Much of the Maine coast north of Portland consists of either moody fog-shrouded coastal villages where fishing and boating are a way of life, or bustling tourist towns with gift shops, restaurants, and inns. But there is one town on Mount Desert Island that has a tidy, colonial feel that wouldn't be out of place on Cape Cod in Massachusetts or along the Connecticut coast. Indeed, Somesville is an historic community with beautiful homes and peaceful tree-shaded lanes and very little in the way of commercialism. The photo shown here, which was taken in May of 2008, shows a charming footbridge in the heart of the "downtown" section of the village.For a larger version of this photo, go to the Somesville, ME photo on the Travel Guide of America site.
Groton is probably one of the most beautiful towns within an hour's drive of Boston. In and around the town center are tree-shaded streets lines with historic old homes and churches, while a short distance away from the center are a number of apple orchards and farms. The photo shown here, which was taken in October of 2006, gives a view of a church that sits along a village green at the eastern edge of the center of town.
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.
The Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard is considered by many to be a playground of the rich and famous as well as a place that can get pretty wild and crazy during the summer in spots. But much of it is charming and sedate, feeling a lot like Cape Cod used to be before big parts of it became commercialized. And Edgartown is about as charming a village as you'll find, with white clapboard colonials, tree-shaded lanes, stunning water views, and refined shops and restaurants. The photo shown here, which was taken in the early 1990s, gives just a glimpse of this beautiful village near the southeastern edge of the Vineyard.
If this scene looks familiar, that is probably because you have seen it on a calendar somewhere. Or in a photo book. Or a travel guide. Or so many other places. This is because Waits River is one of the most photographed villages in all of New England, if not the entire country. It is a tiny community located between Barre and the New Hampshire border, and probably attracts more professional photographers than tourists. This photo, which was taken in the late summer of 2002, seems to have a timeless quality, and for good reason; the village simply hasn't changed much in the last hundred-plus years.
Unlike its neighbor (Vermont), the state of New Hampshire is not really known for having charming towns and villages. Indeed, many communities in the Granite State have strips of shopping centers rather than village greens, and some towns have no discernable centers at all. But this is certainly not the case in much of the southwestern part of the state, which is also known as Currier and Ives Country; many communities, including Jaffrey, Peterborough, Wilton, Fitzwilliam, and Harrisville have town centers that wouldn't be out of place in Vermont. And Hancock, which is next door to Peterborough, might have the most charming center of them all, with churches, a country store, an inn, and beautiful old houses, all framed by a backdrop of lush hills. The photo shown here, which was taken on a beautiful day in early October of 2006, shows a typically pastoral scene right in the center of Hancock. 
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.
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.
Vermont has some attractive villages, but few are as nice as Grafton, VT. The entire village looks like a museum piece, but it's a real, working town. Its riverside location in a deeply wooded valley seemingly in the middle of nowhere just adds to the mystique of the place. The photo here, which was taken in the late 1980s, gives just a taste of the charm of this stunningly beautiful village.
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.
This photo, which was taken in June of 2007, shows what kind of scenery can be found in the beautiful Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Just an hour and a half from the Boston area, Sunderland is a small town surrounded by hills and mountains and looks more like it might be in Vermont rather than Massachusetts. I took this photo from the top of windswept Mount Sugarloaf, which rises sharply from the Connecticut River and the western edge of town. 
Not all old mill towns are ugly, sinister-looking places. Take Harrisville, NH, for example. Harrisville is indeed a former mill town, but it also happens to be one of the most picturesque villages in New England. From the river that roars through the town to the historic houses and churches that line the quiet streets to the serene pond that comes right up to the town center, Harrisville is a living postcard. It is also a great place to view foliage, as this picture taken in October of 2006 shows.
Lexington, MA, is an interesting place; it is a town that attracts tourists from all over the world for its historic significance, but it also happens to be a bedroom community of Boston. It also happens to have one of the most beautiful village greens in all of New England, as this picture, which was taken in the winter of 2006, shows.
New Hampshire is a popular state with tourist, photographers, and outdoors lovers, but relatively few people go further north than Franconia Notch, Crawford Notch, and the Presidential Range. This is a shame, as some of the best scenery in New England can be found in the northern part of New Hampshire. The photo shown here, which was taken in September of 2006, gives just a taste of the beauty of this part of the state. Taken from a rise above the main road through the tiny village of Stark, this photo shows a scene that is often used for calendars of New England, complete with a covered bridge and church surrounded by steep cliffs.
The landscapes around Woodstock, VT (one of the most charming towns in New England) are classic Vermont, with endless farmland and fields, low mountains that come ablaze with color in the fall, roaring streams and rivers, serene ponds, and quiet hamlets with village greens. Barnard, which sits high on a hill a few minutes north of Woodstock, has about all of these features, including a town center that consists of a church, a general store, and a pond that comes right up to the main street. This picture, which was taken in October, 2007, gives just a small taste of the beauty of this tiny village.
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. 
This photo, which dates back to the early 1990s, was taken in the charming town of Leavenworth, Washington, in the mountainous west-central part of the state. Leavenworth felt a bit tacky and cheesy in some ways, as it seemed to try hard to make itself look like a Bavarian village, and in many ways it succeeded. This was one of many pictures I took while walking around town on a late spring day.
This picture of Mendocino was taking in November, 2004, from a small rise above the village center of Mendocino, California, on the Northern California coast. Mendocino has the feel of a New England fishing town, with quaint homes, narrow lanes, and bucolic ocean views from a number of vantage points. The photo shown here was taken just as the fog was lifting from the town center on a surprisingly mild and windless day.