Weekend Getaways from Boston: Vermont, NH, and the Berkshires

Stowe is about 3 to 3.5 hours from Boston via I-89. Its lodging runs from Stowe Motel & Snowdrift to full-service resorts such as Topnotch, and the area has both Stowe Mountain Resort on Mount Mansfield and cross-country trails. Peak ski weekends in January and February book months ahead, and October foliage weekends fill just as fast.

The Mad River Valley, around Waitsfield and Warren, is about 45 minutes south of Stowe on Route 100 and less resort-driven. The Pitcher Inn in Warren is a Relais & Châteaux inn with 11 rooms, each designed around a Vermont theme. Sugarbush and the skier-owned Mad River Glen are the ski areas, and the valley has hiking and cycling year-round.

The White Mountains are about 2 to 3 hours from Boston. North Conway, on Route 16 at the eastern gateway, has the widest range of lodging, from motels to inns, along a busy commercial strip. Jackson, about 15 minutes north, is a quieter village with several historic inns, a covered bridge and the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation's cross-country trails. Both are bases for the Presidential Range and the Kancamagus Highway.

To the west, Route 302 leads through Crawford Notch to Bretton Woods, where The Omni Mount Washington Resort, a 1902 grand hotel, is a National Historic Landmark. Franconia Notch State Park, on I-93, includes Cannon Mountain and the Flume Gorge, and the village of Franconia has several inns nearby.

Vermont and New Hampshire suit different trips from Boston. Vermont has more ski areas spread along the range, including Stowe, Killington, Sugarbush, Jay Peak and Okemo, each with its own base town. New Hampshire's ski areas are grouped more closely, around Cannon, Loon, Bretton Woods and the Mount Washington Valley, and the Presidential Range and the AMC huts make it a stronger choice for hiking.

For a trip built around staying at country inns, Vermont has more of them, while the White Mountains have more motels, resorts and family hotels. For hiking above treeline, New Hampshire has more terrain and more trails.

The Berkshires are busiest from late June through Labor Day and in October, and quieter in winter and spring. Vermont's Green Mountains are busiest in ski season, from December through March, and during foliage, from mid-September to mid-October. The White Mountains share those ski and foliage seasons and add a busy summer hiking season from June through Labor Day. Vermont State Parks publishes opening dates for its campgrounds and day-use areas, most of which open in late May and close in mid-October.

Late November through mid-December and late March through Memorial Day are the quietest times in all three regions, with more open rooms and lower rates.