Most people only think of autumn road trips, but New England can be great any time of year and can even be romantic.

These are some small towns you can’t miss!

1. Plymouth, Massachusetts

Plymouth rock, not worth it. It’s a rock with “1620” carved into it from when the pilgrims first came to the coast.

What is worth it? Plimouth Plantation where you can interact with actors dressed as the pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe and it’s kid friendly.

Perfect for historians and a great getaway from Boston.

2. Burlington, Vermont

One of the best New England vacation spots since Burlington isn’t really near any major highway systems like I-95 so it’s a perfect off the beaten track New England road trip in fall!

From their waterfront park where you can enjoy Lake Champlain weird things like the world’s tallest filing cabinet, this small town has tons to enjoy.

3. Bar Harbor, Maine

If you really want a full weekend getaway in New England, you have to see this small island.

From Acadia National Park that’s right there, full of hikes and viewpoints in Maine to historic Bar Harbor.

There are carriage rides to enjoy at all times of the year too, and learn things you never knew about the Rockefellers!

4. Merrimack, New Hampshire

Romantic getaways in New England have to include this small town, simply because of all of the breweries (both beer and wine) in the area.

Seeing the leaves change colors with fall is great along the several trails you can hike and different town parks you can visit.

5. Camden, Maine

One of the not-so-famous New England vacation spots is Camden Hills State Park.

On top of Mount Battie you can see Camden and all of Penobscot Bay. The small town itself has harbor cruises and whale watches during the appropriate times of the year, including the Snow Bowl ski resort in winter.

6. Chatham, Massachusetts

This cute beach town on the south east corner of Cape Cod can’t be missed during your New England day trip.

From pristine beaches to beautiful and historical lighthouses with amazing views it’s the place to be.

If you’re into railroads, don’t forget to visit the Chatham railroad museum.

7. Greenwich, Connecticut

From boating in Long Island sound and seeing old colonial style homes mixed in with modern mansions, Greenwich has it all.

An hour from New York makes it a great place to start your New England getaway. A famous New England attraction is Great Captain Island, which is a quick ferry ride away.

8. Jamestown, Rhode Island

With lighthouses, beaches, and forts this small island has it all.

Don’t miss Fort Adams State Park, 25 minutes away over the river in Newport, where there’s swimming, sailing, and festivals to enjoy at different times of the year.

Also, visit Castle Hill Lighthouse, which is technically on Newport Island, which is right next to Jamestown.

9. Rutland, Vermont

From hikes to children’s museums to 19th century castles, what more could you want from this beautiful New England small town?

This makes it for the perfect family destination for a New England road trip.

If you’re a fan of Norman Rockwell, visit his museum while you’re there too.

10. Groton, Connecticut

One of the best New England attractions has to be the fact that the navy has submarines in Groton.

All things aquatic are to be seen here, from their aquarium to their submarine museum and an old whaling ship now out of commission for you to enjoy during your New England trip.

More Tips for New England:

• 17 things to do in Boston
• 7 tips for a New England road trip in the fall
• 6 beautiful places to visit in Vermont
• 25 New England Romantic Getaways 

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Similar to when I was told the downhill alpine mountain biking track in Austria was the blue family-friendly line. I ended up flying over the handlebars and almost breaking my jaw.

Not so friendly.

Granted, they did warn us that it was mostly uphill for the 8.8 mile one way recreation path through the Franconia State Park in New Hampshire.

We had completed a gorgeous 11 mile round trip family friendly bike ride in Stowe a couple of days earlier, so we were bike confident.

If it’s uphill on a family friendly path, we should be okay, right?

Two miles in and we were dying.

Family friendly bike path, just like Austria!!

Not only did it give us the family travel adventures we yearn for, it literally did kick our butts – not so family-friendly word to go with the Franconia Notch bike path.

It wasn’t uphill the entire way, those hills were undulating so we knew what was going to happen on the way back.

The only thing that kept us cycling our legs and digging deep for breath was the beauty surrounding us.

Golden canopied leaves guiding us across wooden bridges, past snow covered mountain peaks, bubbling creeks, and small waterfalls shaping basins out of the rocky earth – that was our roadschooling lesson for the day.

Nothing like seeing water shaping rocks to learn about erosion and its power.

In our upcoming video, you’ll see Kalyra lying face down on the beach beside the lake where we decided it was time to quit.

We later found out we were just around the corner from the end.

But we couldn’t go any further.

We had moved the girls into their zone of discomfort – which is an okay place to hang out – but any further we would have pushed them into complete breakdown – going way beyond those safe boundary pushing zones.

The climb up those undulating hills on the way back were worrying me. My butt and thighs were holding up the “we’re staging a strike” sign.

“C’mon Kalyra. We’ve got no choice but to ride back honey.”

We turned back, in a matter of seconds, walking the bike up the first steep incline. Here we go.

Then we hit the top and cruised back down. And cruised. And cruised. And cruised.

Those undulating hills seemed to disappear. The speeds on the downhill giving us enough momentum to glide over them.

I barely touched the peddles. Even on the parts of the trail that on the way there seemed flat, I realized weren’t.

They only seemed that way because they weren’t as steep us the undulations. No wonder we were all feeling so wiped out.

It took us less 20 minutes to get back. The journey there on that family friendly ride up took 90 minutes.

Little Savannah was slightly terrified in her tag-along on the back of Craig’s bike.

I was pretty scared for both my girls going down – we hit some speeds.

Craig was going as slow as he could and Savannah was steady on the back of the bike. And I was calling out my safety instructions to Kalyra on the way down.

“That was the best fun ever.” She cried when we pulled up to the car.

She totally forgot about the face down supine position she was in only 20 minutes before.

So had I. My body felt alive. It had worked hard and the end was spent with just us and the freezing cold 5 degree wind.

It was exhilarating.

We jumped in the car to explore the remainder of the Franconia State Park bike path we didn’t get to, which was was when we discovered the other side of the lake where Kalyra collapsed was pretty much the end of what there was to see!

We took a loot at Old Man of the Mountain, which has the profile of a face when viewed from the north.

It was a series of five granite ledges on Cannon Mountain. It has been New Hampshire’s state emblem since 1945.

The Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in 2003. A memorial below Canon cliff along Profile Lake was built in 2010.

It’s quite an interesting concept.

There is a viewing platform with “Steel Profiles”, which, when aligned with the Cannon Cliff above, create what the profile looked like up on the cliff overlooking the Franconia Notch.

On the deck are various footprints depicting heights. You have to stand on the footprint that represents your height in order to see the profile correctly!

Slightly north of the Old Man, where we intended to finish our bike ride is Echo Lake which is the place to swim and kayak in the summer.

Later that evening as we played Clue with a bowl of tomato bisque and a cup of coffee, a Spotify ad came on talking about how learning happens so much better when it’s fun.

“Just like our day today girls. We didn’t have an official homeschooling day, but we were learning and having fun. What did we learn?”

“That you can’t have the fun without the hard climb.”

And how much more do you appreciate it when the yakka is hard?

If you want to do a family friendly White Mountain bike ride, I do suggest this one through Franconia Notch and the State Park.

Pack enough supplies, plan for at least half a day, and just enjoy the adventure!

If you want to see the beauty of the White Mountains and the famous Kancamagus Highway in the Fall press play in the video below.

P.S. Yakka is an Aussie word for work. Love my Aussie lingo! (which is Aussie for language)

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Ever taken on more of a family friendly bike ride before ? What’s been your favourite? We’re always looking for more in the USA.