If you go to Woodstock

By Christina Tree, Globe Correspondent

Woodstock is approximately a three-hour drive from Greater Boston, and the simplest route is interstates 93 to 89 to Exit 1 in Vermont and follow Route 4 west.

Accommodations in the height of foliage tourism, especially Columbus Day weekend, cannot be had without reservations. (Peak foliage itself begins on the mountaintops today and progresses from north to south and top to bottom until around Columbus Day in southern Vermont.) The Woodstock Chamber of Commerce (telephone 802 457-1042) can advise on accommodations, and in the peak season has some 400 rooms in private homes to fall back on.

If you want to try fly-fishing for trout, Woodstock Outfitters (802-457-2007) will take a reservation, and if winter comes early, will pro-actively reschedule or cancel. Half-days can be arranged; Jack Sapia is a flexible person.

If angling doesn't improve your appetite, it's not for you. Our favorite, when the piggy bank is full, is the Simon Pearce Restaurant at the river's falls in Quechee (802-295-1470). Bentley's Restaurant in downtown Woodstock is reasonable, excellent, with simple cooking and a host of microbrewery beers (802-457-3232). If you're in town on a Sunday, and want to see how the other half lives, the Woodstock Inn & Resort (a Rockefeller Resort) right on the town common has a moderately priced, excellent buffet brunch (802-457-1100). If you are the other half, stay there.