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2 ‘storybook escapes’ for 2026 are in New England, according to HomeToGo
They are in Maine and Vermont.
Travelers looking for a charming escape in 2026 will find the perfect destinations in Vermont and Maine, according to HomeToGo.
The vacation rental marketplace recently released a list of 15 destinations for storybook escapes in the U.S. and Woodstock, Vermont ranked No. 11 and Bar Harbor, Maine ranked No. 14.
The “enchanting and whimsical” destinations were chosen based on their picturesque appeal and the frequency of searches carried out between Aug. 1 and Nov. 15, 2025 for 2026 vacations. They were then ranked by their accommodation affordability.
These vacation destinations feel like they are “straight out of a storybook,” wrote HomeToGo, and are often described online using terms such as “storybook,” “enchanting,” “fairytale,” and “whimsical.”
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In Woodstock, Vermont, the median nightly price per person is $153 and the year-over-year search trend is up 105%, according to the HomeToGo report.
Thrillist has called Woodstock a “fairy-tale perfect town” that has some of the most holiday cheer in America, and a local photographer who captured the town’s Wassail Weekend this past holiday season said it looked like a Hallmark movie.
In Bar Harbor, Maine, the median nightly price per person is $174 and the year-over-year search trend is up 39%, according to HomeToGo.
Bar Harbor has repeatedly been named the best small town in America by U.S. News & World Report, which called it “small-town Maine at its finest” due to its charming bed-and-breakfasts and quaint downtown full of shops and art galleries.
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The No. 1 storybook destination, according to HomeToGo, is Helen, Georgia, a Bavarian-style mountain village, where the median nightly price per person is $79 and the year-over-year search trend is up 72%.
Check out the list of 15 destinations for storybook escapes in the U.S.
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