<p>Hello, I will be traveling with my college D to a family wedding in Hartford CT mid-October. About to book plane tickets and have a couple of questions.</p>
<p>Will there be fall season colors in the Hartford area at that time? We are staying in a small town about 20 minutes from Hartford. Need to choose between an earlier flight on Friday that gets us in during daylight hours or a later flight that allows more breathing room for security lines at airport and other unexpected delays.</p>
<p>We may not have time/transportation on Saturday to tour the area, so the rides to/from the airport might be our best chance to see any fall foliage. Wedding is at 2:30 on Saturday and assuming will take up rest of daylight hours. Sunday brunch at groom’s parents home before heading to airport.</p>
<p>We have never been to Hartford and chances are we never will again. I have always dreamed of seeing New England fall colors, but this trip may be too full to allow for much of that. Just trying to temper my expectations, justify a possible car rental, or choose to focus only on family and wedding celebration.</p>
<p>Thanks to those who can help me understand what fall beauty I might expect.</p>
<p>There should be foliage in Connecticut in mid-October. Peak in central Vermont tends to be late September/early October, so you should be OK. However, one really never knows for sure. Seasons run early or late. Some years the color is more vibrant than other years. Sometimes it rains (or even snows). </p>
<p>There are more than one way to enjoy foliage. When you drive around, like on the interstates, you’ll see vistas of forests with mixes of color – some greens, oranges, reds, yellows, and browns. But when you’re in the small town for the wedding, you will also enjoy color – individual trees that are bright red or orange, or clusters of trees in color. Some of my best photos have been of one tree full of color, sometimes set in a green field or next to a traditional farmhouse or church. See if there are any trails that leave from the town, where you can hike into a forest, or perhaps up a hill or mountain, or along a river or stream. </p>
<p>Mid October is starting the decline in foliage. From Hartford you can travel through to the northwestern part of the state - Litchfield etc or you can travel up to western MA along the Mohawk Trail which is very scenic. Old Saybrook which is on the coast and roughly 30 miles from Hartford is quaint and pretty. </p>
<p>You’ve got a pretty good chance in mid-October, depending on weather etc. The foliage along the highway to the airport won’t be particularly inspiring but if you can take local roads to wherever it is you’re staying, you may get some nice views of foliage and little New England towns. (Or foliage and minimalls, depending on which way you go!)</p>
<p>Looks like we will be moving around several small towns during the festivities. Bristol, Plantsville, and Southington. I am being offered transportation, but feel like I might be imposing, plus my leaf watching will be more limited. If I rent a car, I would have a small amount of time Sunday to focus on leaves before we head to airport.</p>
<p>That area isn’t that great for leaves - its pretty suburban. However Bristol isn’t that far from places. It sounds like the reception is at the Aqua turf?</p>
<p>So assuming that you are staying in the Bristol/Plainville area, [url=<a href="https://■■■■■■/maps/aMRVu]here’s[/url">https://■■■■■■/maps/aMRVu]here’s[/url</a>] a route to or from the airport that takes you by alot of beautiful wooded areas. In fact on a Friday, this route probably won’t add much to your travel time and will be less stressful than the highways.</p>
<p>If you have time to stop, try to stop for lunch/brunch/snack at the LaSalle Market & Deli in Collinsville. If it’s warm enough you can sit outside or stroll the historic “downtown”.</p>
<p>or on Sundays through mid-Oct., the Collinsville Farmers Market.</p>
<p>I have decided to rent a car, so we will have more options and flexibility. Thanks for all the advice. @shellfell can you give me a little more detail about “Litchfield County” like a city name or a highway number?</p>
<p>@archiemom that route is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. We can take that route heading back to the airport on Sunday and enjoy the scenery.</p>
<p>One last question about fall colors in the area…if we were to drive west to Beacon, NY, would we see pretty color along the way? There is a unique place we might want to eat at in Beacon, it would really push us on time, but wondering if the drive there and back on Sunday would be pretty enough to justify the trip??</p>
<p>^^If the weather cooperates, it should be lovely. I have taken some of this route to Bradley and I also drive some of it regularly for work. The roads are good, the view scenic and you will likely have some company on an October Sunday, so plan plenty of time for your trip.</p>
<p>@archiemom we have experienced the craziness of driving in the Great Smoky Mtns National Park during peak season, and you could be stuck for hours and hours going 5 mph. Seems risky with a non-negotiable flight time of 6pm on Sunday, don’t you think? I suppose we could start driving and make the decision to turn around if it is too crowded. We would leave our brunch around 11 am and need to be back to airport in time to drop off rental car and check in for our flight.</p>
<p>I heartily endorse Litchfield as a destination. OP, the town of Litchfield is a jewel, and is in Litchfield County, basicaly the northwest corner of the state. Litchfield will have good restaurant options. There are many other nice towns to drive through in the area–Washington, Roxbury, Goshen, et al–but Litchfield is the best.</p>
<p>Litchfield, Kent, Cornwall, Canaan (NOT New Canaan in Fairfield County), Lakeville, Salisbury.</p>
<p>The specific timing of the colors has varied every year – in 2011 we had a snowstorm on Halloween with leaves on the trees. Green leaves. Usually however, Columbus Day weekend is fairly pretty. This summer has been cooler than normal and I am already seeing some leaves starting to turn. My driving choice would be to take 84 over to 8, go north on 8, through Litchfield, then across to Kent, up to Cornwall on 7, continue up to 44 and take 44 back to the Hartford area, skirting the city to the north and head to BDL. </p>
<p>I missed your earlier question about going all the way to Beacon NY. That’s just not going to work unless you are able to switch your flight and fly out of Westchester. As for all of the other suggestions for routes…if you were wo give us an idea of how much time you think you have between leaving brunch and your flight, we could probably map out a reasonable route, maximizing scenic views. Also let us know if you’ll be driving stright through or want to stop along the way.</p>
<p>We will leave Southington at 11 am Sunday, and our flight leaves Hartford at 6:28 pm. Plus, we have to drop off our rental car. No clue how much time is needed on a Sunday afternoon to clear security lines. (We live in a huge metro area and long wait lines for security routinely cause folks to miss their flights.) So maybe arriving at Hartford airport at 5 pm? Would that give us enough time to drop off car and get through security? Or maybe plan to arrive at airport at 4:30?</p>
<p>I don’t think Beacon will work on your timetable unless you rearrange your flights. Bradley Airport is pretty small - I’ve never waited more than 5 minutes in a security line, and usually I get rushed right up to the front and have to do the awkward juggling to find my documents thing. The walk from security to the farthest gate is 5 minutes - and I’m a slow walker. For a 6:28 flight, my plan would be to drop off the car at 5:00, because I like to have loads of time.</p>
<p>@stradmom it really helps to have that kind of detailed info. I am so used to a huge airport, I find it hard to think “small”. We will nix the idea of getting all the way to Beacon, I wonder if the rental agreement will only be for travel within the state of CT anyway. Sometimes you run into that with rental companies.</p>