The following towns are represented by the Greater New Haven Convention and Visitors Bureau
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Bethany: is truly rural Connecticut. Its pastoral roads are perfect for horse enthusiasts: it seems like every property in Bethany comes with a few horses; the town even has a horse commissioner. The woods part for Whitlock's Book Barn: this well-hidden, rambling bookstore is a treasure, especially for its collection of antique maps. |
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Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce |
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| Branford's: elegant downtown is a model of a lively New England town. Walk around the Green or veer off onto the many hiking or bird watching trails. The scenic Route 146 takes you into Stony Creek, a tiny, precious former fishing village. The Thimble Islands are visible from Stony Creek's harbor: these fabled islands are said to be former pirate hideouts; they're now privately owned vacation hideaways. Tour boats circle the stunning islands. |
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Town of Branford |
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Branford Chamber of Commerce |
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| Cheshire: is a peaceful town just north of Hamden: the towns are connected by the Farmington Canal Trail, a former rail line that's been converted into a paved road for walking, skating and biking. Along Cheshire's section of the trail, there's a museum, open by appointment, devoted to the now defunct canal. A few miles north is the Barker Character, Comic and Cartoon Museum, an obsessive tribute to many now-forgotten comics and toys. It's a mind-boggling collection. |
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Town of Cheshire |
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Cheshire Chamber of Commerce |
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| Clinton's: seaside runs from fried clam shacks and ice cream stands to well-polished antique stores. For bargain shopping, see the town's outlet mall, Clinton Crossing. Clinton calls itself the bluefish capital of the world; its annual bluefish road race and concert series fill the summer with fun. |
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Town of Clinton |
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Middlesex Chamber of Commerce |
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| Durham's: beautiful farmland and stately houses make for excellent country driving, especially in the fall, when the Durham Fair is held in late September. The state's largest county fair, the event's an explosion of farm animals, Ferris wheels and fried foods. |
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Town of Durham |
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Middlesex Chamber of Commerce |
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| East Haven: has a beautiful Green and a lovely beach with a public pavilion, but its singular attraction may be the Shore Line Trolley Museum. The final home of many immaculately restored cars, the museum is especially popular for its three-mile rides on antique trolleys. |
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Town of East Haven |
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| Guilford: has a truly grand town Green, a lengthy, well-shaded block that's lined with charming storefronts. The Guilford Craft Expo fills the Green with handcrafts each July. The town's history is remarkably well-preserved: there are several open historic homes, including Dudley Farm, a working replica of a 19th-century farm, and the Henry Whitfield House, New England's oldest stone house. Away from town, the West Woods trails offer many miles of hiking and Bishop's Orchards is a pick-your-own favorite. |
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Town of Guilford |
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Guilford Chamber of Commerce |
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| Hamden's: landmark, visible for many miles, is Sleeping Giant State Park, a sprawling network of 32 miles of trails around a massive, seemingly slumbering rock formation. The park's highly prized by locals, who head afterwards to Wentworth's Ice Cream, a splendid old-fashioned parlor with a gazebo out back. Closer to New Haven, the hands-on Eli Whitney Museum tries to spark the ingenuity of its founder, the inventor of the cotton gin, in children today. |
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Town of Hamden |
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Hamden Chamber of Commerce |
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| Killingworth's: back roads are quiet and calm and the town's tried to preserve that rural character. This is a valley that was once well-populated by Native Americans, and in Chatfield Hollow State Park -- a languid retreat, complete with a burbling brook and a well-stocked trout pond -- visitors can scout out and explore old Native American caves. |
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Killingworth Chamber of Commerce |
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| Madison's: quiet, walkable downtown includes the much-loved R.J. Julia Booksellers and many other small shops, along with an actual Main Street movie theater. Outside of town is Hammonasset Beach State Park, Connecticut's largest shoreline park, which has excellent facilities for swimming, camping and boating. There's a wonderful year-round nature center, too. |
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Town of Madison |
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Madison Chamber of Commerce |
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| Meriden: Traprock ridges—stunning rust-colored hard rock—are a distinctive geological feature of Greater New Haven and Meriden's cliffs are among the most dramatic. The ridges, which surround the town, are threaded with exhilarating hiking trails, which lead uphill to Castle Craig, a century-old stone observation tower that stands at 1,000 elevation, offering a vista that takes in Long Island Sound and the Berkshires. (For the view without the hike, there's also a road up to Castle Craig.) These trails are part of Meriden's heavily forested Hubbard Park, a rugged 1,800 acre preserve; from here, long-distance hikers can continue on the rocky Metacomet Trail, which extends nearly to the Massachusetts border. |
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City of Meriden |
