Get Inn the Holiday Spirit

The Real Deal: Two nights' accommodations and tickets to the cookie tour from $171 per room

When: Dec. 8-10, 2006

Details: Packages vary, but in many cases full breakfast daily and hotel taxes (8 percent) are included.

Book By: No deadline; based on availability

Contact: 800/626-5855, countryinnsinthewhite 
 mountains.com

Seventeen inns clustered in the White Mountains are gearing up to celebrate the holiday season with homemade cookies and candies. Travelers and locals alike can drive from one cheerily decorated inn to the next, stopping for samples, recipe cards, and tours of the inns. Those who make it to all 17 will receive a brass Nutcracker ornament. Each inn has created a gingerbread sculpture in honor of a local non-profit organization--vote for your favorite! The event proceeds will go to the winning gingerbread maker's nonprofit.

Many of the inns are offering packages for the two-day event. The lowest starting rate of $171 per room is available at the historic 1785 Inn on six acres in North Conway, N.H. It has 17 individually decorated rooms, a living room with a fireplace, and a terrific restaurant that stocks more than 300 wines.

The Snowvillage Inn has a three-night package that comes with a Friday cooking class, dinner for two by candlelight, and two tickets to the cookie tour. Rates start at $359 per person; upgrade to a room with a fireplace or views of Mount Washington for an extra $90 per person.

At the Darby Field Inn, a two-night package includes full breakfast daily, tickets to the cookie tour, and a cookie tour map and recipe collection. Rates start at $336 for a basic room, based on double occupancy; upgrade to a suite from $164 more. The inn offers lots of extra touches, from a sleigh ride for two ($85) to a one-hour massage ($75). Stay a third night from $149 per room and you'll receive a complimentary four-course candlelit dinner.

For a complete rundown of lodging packages, visit countryinnsinthewhitemountains.com. If you're not interested in accommodations, you can purchase a two-day ticket for the cookie tour for $25 per person at any of the participating inns.

Getting There: The 17 inns stretch from Tamworth north to Jackson, west to Bartlett and east to Fryeburg; no inn is further than a 15-minute drive from the next one. If you're flying to the area, the best airports are either in Portland, Maine, which is about one-and-a-half hours from Mount Washington Valley, or in Manchester, N.H., about a two-hour drive from the southernmost inns. Do some comparison shopping!

The lowest round-trip fares we've found for Portland (airport code PWM) are: $137 from New York City (Delta); $178 from Washington, D.C. (U.S. Airways); $233 from Houston (U.S. Airways); $264 from Chicago (multiple carriers). An economy-class rental car starts at $46 (Alamo).

And for Manchester (airport code MHT): $142 from Baltimore (Delta); $153 from New York City (U.S. Airways); $156 from Chicago (Continental); $185 from Houston (Northwest). An economy-class rental car starts at $32 per daily (Dollar).

For maps and driving directions, visit countryinnsinthewhitemountains.com/directions.

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