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Fall Foliage Travel: Amtrak To True Maple Syrup In Vermont

September 14, 2009 at 2:13 PM | by | Comment (1)

Live in on the east coast and have a serious craving for some real, true maple syrup on your pancakes before you head out for fall foliage-spotting? There's no other option for such a weekend trip then other than Vermont, with its 50 state parks and late September fall foliage peak.

Actually, the trip to Vermont should be just as packed with red, orange and yellow scenery if you hop on Amtrak's Vermonter, which originates in Washington DC, and goes up through Delaware, New York City, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont almost to the Canadian border.

Your best bet is to get off the Vermonter in Randolph or Montpelier and rent a car to drive through the Green Mountain National Forest, which hopefully won't be so green anymore. On the other end of the forest lies the town of Middlebury, with enough bed & breakfasts and quaint coffeeshops—thanks to the presence of renowned Middlebury College—to keep the foliage tourists happy.

To be sure you're heading up north at the right time for the vibrant leaf colors, the US National Park Service has a fall foliage hotline with daily updates: 1.800.354.4595, and of course a website.

Price out the Vermonter on the Amtrak website; we tried a round-trip in early October between DC and Randoplh, VT and it returned with $72 each way.

Related Stories:
· Middlebury, Vermont Fall Foliage Tours 2009 [AC]
· US National Park Fall Foliage [Official Site]
· Amtral Vemonter [Amtrak]
· Fall Foliage Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

[photo: deCadmus]

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Randolph, VT is pretty small. It has exactly one (limited) rental car company. Call 1-802-728-4455. Montpelier Junction is about a mile outside Montpelier (there is a nice bikepath, and it is actually a nice walk). Enterprise will meet you at the station with a rental car. Thifty will deliver your car to the White River Junction station with your car (1-802-295-6611). The train itself is a great way to see fall foliage. It follows the valleys, so colors will be later than higher elevations. My favorite section is between Waterbury and Randolph. Consider Brattleboro, VT as a great vacation destination that does not need a car. The Latches hotel is 1 block from the train station. The town is known for art, especially on the first Friday of the month when downtown becomes a big block party for "gallery walk" 5:30 - 8:00 pm. Bicycles can be rented downtown. Actually there is lodging within easy walking of many of the stations. Worth checking out is this page of package offers for lodging close to the train station: <http://www.vermontvacation.com/arts/amtrak_packages.asp> (make sure you copy and paste that whole link)
Christopher Parker on September 19, 2009 at 3:28 PM #Permalink

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