Following on from this post where I shared the 3 week itinerary of my October trip to the USA, the main part of that trip was a tour of New England with Trafalgar. I’m not affiliated with Trafalgar, I paid for the tour myself and they don’t know I’m writing this review. As always, all opinions are my own. I just wanted to share my review if you were thinking about doing one of these group tours, or creating your own itinerary for a New England leaf peeping trip!

The Trafalgar Tour Itinerary

The tour I took is called the ‘Autumn Colors’ tour which is marketed as a 9 day tour but it’s really only 7 days (I don’t count the arrival and departure day as there’s no actual touring on those days):

• Day 1 – Arrival day in Boston, welcome dinner at 6pm in the hotel
• Day 2 – Depart Boston, quick stops at Lexington and Concord on the way to Burlington
• Day 3 – Burlington (Shelbourne County Store, Green Mountain Girls Farm & Burlington in the afternoon)
• Day 4 – Drive along the Kancamagus Highway to Conway, making photo stops along the way
• Day 5 – Day in Conway at the White Mountains, Diana’s Bath’s and visiting North Conway
• Day 6 – Drive from Conway to Bar Harbour, Bar Harbour in the evening
• Day 7 – Cadillac mountain viewpoint in the morning, parts of Arcadia National Park, Bar Harbour cruise and explore Bar Harbour in the afternoon
• Day 8 – Drive from Bar Harbour to hotel near Rockport, stopping at Kennebunkport on the way
• Day 9 – Depart hotel and arrive at Boston airport 10:30am, Boston at 11am

The tour map appears to have been updated to list Northfield but the itinerary doesn’t actually say if the tour stops there now. Maybe this is instead of the stop at the Shelbourne Country Store.

I didn’t mind the tour but I’m so used to being in total control of the itinerary these days, that the pace and some of stops I would’ve skipped or made shorter. On the flip side, some of the visits to key destinations were extremely short. We only had 45 minutes in the cute town of Stowe, yet we would have 30 minute pee stops at random visitor information centres where there was nothing to do. The main reason I chose Trafalgar over other tour companies running similar tours was that it stopped in Stowe, so I was quite disappointed / frustrated by that.

So why did I do this itinerary as a bus tour? Unfortunately the best places in the USA for fall foliage are car destinations and I’m not prepared to drive in another country, on the ‘wrong’ side of the road. I considered flying into Burlington and attempting to drive around Vermont, but then how do you get to Conway and Acadia national park? There are no commercial airports nearby, and very few bus or train routes (and they had weird timetables) to and from Boston. The best autumn colors were in New Hampshire and there’s not much public transport there. A lot of places were too far to do day trips from Boston (and you’d still need a car). So a New England fall itinerary is best done in a one way circuit, via a road trip.

The autumn colors

So the main idea of the itinerary was to see the best fall foliage in New England. Did the tour achieve that? I think so. I did extensive research around which dates would have the highest chances of seeing fall foliage and chose the tour start date around that (I picked the tour departing 7th October). Peak can vary each year but I’d say mid October is a safe bet to see some autumn colors, you just might not time peak everywhere, hence why it’s important to go to different places!

The best autumn colors were along the Kancamagus highway and White Mountains in New Hampshire, as well as Arcadia National Park in Maine.

Kancamagus highway in New Hampshire

At the top of Cadillac Mountain in Arcadia National Park

The tour departed from Boston which hadn’t reached peak before the tour started, it it hadn’t even reached peak after it ended either. For trees that had turned, it was mostly yellow leaves, not the bright orange and reds which I really wanted to see.

However only about half an hour outside of Boston, in Lexington and Concord, I hit the ‘jackpot’ and saw the best clusters of multi-colored autumn leaves!

Site of the Willey House. The White Mountains in New Hampshire had some of the best autumn colors of the trip!

Time at each destination

I find this seems to be the case with all of the organized group tours (Cosmos, Globus, Trafalgar etc.). You’re either madly rushing with not enough free time to see a place (I don’t even eat at many stops, just grab ice cream or something from a bakery otherwise you won’t get to see anything in the town), or they linger too long at random stops where there is nothing to see and do.