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Greater Meriden Chamber of Commerce |
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| Middlefield: has been drawing visitors for centuries to Lyman Orchards, a 1000-plus acre farm owned by the same family since 1741. The pick-your-own orchard features numerous varieties of peaches, apples and much more, all of which go into Lyman's superb pies, sold in its farm market. Every year the orchard carves a kid-friendly maze into its corn field. |
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Town of Middlefield |
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Middlesex Chamber of Commerce |
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| Milford: is built around the water: the city's oyster beds are famous up and down the coast and celebrated each August with the Milford Oyster Festival, which attracts 50,000-plus. Visitors hit Milford's beaches for the sand and for the birds -- there's a secluded Audubon Center here with a multi-story observation tower. Push offshore in a rented kayak into the harbor or the Housatonic River. |
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City of Milford |
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Milford Chamber of Commerce |
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New Haven: evolved around the green, the central square of the city's original nine squares and a superlative example of a New England town green. Planned in 1638, New Haven was America's first planned city and you can still see the contours of the original plan today. The green is dominated by the trio of highly distinctive churches on Temple Street, all of which were built in the early 1800s. Stop in. When you step out their front doors, New Haven's City Hall is directly across the green; a memorial to the Amistad incident of 1839 stands nobly in front. To your right is Chapel Street, the core of New Haven's shopping and cultural district: with bookstores, restaurants and both of Yale's art museums, Chapel and Crown Street, a block south, provide almost 24-hour testimony to the vitality of New Haven. For the inside information on what's happening right now, visit INFO New Haven on the corner of Chapel and College Streets.
Directly behind the churches on the green are the beautiful gothic walls of Yale University, which spreads out to the west and the north. With a campus that's an architectural marvel -- from the original Gothic ornamentation to the austere beauty of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library -- Yale's buildings are worth your time even if you're past college age. Visitors of any age are welcome on the official and highly recommended free Yale campus tour. Keep an eye open for the stunning public art, including a Maya Lin sculpture. A couple blocks north of the campus is the Grove Street Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark that's crowded with past eminences. |
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City of New Haven |
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New Haven Chamber of Commerce |
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Info New Haven |
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| North Branford: is dominated by Totoket Mountain, a steeply inclined bluff with excellent views and hiking and mountain biking trails. If you're looking for indoor sports instead, stop in Connecticut Sportsplex, an enormous facility with laser tag, virtual golf and courts for almost all sports. Connecticut's oldest one-room schoolhouse is in North Branford: the Little Red Schoolhouse was a model for a Winslow Homer etching. |
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Town of North Branford |
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North Branford Chamber of Commerce |
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| North Haven: is just east and north of New Haven and it still has a substantial industrial and commercial base. But the country comes into town in early September, when the agriculture-centered North Haven Fair takes over. |
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Town of North Haven |
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Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce |
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| Orange: is conveniently close to golf courses and the shopping complexes of Route 1, but its real charm is in its curling roads and old New England stone walls. The byways of Orange lead to an intimate town Green that's notable for the Stone-Otis House, a historic Greek revival home with a 19th-century herb garden. |
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Town of Orange |
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Orange Chamber of Commerce |
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| Wallingford: may be most famous for Choate-Rosemary Hall, a prestigious prep school, but if you're feeling antsy, you might want to stop by Wharton Brook State Park, Prime Climb's Mountain Fun, an indoor climbing facility, or Blue Trail Range, a public shooting range. |
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Town of Wallingford |
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Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce |
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| West Haven's: beaches are seemingly endless: there are 3.5 miles of sandy shoreline and boardwalk here. It's where locals come to lay out during the summer. West Haven's Ward-Heitmann House Museum is the oldest house still standing in the original New Haven Colony. A short distance away is New Haven's Lighthouse Point, a beach and lookout which juts out into the Sound. Ride the antique carousel and enjoy the sprawling picnic grounds. |
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City of West Haven |
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West Haven Chamber of Commerce |
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| Woodbridge: is a slow-paced town with grand homes and long front lawns. Its meandering back roads meet in the well-preserved downtown, a National Historic District. Easy hiking trails start at the town center or at the Darling House, a restored 18th-century estate, now a historical society, that's open by appointment. |
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Town of Woodbridge |
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Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce |
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