Gillian Machado loves the fall, but living in South Florida, the season’s trademark chill tends to elude her.
“It’s just like, hot and hotter,” the 26-year-old told USA TODAY of the climate there. But in late 2024, her family took a Norwegian Cruise Line ship sailing to New England and Canada, where they got to enjoy proper fall foliage – a festive change from the palm trees back home.
“My cousins live up north, and they go to get apple cider donuts, and they go to pumpkin patches, and all these things,” she said. “So (the cruise) kind of makes me feel a little bit like I got to have that experience as like a Floridian who usually doesn't get to have it.”
Travelers pile into cars and trains for leaf-peeping journeys each year, but cruise ships
offer an alternative to see the autumnal sights – with plenty of activities on offer along the way. With cruise demand growing – 37.2 million ocean cruise passengers set sail in 2025, up from 34.6 million the year before, according to Cruise Lines International Association's State of the Cruise Industry Report – here’s why you should consider seeing the changing leaves by ship.
When is the best time to go on a leaf-peeping cruise?
“September, October, November are probably the best,” said Mary Walsh, a travel adviser and Dream Vacations franchise owner. Peak times for fall colors vary by region, but they typically take place from late September through October in New England; between late September and late October in the Great Lakes and Midwest; and in mid- to late October in the Mid-Atlantic, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Machado noted that on her cruise, which departed at the end of September, “we kind of realized that it would probably be a little bit better had we gone like one week later. It wasn’t total coverage.”
Even so, stops such as Acadia National Park were “decently pretty colorful,” and trees in Saint John, New Brunswick, in Canada were even more vibrant.
Where can travelers see fall foliage on cruises?
Passengers can see colorful leaves on ocean cruises to New England and Canada, like the one Machado took, sailing out of northeastern ports in New York or New Jersey, according to Walsh.
Small ships, such as river cruises in destinations around the U.S. and in Europe, can also access areas bigger ships can’t and offer prime views of the leaves from outer decks, balconies and onboard windows.
On Machado’s ocean cruise, she recalled primarily seeing foliage when the ship was docked. “Where in Alaska, a lot of the time, you're just surrounded by mountains and ice the whole time, this was more like, I'm just in the ocean, and then when I'm in port, I see everything,” she said.
Walsh noted that unlike road trips, cruises offer more hand-holding. A wide range of shore excursions offer passengers guided exploration of destinations, so they don’t miss major sites – fall foliage or otherwise.
What are leaf-peeping cruises like?
Unlike the quintessential sunny Caribbean cruise, voyages that offer leaf-peeping tend to sail in chillier weather, so it’s important to pack accordingly. Machado recalled high temperatures in the 60s and 70s in some ports.
“And then when we got into Canada, it was, like, in the 40s, so I was freezing,” she said.
The activities were different, too. They took a bus from Portland, Maine, to Kennebunkport, and took a boat ride where the guide caught a lobster in front of them. They also booked a third-party tour of Acadia National Park when the ship stopped in Bar Harbor, and went to a maple farm during a visit to Saint John, where they got to see how syrup is made.
“And then after they showed us their whole process and we got to see the whole farm, they actually made us homemade pancakes with their syrup and everything,” she said. “So, it was all in all a really fun trip and something very different from cruises that are normally out of the Caribbean.”
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why leaf peepers are turning to cruises instead of road trips
