The Southwestern part of Connecticut has some really attractive towns and villages, and few are more charming than New Canaan. Bigger than many of the villages around it, but much smaller and more manageable that the nearby cities along the coast, New Canaan has a feel of yesteryear with its old-fashioned streetlights, charming downtown clock, and friendly little independent shops and restaurants. The picture shown here, which was taken in February of 2009, shows the heart of the downtown section of New Canaan.For a larger version of this photo, go to the New Canaan, CT photo on the Travel Guide of America site.
Because today is St. Patrick's Day, I figured it would be a good time to post a photo of an area that, in many ways, has the look and feel of parts of the Emerald Isle. Woodstock, CT, and particularly East Woodstock, has rolling green hills, narrow lanes, and lots of farmland, giving it a look not unlike the rural sections of Ireland. The photo shown here, which was taken in 1999, was taken near the top of a steep hill just north of the center of the village.
The photo shown here of Southport, CT, which was taken in February of 2009, was one of those "good timing" pictures. We were driving under a railroad bridge in this beautiful town when we happened to come across this scene from the road. It was in the middle of the afternoon with the sun just starting to drop a little behind the trees, so I pulled over as quickly as possible and took this picture while the lighting was still good. It turned out to be perhaps my favorite photo of our entire trip to Fairfield County, CT, which is a really beautiful area, by the way.
Even though Boston is a large city with a good amount of sprawl, you don't have to go too far to find some really wild and remote areas. One example of this is Bigelow Hollow State Park, which is just over the border in Union, Connecticut (near Sturbridge), about an hour away from Beantown. The photo shown here, which was taken in October of 2006, shows the very bucolic Bigelow Pond, which is surrounded by low hills and has hiking trails running alongside it, as well as in the deep woods nearby. 
In some ways, Essex, CT, is nearly the perfect town; it is located on a lazy river, has interesting shops and restaurants, is blessed with beautiful scenery nearby, and has homes straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. It is also a nice place for fall foliage, as this photo which was taken in 2000 shows.
Much of Connecticut is very scenic (especially once you get off the highways), and the western part of the state is particularly nice. Many of the towns near the New York border are utterly charming, with church spires, village greens, and, in the fall, foliage that rivals that of Vermont. This photo, which was taken on a cool, crisp day in the fell of 2006, shows the village of New Milford, which has an extraordinarily beautiful village green and is perhaps one of the prettiest towns in the state.
To some, the state of Connecticut might seem like one huge bedroom community serving New York City. But some of the most remote sections of New England can be found in this tiny state. And while the little town of Roxbury isn't quite in the middle of nowhere (it is maybe 15 miles west of the city of Waterbury), much of it remains unspoiled. This photo, which was taken in October 2006, shows a meandering river that goes alongside Route 67, a beautiful road that leads west to the classic New England town of New Milford.
This is one of my personal favorites, not because it is a terrific photo, but because it reminds me of how unique the northwestern part of Connecticut is. Deep wooded valleys, rushing streams, quaint towns, and rugged hills made this an area right out of Currier and Ives. And West Cornwall, with its covered bridge right in the center of town, makes up one of the most memorable parts of this region.