A lot of the group tours also seem to have a requirement that you arrive at the hotel by 5pm. So the ‘tour’ time of each day is really only approx. 8am (bus departure time always varies each day) to 5pm (sometimes they’ll arrive at the hotel even earlier). When I travel on my own I usually do 8am – 8pm (12 hour days) so I can see more in the same amount of days.

We did cover a lot of ground visiting 4 USA states in 7 days is quite a fast pace, and there’s only so much you can see in that time.

Stowe

Tour Bus

The size of the bus had some limitations. There were some viewpoint stops on the Kancamagus highway and other places where the bus couldn’t park because of it’s size, and other locations where buses were prohibited. I think the tour would’ve been so much better as a small group tour on a 15 seater mini bus that can get to more places, plus it would be faster to load and unload the bus with less people.

I really liked the bus driver (not Trafalgar, the travel tour companies always partner with external bus companies as travel tours are seasonal). Our bus driver made sure the windows were kept clean for all my picture taking! He was friendly, easy to talk to and kept the interior and exterior of the bus very clean. They also load and unload your bags onto the bus each day.

When I received the welcome pack with tour information a few weeks before the tour departure, it had a note about a luggage weight and size limit. When I contacted my travel agent she advised all of the tour companies stipulated this. But this was our 4th time doing a group bus tour and we’d never seen this before (it’s a ridiculous policy in my opinion, especially for people who have come from overseas and are doing the tour as part of a larger trip). We did take a fold up bag (affiliate link – I bought this one on Amazon) if we needed to switch things from a plane carry on bag with wheels, into something that would fit into the tiny overhead compartment on the bus. Thankfully we didn’t end up needing to do this (it would’ve been such a pain to find a luggage storage place in Boston the evening before, plus the hassle of collecting at the end of the tour, paying for storage, worrying about things being stolen etc.). 9 people bought hand luggage suitcases in our tour group and all of them, plus the checked bags easily fit underneath the bus.

Green Mountain Girls Farm, New Hampshire

The Hotels

The hotels we stayed at were mostly 3 star hotels:

• Westin Copley Place, Boston (4 star)
• DoubleTree by Hilton, South Burlington
• Fox Ridge Resort, North Conway
• Holiday Inn Resort Bar Harbor, Maine
• Rockport Inn & Suites, Rockport (but not in Rockport itself, the hotel is outside of Rockport)

Note: there is always a disclaimer on these organized tours saying none of the accommodation is guaranteed and could possibly change between when you book and go on the tour.

The hotel rooms were huge (but then most American hotel rooms except for New York are usually large), and Mum and I had twin beds (sometimes double beds) at each hotel room. For comparison, the rooms were about double the size of what you get in Europe but because of this (and because the USA is not a cheap country to travel to), the average cost of a hotel room is about $400 AUD per night which contributed to the high cost of the tour.

Apparently half of the the hotel they used to stay at in Conway burned down a few years ago and still hasn’t been rebuilt, so we stay at Fox Ridge Resort. Due to most of the New England tours stopping in Conway at some point, and with limited hotel rooms in the area, the tour director advised this is why the tour cost fluctuated for different departure days.  I didn’t mind the hotel it as it was walkable to Conway which had classic American chains we wanted like Dairy Queen (love a blizzard!!) and Chipotle, as well as Michaels, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Staples etc.

You could do extra nights either before or after the tour at the Westin Copley Place in Boston but the price they wanted to charge was more expensive than if we just booked directly with the hotel. I found a better deal at the Hotel Revere Boston Common.

Related post: How to choose a hotel (my step by step process)

We got super lucky with this view from our room at the Westin Copley Place

The Trafalgar tour advertised that we would visit Rockport, but we ended up being put in a random hotel a 20 minute drive outside of Rockport and not even going to Rockport. I don’t know why the tour didn’t overnight in Portland before the drive back to Boston. The second last day had too much time on the bus and the very few stops we made felt rushed. The last ‘day’ of the tour didn’t count as it was just getting to Boston airport by 10:30am then drop off in downtown Boston. The end of the tour could’ve been organized so much better.

