The Best Places in the World to Enjoy Fall Foliage

Mountain retreats, woodland escapes and lakeside living paint the perfect canvas for the season, writes Florence Hallett

Turin, Italy | Italy Sotheby’s International Realty

The crunch of leaves underfoot, a sniff of woodsmoke and the prospect of a cozy evening by the fire: as summer mellows into the golden glow of fall, the simple, if spectacular, pleasures of nature mingle with the familiar comforts of home. For homebuyers embracing the season, the northern hemisphere offers up several standout spots for taking in fall foliage.

In Vermont, the U.S. state’s famous maple trees produce kaleidoscopic displays of brilliant scarlet, orange and yellow fall foliage, their varied hues reflecting the diversity and richness of the landscape. The leaves of the white oak might turn a deep purple; the paper birch colors the woodland bright yellow; the American beech stipples the forest floor in copper and bronze.

Killington, Vermont | Williamson Group Sotheby’s International Realty

This 256-acre land parcel in Killington, Vermont, offers sweeping views of mountains washed in a brilliant sea of orange, gold and crimson that will captivate locals as surely as visitors.

“Autumn is my favourite season in Vermont, when an invigorating energy fills our charming towns and countryside,” says Karen Bresnahan, global real estate advisor with Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty. For Bresnahan, “crisp mornings and the comforting fragrance of baking apples, or leisurely afternoons exploring winding country roads, lend the season its spirit of serenity, discovery and wonder.”

A little further north, close to Elizabethtown in New York’s Adirondack mountains, fall unfolds in similarly epic style, with big skies bringing extra drama to vast areas of wilderness such as the 645-acre Jackson Brook estate. Here nature thrives in a precious, unspoilt setting, which can be enjoyed from the home’s three-season porch.

Elizabethtown, New York | Four Season’s Sotheby’s International Realty

The secret to enjoying a beautiful fall is the quality and diversity of a region’s natural environment, and with its abundance of hills, mountains, forests, vineyards and lakes, Piedmont in northern Italy offers some of Europe’s finest autumn sights.

In fact, its region is so famed for its fall foliage that the Vigezzina-Centovalli Railway, connecting Locarno in Switzerland to the Italian town of Domodossola, is known as the Foliage Train, transporting passengers on a two-hour journey through vistas aflame with autumnal chestnut, larch and beech trees.

A historic 10-bedroom residence on the banks of Lake Maggiore, enjoys unimpeded views of this remarkable setting.

Lake Maggiore, Italy | Italy Sotheby’s International Realty

Meanwhile, the 8.6-acre grounds of a 29-bedroom villa estate outside Turin also offer spectacular autumn displays, with wooded parkland designed by the English landscape architect Russell Page.

Elsewhere in Europe, London is at its best in the autumn. The city’s parks and tree-lined streets lay on a feast of color, the leaves piling up in musky-smelling drifts.

Richmond, England | United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty

The 10-bedroom Ormeley Lodge is an early-Georgian estate occupying a pocket of ancient woodland and pasture on the edge of Richmond Park, London’s largest Royal Park and a former medieval hunting ground. The home’s handsome library is perfect for an afternoon of reading as the light fades, while outside fall highlights might include mushrooms and conkers—as well as a glimpse of deer in the mist.

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