New England Travel Guide
New England is a division located in the northeastern part of the United States, consisting of the six modern states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. During the 19th century, New England played an important role in the abolition of slavery, was home to the initial stages of free public education, hosted the earliest examples of American philosophy and literature and was also the first region in the country to be altered through the North American Revolution.
Visitors to New England cannot help but smell a certain whiff of superiority reigning here thanks to Ivy League colleges like Harvard and Yale. New Englanders have done a lot to achieve their reputation as characterizing all that is inherently American, and tend to view themselves as head and shoulders above the rest. The tourist trade thrives on some painstaking recreations, or in some cases creations, of a nostalgic past to perform this self-assigned position.
The terrain is sprinkled with white picket fences, clapboard houses, rolling hills, church spires and quaint lighthouses, forming a picture postcard effect that deceives most unsuspicious tourists into assuming this is the historical hub of the United States. However, although the genuineness of it all is uncertain, there is indubitably great beauty at well-liked sites such as Rhode Island, Cape Cod, Berkshires and the winding streets of Boston, which attract the largest numbers of visitors.
Massachusetts, the gateway to New England, is incredibly diverse featuring everything from village greens and cobbled streets to space-age technology centers. Its western corner is cut by the Berkshire Hills, while the terrain rolls down to the ocean in the east, embracing the beaches of Cape Cod and the state capital, Boston. The WWF has declared Massachusetts as one of the planet’s top 10 whale watching spots, where lucky visitors can check out a variety of species just 25 miles off the coast.
Rhode Island has officially taken on the nickname ‘Ocean State’ because almost one tenth of its inland is covered by salt water. The tiniest State of the Union boasts over 400 miles of shoreline, extensive sandy beaches and a number of historic draws such as the Big Blue Bug, ‘Nibbles Woodaway’, the world’s largest termite.
Destinations
- Connecticut
- Bridgeport, Danbury, Groton, Hartford, Middletown, Mystic, New Haven, New London, Stamford, Stonington Borough, Torrington, Waterbury, West Hartford
- Maine
- Acadia National Park, Augusta, Bangor, Bar Harbor, Bath, Belfast, Freeport, Kennebunkport, Ogunguit, Rangeley, Sugarloaf USA
- Massachusetts
- Boston, Cambridge, Cape Cod, Nantucket, New Bedford, Plymouth, Provincetown, Springfield, Worcester
- New Hampshire
- Hanover, Meredith, North Conway, Portsmouth, Wolfeboro
- Rhode Island
- Newport, Pawtucket, Providence
- Vermont
- Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Killington, Quechee, Stowe, Waterbury, Weston, White River Junction, Woodstock