Leisure

View Finder

The Five Best Views in New England

If your Fenway-adjacent apartment is any indication, you prefer the best possible view from whatever domicile you’re staying in. So today—just in time for your late-summer getaway—we present our picks for the best views in New England, as well as some post-view activities and their rating on UD’s highly scientific breathtaking-ness scale.

THE WAUWINET

Room 302

What You’ll See: The horizon and waters stretching from the beach to a small forest, which separates Head of the Harbor from greater Nantucket Sound.
Suggested Activity: Stay in bed as long as possible, then head into town—to, say, a great little tequila bar.
UD Rating of Breathtaking-ness (1-10): 7 breaths.

THE WATERFORD INN

The Waterford Suite

What You’ll See: Weathered downtown buildings and the vast ocean at the edge of the Eastern Seaboard.
Suggested Activity: Check out the Norman Mailer house and hit a few of the surrounding bars, then reel it back in for a bottle of wine on the private deck at sundown.
UD Rating of Breathtaking-ness: 7.5 breaths.

CHEBEAGUE ISLAND INN

Room 311

What You’ll See: A golf course and the glassy waters of Casco Bay. Open the windows for a cross-breeze of cool Maine air thanks to its corner position.
Suggested Activity: Grab one of the free bikes for a ride around the island, then play a round of bocce on the lawn at sunset.
UD Rating of Breathtaking-ness: 8.5 breaths.

INN BY THE SEA

Room 203

What You’ll See: The pool and an expanse of wooded nature, then Crescent Beach as it meets the idyllic waters of Seal Cove.
Suggested Activity: Your days: a chair, a book, the beach. Your nights: listening to stories from employees regarding the resident female ghost.
UD Rating of Breathtaking-ness: 8 breaths (10-plus if you see the ghost).

ADAIR COUNTRY INN

The Dalton Room

What You’ll See: A clear shot—visible from bed—of the presidential mountain range and Mount Washington itself.
Suggested Activity: Under no circumstances are you to miss the old-school roadside flapjack-and-maple-syrup haven Polly’s Pancake Parlor. Think IHOP but insanely better.
UD Rating of Breathtaking-ness: 6.5 breaths (7.5 in the fall).