While we may never return to our old normal, one thing for sure is that with Autumn comes the time of year for all things pumpkin and pumpkin spice latte of course. While we can try to capture the spirit of the season in our coffee cups sometimes it’s great to just head out of town to experience the changing foliage and breathe in the fresh air. This year we took our fall getaway to New Hampshire.

We ventured off to the city of Concord, located in New Hampshire’s Merrimack Valley. The vibrant city is a 2-hour drive from Boston and conveniently located on I-93, the main highway inside Boston. If you’re flying into New Hampshire, the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport is 30 minutes away from the city. We chose to drive and set out on a day of apple picking, pumpkin picking and hopefully scoring some great views of peak foliage. Thankfully there’s no need to guesstimate when peak foliage will happen; use New Hampshire’s Foliage Tracker website to help guide you to the peak foliage and scenic routes.

Our first stop was pumpkin picking! We stopped to pick the pumpkins from Rossview Farm which was fun and we had almost the entire pumpkin patch to ourselves as it was almost empty. Nevertheless, a few kids ran across the pumpkin patch deciding which pumpkins were the best and jumping into their wheelbarrows for fun, the atmosphere was one of joy.

We settled on two pumpkins for our carving. The highlight of the trip was apple picking. Only about 5 minutes down the road we went apple picking at Carter Hill Orchard. The apples were plenty and they had gala viewing near the Gala apple orchard ( get it LOL Gala viewing near the Gala orchard) to get a great view of the skyline. Carter Hill was bustling with children taking turns in the swings, families apple picking, and just enjoying the farm. I got a chance to enjoy their hot apple cider doughnuts and they were the fluffiest I’ve ever had. I ate them all so no pictures of that.

Bring along someone tall to get those apples at the top

One thing to note is as you wind about the countryside of Concord you’ll get a glimpse of the changing colors. When we went the trees were not at their peak foliage change but the views were amazing to take in. We ended up leaving Carter Hill with about 10 pounds of assorted apples to make apple crisp and attempt an apple pie.

After Carter Hill, we went to take some in cider tasting at Contoocook Cider. They had indoor and outdoor seating for tastings and live music. They also had carriage rides for the children. Lines for the country store and the cider were everywhere but social distancing measures were apparent as the cashier in the cider room was behind plexiglass and they sanitized the clipboards that you used to select the tasting options. We loved Wicked Winesap made from the Winesap Heirlooms.

Be sure to get here early as it was a very busy Saturday at all of these locations. Be sure to bring cash, especially at Rossview Farm as they only accepted cash.

If you go: Save yourself the long drive after a busy day and stay the night at the Centennial Hotel in Concord, which is a 10-minute drive to Rossview farm. The boutique hotel located in the heart of Concord makes it a great location to stay the night and visit the city.

Tell us have you been to New Hampshire yet for the fall? Any favorite places we missed? We’d love to hear from you leave your comments below.

And as Always Keep Traveling,

KJ

Fall Getaways: New Hampshire