Tour guide

Despite some disappointing parts of the tour, we did have a fantastic tour guide (Jeannine Karr) who grew up in a town near Boston. She had plenty of knowledge of each destination we went too, and always provided interesting commentary on the long bus rides. She was easy to talk to, enthusiastic about the places we were going to, and was the most organized tour director I’ve ever had which made the trip run very smoothly. Some of the extras I liked that Jeannine did:

• Kept the two front seats on the bus vacant as ‘picture’ seats. Anyone could wander up to the front of the bus, stay in the seat for half an hour (not that she timed it) and take photos. Oddly, not many other people bothered (the rest of the tour group were old so they were probably scared of falling down the aisle if they went up there when the bus was moving), so I went to the front at scenic parts of the drive each day. I make photobooks and photos are my souvenir so the picture seats were very much appreciated!
• Jeanine had restaurant recommendations on the screens on the bus when arriving at each place (not just food, but also how long to expect to receive service so you could best plan how to spend your free time at each stop)
• There were some free snacks at the back of the bus
• When you hopped off the bus, she held up a whiteboard with time you needed to be back at the bus
• She didn’t just stay at the bus or sit in a restaurant, she would wander around the towns too, so we’d often bump into her and she could give directions or further tips to people in her tour group

You can tell on these tours, that the tour director has to stick to a set itinerary, arrival and departure times at each location. When we asked Jeannine for more time in some places, she said she was unable to change the itinerary and mentioned things like pre-booked times for the bus parking etc.

One of the many mansions on the cruise of Bar Harbour, Maine

Tour group size

The tour group had 40 people which was mostly couples except for Mum and I, 2 friends travelling together, one group of 3 and a guy in his 50’s travelling solo. The maximum tour size is about 50. The bus had a few spare seats at the back and the 2 at the front that the tour director reserved as ‘picture window seats’.

One of the covered bridges along the Kancamagus Highway

Price

The Trafalgar autumn colors tour cost $6,300 AUD each (I went with my Mum). The price of the tour has since increased to approximately $6,700 AUD. I say approximately because the price varies depending on the departure date. When I went, I chose one of the cheaper departure dates.

There was a sign up to mailing list discount of $300 per person on the Trafalgar website. Trafalgar’s customer service were very responsive to emails when I enquired about which tour dates had guaranteed departure. I would’ve booked with them directly except I had a better discount through Global Journeys. One of my fellow travel friends got me onto the Global Journeys website as they sell the exact same tours from a range of tour companies, but sometimes have some crazy good deals (my friend did a 10 day Turkey tour – in 3 star hotels – for only $1,500 AUD!)

I previously booked the Globus tour I took in 2022 through Global Journeys so asked the agent from that trip and she gave me a further discount off the price.

Trafalgar also have a past guest discount if you took future tours with them.

The price of the tour isn’t cheap, but the age group is targeted at retirees that have a bit of money behind them, it’s definitely not a Contiki!

Tipping was on top of the tour price. They gave a suggested calculation which is based on a 9 day tour but since it is really only a 7 day tour, we just tipped the minimum suggested amount. It was approx. $15 USD total per day for the bus driver and the tour director. The tour was already expensive for what was included and I was a bit annoyed about the tipping. When I did a Globus tour of Europe, gratuities were pre-paid / included in the cost of the tour but the USA tours seem to exclude it so don’t forget to factor this into your budget if you plan on taking one.

How does this compare with similar itineraries?

I also contemplated taking the Globus ‘Classic Fall Foliage’ tour but these were the reasons why I didn’t:

• The Globus tour didn’t stop in Stowe or Burlington
• It included Rhode Island and Connecticut which I didn’t think would have as many autumn colors as up near the Canadian border. These states are also easier to visit independently
• It included Stockport and Sturbridge in Massachusetts which were closer to Boston. I wanted to visit places that were farther from a main city / more logistically difficult to get to

The Globus tour is also a 9 day tour (really only 7 days as I don’t include the start and end days of the tour as there’s no actual ‘touring’ on those days). The tour price is from $6,800 AUD which is about the same as the Trafalgar tour.

One of the key differences is that Globus offer a small group option (24 travellers instead of the circa 50 travellers on a normal tour) which was very appealing, but ultimately I decided the itinerary was more important.

