When to go
The seasons in New England, Nova Scotia and Québec are comparatively short, and don’t match British seasons.

While spring in Britain is often glorious, in these parts it’s often referred to as the Mud Season because of all the melting snow. That’s why our holidays don’t start until mid-May. By then it has warmed up, and everything is bursting with life and colour.

From June through to early September you can expect British-summer type weather: often sunny, usually warm, sometimes hot, generally dry. Perfect for our gently active holidays with enough heat and sunshine to make strolling alongside a lake, or picnicking on a deserted beach an absolute pleasure. In fact, summer here is a revelation. From the blaze of colour of late spring, when the lilacs bloom in extravagant mounds of colour, through the high summer when these regions are at their most leisurely and laid-back, to the first mellow tones of fall, every month has its glories.

Autumn, the fall, begins early by British standards, particularly in more northerly parts. Timings vary from year to year, just as they do in Britain, but, generally speaking, by mid-September (typically a fortnight or so later in Maine and Nova Scotia) the foliage in Québec, Vermont and New Hampshire is beginning to turn orange, gold and red, and towards mid-October (again, a little later in Maine and Nova Scotia) it is all over, with inns closing for the winter, or at least for a well earned holiday. Remember, fall is the highest of high seasons, particularly in New England (if you wish to experience the colours without the crowds, it is worth considering Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia); we prefer the quieter times when you are also more likely to encounter fine weather, and the welcomes are at their most genuine.

So the pick of the times to visit New England, Québec or Nova Scotia? We’d suggest mid-June to early July for a warm spring-type holiday, and mid-July to late August for a ‘summer’ holiday, but we’d also strongly recommend going in late August through to mid-September because it’s still warm and you get the glorious beginnings of the fall foliage. This is still a great time for walking, too: indeed, some say it’s the best time as you’ll find most trails and tracks as peaceful as ever.

The only period when there is a significant influx of visitors is from Canada Day/Independence Day (1 and 4 July, respectively) to the Labour Day weekend (early September), and the first two weeks of October for fall. But many Americans and Canadians are more weekenders than holiday-takers, so you’ll find Friday and Saturday nights busier in many inns (often with prices higher and minimum stays of two nights).

 

Climate
Here are average monthly maximum and minimum temperatures in centigrade, plus monthly rainfall in centimetres:

	Boston	Maine	Vermont	Nova Scotia	Québec
May	10/18°C (8.3cm)	6/17°C (9.0cm)	7/18°C (7.8cm)	4/15°C (10.4cm)	5/16°C (7.9cm)
July	17/26°C (7.0cm)	13/24°C (7.8cm)	14/25°C (9.3cm)	13/23°C (9.7cm)	14/24°C (10.2cm)
September	13/21°C (7.8cm)	9/19°C (7.8cm)	9/19°C (8.3cm)	10/19°C (10.4cm)	8/18°C (9.1cm)

 

Thanks to the ocean that surrounds it, Nova Scotia’s weather tends to be fairly moderate. It’s worth noting that eastern areas and Cape Breton Island can be windy at any time of year, and it’s common along the southern coast (all the way from Shelburne to Cape Breton) to wake up to fog, though this tends to lift by lunchtime.

 

Tailoring our itineraries to suit you
Our holidays feature two or three-night stays at most inns so that you have time to explore. However, as with any Inntravel holiday, you are free to tailor our itineraries to suit you: you can add extra nights at any inn, break longer journeys in New England with stays at our recommended en route inns (see the relevant holiday page for more details), or even spend a few nights in accommodation that you have arranged yourself.

 

Getting there – and back
The 8.5–9 hour flights are hardly the highlight of the holiday, but are long enough to relax and not too long to get too fractious. We highly recommend adding extra nights at the beginning of your holiday in Boston or Halifax to give you time to explore and to rest after the flight (our holidays in Québec start with two nights in Montréal anyway, so if you wish to extend your holiday we in fact recommend you finish with extra nights in Québec City as it’s so fascinating).

For information about passport and visa requirements, please read our Travelling outside Europe page, which also covers health requirements.

 

Driving in North America
The road system in New England, Nova Scotia and Québec is great. That’s no real surprise in two such car-dominated countries, but what is a really pleasant surprise is driving along beautifully engineered and maintained, empty (by British standards) highways through magnificent landscapes.

The main state roads from town to town are generally also well maintained and comparatively traffic free, but the other surprise is how many minor roads are not asphalted, particularly in Vermont. Dirt ‘back roads’ are the norm, and you soon get used to driving on them. In fact, they help put the fun back in to driving, and ordinary saloon cars cope well on such surfaces.

One thing you do have to watch out for, though, are speed limits. These tend to be considerably lower than those on comparable roads in Britain (often as low as 20mph in villages), and you will get fined for exceeding them, no excuses accepted.

The only places where traffic is bad are the cities (particularly Montréal, Québec and Boston). Naturally, traffic is also generally heavier over public holidays. At other times, the open road is yours to enjoy.

We state approximate driving times in our itineraries. These are based on our recommended routes and do not include any excursions or detours.

 

Guide books and websites
We prefer guide books dedicated to an area. For New England, we like the “An Explorer’s Guide” series, published by The Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont, with editions dedicated to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. For Canada, we often use the “Bradt Guide to Nova Scotia” by David Orkin and the Michelin Green Guide to Québec. Local bookshops in each area also stock locally published guides, which are often not available nationally, or even on the internet (unless you surf really deep).

Alternatively, some of the best websites to start at are:
> www.discoverusa.com
> www.discovernewengland.org
> www.massvacation.com
> www.vermont.uk.com
> www.visitnh.gov
> www.visitmaine.com
> www.bonjourquebec.com
> www.novascotia.com