lot to explore, but some of my group was losing steam, so we didn't get to fully appreciate it. I will say, I saw at least three old typewriters there, and that's pretty cool!
A Perfect Getaway
There you have it: a little inspiration for your own North Conway trip! There's still a ton we didn't get to do, like Diana's Baths or drive the Kancamagus Highway; we'll be adding those to next year's itinerary. Hopefully this gave you an idea or two to add to your fall must-see list.