Conway, New Hampshire

Summary

Pros of the tour

• True to the tour’s name, we did see autumn colors
• Enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour director and bus driver
• Visited some nice places, but needed more time at the town stops
• The picture window seats at the front of the bus so I could take photos
• Covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time. To drive this itinerary yourself in the same amount of time would be tiring (we were on the bus for an average of 3 – 4 hours each day)
• Like other bus tours, the seats were rotated every 3 days so everyone got to sit near the front at some point

Cons of the tour

The optional storyteller talk in Bar Harbour was the most WTF moment I’ve had on one of these group tours. The lady was delusional! She was rambling on about absolutely false, boring made up stories that made no sense. I thought it was supposed to be an interesting talk about the Wabanaki people’s way of life and cultural traditions. She also had no respect for anyone’s time starting the talk late and then going overtime. It was supposed to be a 1 hour talk and she rambled for 2 hours. I was tempted to get up and leave halfway through but Mum said that would’ve looked rude.

Some other cons of the tour:

• Expensive – I think the tour is overpriced for what you got, especially with 40 people. Plus we also had to tip the tour director and bus driver on top of the tour cost. There weren’t many places that required paid entry fees other than Arcadia National Park, some areas that likely required a bus parking permit, and paying for people who came and did some educational talks. A lot of the tour was wandering around on our own at stops (which are free)
• Could have picked better photo stops e.g. a red barn (and we only stopped at 1 wooden covered bridge)
• We stopped near the town of Woodstock, I would’ve preferred to stop and see Woodstock
• No scenic overlook stops on the drive between Concord and Burlington, the toilet stop chosen did not have a viewpoint and didn’t have any autumn colors
• Lexington was only a pathetic 15 minute stop – not enough time to walk the main street, it should have been a minimum 30 minute stop
• No deviating from the itinerary. We were clearly being stuck to a very strict schedule with no time for anything extra like we’ve experienced in smaller tour groups
• Green Mountain Girls farm visit took far too long – it was just a farm and the food wasn’t that great
• We could’ve gone on an earlier Lake Champlain cruise time which would’ve given us more free time in Burlington
• Welcome ‘dinner’ (nibblies) needs to only be 30 minutes on the first evening. It wasn’t a dinner so it would be better to have this start at 5pm so you can go to dinner on your own afterwards (thankfully the cheesecake factory was nearby and open late)
• More stops for the autumn colors (there weren’t enough stops at lookouts / viewpoints)
• No warning of timings in advance. There was no mention anywhere on the itinerary that we would get to visit Conway after the ‘hike’ to Diana’s baths. If I had known this, I would’ve booked the Conway scenic railroad. When we arrived in town 30 min before departure it was already sold out 🙁

Nubble Lighthouse, Maine

Rating out of 10?

I would rate this tour 7/10. The main things that need improving are:

• Less time at toilet stops and more time in towns (especially the cute towns in Vermont). There are toilets in the towns, so why not combine stops. Most of the towns are only 2 hours apart anyway
• More photo stops and viewpoint stops, not just toilet stops
• Accommodation closer to the towns (within walking distance)
• Would have liked a small group option for the tour as used the excuse ‘big buses can’t go there’ as a reason for skipping things
• Get a bus that has a middle door and a front door. It took up to 5 minutes just to offload the bus if you are at the back, and that time cuts into the free time at each stop

I would do another tour with Jeannine as the tour director (she was the best tour director we’ve had!), but I think I’d rather go back to Globus or try a small group tour.

The destinations also makes a difference. The places visited on this tour are car destinations, not cities, so it is harder to go off on your own during any free time. I try not to let that hinder my review but I do really like the ability to go wandering off on our own in the free time and evenings, and that wasn’t always possible on this tour (mainly due to the hotel locations).

More USA posts

• Globus Enchanting Canyonlands Tour Review (Arizona, Utah & Nevada)
• USA Itinerary: West Coast cities and National Parks of Utah and Arizona (3 weeks)
• USA Itinerary: Dallas, Chicago, Boston, New England, Pennsylvania and Washington DC (3 weeks)

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