New England is a historic and culturally rich region in the northeastern United States, and its independent spirit survives to this day, making it a fascinating place to visit.

It has been 252 years since frustrated American citizens took their first step toward independence from British rule. Angry at having no representation in government and facing unfair taxes imposed on imported products – at that time, tea – they rebelled against the British.

At the peak of the 1773 protests, the Sons of Liberty dumped 340 crates of tea belonging to the British East India Company into Boston Harbor. The ‘Boston Tea Party’ was coined.

It was a turning point in the fight against unfair government rule, which ultimately led to the Declaration of Independence three years later in 1776. That makes 2026 the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Boston was ground zero for the American Revolution 252 years ago. Today, this region, although strangely still called New England, is fiercely independent and wonderfully unique.

What makes New England tick now? I found out on a two-week, 1,700-kilometer road trip through its six states – Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Here’s a guide to what to see and do.

Massachusetts

Start in Boston to get a feel for America’s fight for independence. A guided walk along the four-kilometer Freedom Trail takes in 16 historic sites and re-enactments on an 18th century vessel at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, putting you right in the middle of the revolution at Lexington Green.

Skip back to 2025 and View Boston offers a sky-high perspective of this city of 600,000 people and almost as many gorgeous brownstone buildings.

Take the subway – the first in America – to The Museum of Fine Art and Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum.

Hit Fenway Park for a Red Sox baseball game, then stroll through town to the harbor for a City Cruises whale-watching experience out to Stellwagen Marine Sanctuary.

Quincy Market is where the New England seafood feast begins. Lobster and clam chowder – the creamy kind – can be on the menu every day.

Rhode Island

America’s smallest state packs a punch. Newport is the sailing capital of the world, made famous by the America’s Cup.

Nautical themes dominate everything from bars and boutiques to souvenir shops, The Sailing Museum and result in some quirky rules, like paying tax on toilet paper but not on boats.

Presidents John F Kennedy and Dwight D Eisenhower made Newport their summer ‘White House’. Their homes, plus other landmarks like Fort Adams and bizarre Clingstone, are on show on Newport Classic Cruises.

The celebrity spotlight continues at The Breakers – the summer cottage of the prominent Vanderbilt family and the setting for the hit TV series, The Gilded Age. 

After enjoying these architectural delights, it’s time for a seafood feast, with lobster bisque and crispy calamari at 22 Bowen’s and The Mooring.

Other worthwhile stops are the Audrain Automobile Museum with 160 rare cars, the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Newport Cliff Walk. Then drive to Westerly for a Heliblock helicopter ride along Rhode Island’s shoreline right over Taylor Swift’s estate.

Connecticut

As well as being the first state to write a constitution back in the 1600s, Connecticut is a road tripper’s dream – green backcountry corridors follow rivers with old covered wooden bridges and lead to quaint towns parading colored weatherboard homes and manicured gardens.

You’ll need a few days to see a fraction of what’s on offer.

Mystic sets the scene with charming shops like Polish Stoneware and the Spice and Tea Exchange.

Yes, there is a Mystic Pizza place for set-jetters chasing filming locations, but a heads-up, it’s not the one featured in the movie.

Lobster ravioli and little necks (tiny clams) at S&P Oyster Bar and Restaurant keep the seafood feast going and the Mystic River location is a great place to watch the Bascule Bridge lift its considerable girth to let boats through.

Mystic Seaport Museum is eight hectares of maritime history, including the Charles W Morgan, the only wooden whaling ship left in the world.

A two-hour drive away is New Milford’s Hunt Hill Farm & Silo Cooking School, where Ruth and Skitch Henderson turned their passions for music and cooking into a haven for the rich and famous.

Keith Richards, Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra, Andy Warhol and the Steinway family (to name just a few) all came to play and stay. And it’s where TV cooking shows began with the likes of Julia Child, Jacques Pepin and Martha Stewart.

Spend a day driving through Litchfield Hills, where the darker chapters of the region’s history are written in the slave-built stone walls lining the properties.

Washington and Kent are beautiful towns, with everything from farmers’ markets and general stores to antiques, bookshops and art galleries. They’re also a favorite with Gilmore Girls fans looking for the real-life inspiration behind the fictional town of Stars Hollow.

Ask the Litchfield Hills locals where to find the best ice cream, and they’ll tell you it’s Arethusa Dairy Farm.

For chocolate, it’s Thorncrest Farm and Milk House Chocolates where each of the 22 milking cows has been bred to make a specific chocolate flavor. The secret is in milk properties like fat content.

In West Cornwall is the impressive Cornwall Covered Bridge over the Housatonic River and close by, an entrance point for the Appalachian Trail – the longest hiking-only path in the world, at 3,529 kilometers.

The Berkshires, Massachusetts

Our drive toward Vermont goes through The Berkshires highlands in north-west Massachusetts.

