Who needs a table for two when you've got a rug on the rocks and a view of the sun setting over the Atlantic? Jane Kirby visits unique New England.

Standing on tiptoe at the edge of a white cliff, we peer into the waves that are noisily hitting the rocks below. Around us there may not seem much to see save the odd white clapboard house, dusty footpath and lush green tree. But New England's breathtaking natural beauty is just as it appears in the photographs.

As miles and miles of Atlantic ocean stretch before us and the sun is slowly setting over the horizon, it's hard to believe that it's just a few hours since we landed at Boston airport.

Now we find ourselves at the beautiful Cape Ann coastline, gently nestling among the nooks and crannies of the North Shore in Massachusetts.

Around us is an artistic community in full flow. Many painters and sculptors have lived here for years, inspired by the surroundings.

The stunning blue skies, wooden buildings, tiny churches and miles of glorious coastline, so often captured on postcards and pictures, are everywhere.

The area is also a comic feast for British visitors -- its place names include Wakefield, Cambridge, Gloucester and Ipswich, not forgetting the fabulous Essex.

But that's where the familiarity ends -- these pretty towns are crammed with tiny wooden coffee shops and antique haunts that seem as if from a bygone American era.

Driving through the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire may sound ambitious, but all of them are easy

to navigate.

If you want to know more about the 17th century witch trials, then Salem in Massachusetts should definitely be on your list of places to visit. It's not remotely scary any more but the history of the place seeps through a vast array of museums and tiny gift shops.

We, however, happily passed many of them over in favour of a tour round the Stephen Phillips Memorial Trust House.

Built in the 1800s, the home is a living monument to five generations of the Phillips family and is a nosey-parker's dream. Outside is a collection of vintage cars while inside is an entire room is dedicated to storing crockery.

There's even a tale about part of the house coming from another dwelling that was sawn in half following a divorce.

Skip further up the coast and you land in Maine, with its 6,000 lakes to swim, boat and fish in. Here, you will find the classy if oddly named Kennebunk and Kennebunkport -- where George Bush senior and wife Barbara have a holiday home.

If you're a seafood lover you're going to be in heaven. Think of plates piled high with lobster rolls, dishes of clam chowder, steamers and swordfish steaks.

Back on the road, and south of Maine, is glorious New Hampshire, voted the best place to live in the United States a few years ago.

Easy to traverse in just a few hours, the scenery nevertheless seems to stretch out and is gloriously rich in autumn.

The Canterbury Shaker Village, between Manchester and Concord, is worth a visit as you pass through. In the 1850s, more than 100 buildings crowded on to the 3,000-acre site and some remain, alongside an impressive restaurant which serves Shaker-inspired food.

However, if one place was to clinch the deal for a stay in New England, it has to be Vermont with its towering trees and stunning mountain ranges.

Perfect for skiing in the winter and horseriding in the summer, the state is a myriad of tiny towns stocked with B&Bs.

If you're a foodie, the maple syrup here is also in plentiful supply, which is a good job considering the size of the pancake stacks.

Exhausted but content, we decide to opt for a bit of honeymoon-style meandering through Massachusetts on our way back to Boston.

Novelist Edith Wharton's estate in Lenox was worth the slight detour - it's modelled on European villas and is one of the mere 5 per cent of National Historic Landmarks in the United States dedicated to women.

Despite her unhappy marriage and quest for privacy, Wharton loved her home deeply and found it the perfect place to write.

There is also no doubt she would have approved of the splendid Mass MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) in nearby North Adams.

Its installations may be slightly puzzling, but the building is a monument in itself.

And the museum is well worth a visit if only because you can stay in the luxurious boutique-type hotel across the road. At The Porches, the suites are decked out in true New England style -- wooden panelling, crisp white linens and gorgeous earthy tones.

Just before we depart we found the time to indulge in some retail therapy in Boston -- perfectly rounded off with a sumptuous dinner at Julien restaurant, one of the city's finest.

One of the big attractions of a fly-drive through New England is that you can jump back into the hustle and bustle of the city whenever you wish. Boston is great as a city break in its own right, and here it offered us the perfect ending to our exploration of New England with its fine shops, cosmopolitan style and great bars.

And after a few days wearing old clothes and battling against windswept hair, it's actually rather nice to be able to dress up for dinner.

Travel facts

Jane Kirby was a guest of Discover New England -- 01564 794999 or www.discovernewengland.org

Thomson offers a seven-night fly-drive from £420 from April to October. Includes flights and car but no accommodation. Call 0870 403 0651 or log on to www.thomson.co.uk

American Airlines flies Heathrow-Boston twice daily (also Manchester daily in summer). Return from £477 Call 08457 789789 or visit www.americanairlines.co.uk

Car hire by Avis: 0870 606 0100 or www.avis.co.uk