We pass through more heavenly towns like Bethlehem to reach Stockbridge where United States and gay pride flags fly side by side on the front steps of churches. What a nice surprise. And so was the Norman Rockwell Museum.

This famous American cartoonist’s work was featured in more than 300 Saturday Evening Post newspapers. Every Rockwell creation tells a story and is a commentary on life, history, events and trends. One of my favorites is the shocked boy who discovers Father Christmas is not real when he finds a Santa suit in the closet.

Vermont

Forests, rivers, lakes, trails and mountains – that’s a simplified description of Vermont for people who love the outdoors to hike, bike, swim, paddle, fish, ride horses and play in the snow. It’s also the top United States maple producer.

With about 9,000 people, Montpelier is the smallest state capital and the only one without a McDonald’s or Starbucks – a reflection of its proud farm-to-table foodie ethos.

Three must-dos in a landscape that always seems to have a mountain backdrop – learn fly fishing, explore a 235-year-old farm and reminisce about The Sound of Music.

Anglers from all over the world come to Vermont for fly fishing. The rivers and streams are full of wild brown and brook trout, apparently.

We didn’t snag any on our fly fishing lesson with Brew from Trico Unlimited, but it had nothing to do with what was swimming past and everything to do with our hilarious attempts to cast a featherweight fly while wading waist deep in the rushing waters of Battenkill River.

It’s just one of the activities you can do at Hill Farm Inn. Located between the Green and Taconic mountains, it’s a winter hub for skiers and snowboarders and a spring hiking haven. Originally a dairy farm built in 1790, it’s now a luxurious property.

The hills around Stowe are alive with the sound of music, literally. The movie, which made the von Trapp family a household name, is celebrated at the von Trapp Family Lodge & Resort.

It was the family home. Now visitors come to soak up the Austrian ski chalet vibe, to mountain bike in summer or cross-country ski in winter, to enjoy schnitzels and the local brew and maybe even yodel in the crisp alpine air.

New Hampshire

Mountains and lakes dominate the Granite State drive, which is still green and gorgeous but with new signs warning about moose crossings.

The Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway offers a warm ride to the 1,423-meter summit of Cannon Mountain for views of Franconia Ridge, Echo Lake Beach, the White Mountains, Maine, Vermont, New York and even Canada, unless a fog rolls in and you can’t see a thing. But even the white-out at the top is a novel experience. In winter, the landscape is peppered with ski runs.

On to Mount Washington and its famous drive to the summit.

So steep is the Mount Washington Auto Road, it passes through four distinct ecological zones in just 12 kilometers. It starts in a hardwood forest and climbs through a boreal forest, a sub-alpine zone to alpine tundra at 1,916 meters.

So narrow and potentially treacherous is the road, built way back in 1861, that they have guided tours to do the driving for you. My advice – take the tour so you can relax and learn about the Climbing to the Clouds auto race.

Mount Washington proudly proclaims the worst weather in the world – the highest wind speed witnessed by humans (371.76 kilometers per hour) was recorded at a cabin now held down by chains.

There’s an ‘X’ outside the weather station where you can smile at the camera and be beamed to screens all over the world.

Driving around Lake Winnipesaukee is an exercise in stopping and starting so you can take in the scenery. But the best views of New Hampshire’s largest lake are on a Mt Washington Cruise. It’s a relaxed, narrated tour around some of the 300 islands.

Maine

Back to the East Coast, into Maine, New England’s largest state. But we only see a snippet at Kennebunkport, famous for its maritime history, fishing industry and being home to President George W Bush.

The Bush compound, located at Walkers Point, can be seen (from a distance) on the road and from the water, where we meet Maine’s other famous residents: lobsters.

The harbor is dotted with colored lobster pot floats. You can learn all there is to know about these tasty crustaceans on a Rugosa Lobster Tour.

If history is your thing, join a Kennebunkport Walking Tour into Dock Square in the heart of town.

The home stretch

The return drive to Boston cuts back through the coastal corner of New Hampshire and the very walkable waterfront town of Portsmouth. Stop for the historic Portsmouth Harbor Trail along Piscataqua River and shopping in Market Square (New Hampshire is tax-free).

Salem is the final stop. While it may be considered part of North Boston in terms of location, it’s a world away from any other New England destination. And that’s not a bad thing.

Salem has embraced the infamous witch hunt that put it on the map more than 300 years ago. The witch stories are equally intriguing and creepy. The visitors, fabulously quirky.

Check in to Hotel Salem – partly for its people-watching perch along Essex Street and also because of its cool, mid-century vibe.

Hop on the Salem Trolley Tour and visit The House of the Seven Gables and Peabody Essex Museum to get a feel for the town. Then find out what really happened back in 1692 at the Salem Witch Museum and on a Witch City Walking Tour.

Salem is a fascinating finale to this road trip. After 1,700-kilometers through cities and quaint villages along the coast, through the countryside, down green corridors that double as roads, up mountains and into a compelling history, New England will leave you completely bewitched.