5 Off-Peak Travel Destinations to Book Now

Nantucket, Mass.

In between the summer hours New Englanders spend fighting Expressway traffic down to vacation homes on Cape Cod or the islands and the winter weekends they spend bracing said homes for Nor'Easters, there's a seasonal sweet spot when they have the place to themselves.

Summer on Nantucket is lovely and all, but fall there can make vacationers feel like islands unto themselves. The crowds are gone, the crazy prices left with them and serene beaches and scallop season are all that remain for those willing to take the ferry once the weather turns chilly.

"Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard are such expensive destinations in the high season and so many people go in the summer," Banas says. "In the fall, it just really slows down."

It's a big reason why big-ticket resorts such as the White Elephant drop rates from a high of $730 a night during the summer to as low as $195. It's why the Jared Coffin House lets rooms it charges $230 a night for during the summer go for $125 from October through December. Each hotel is also offering $25 dinner credits on meals over $100 at the Brant Point Grill and two $25 spa treatment credits.

Martha's Vineyard also isn't beyond baiting offseason travelers with discounts to lure them across the water. Its Kelley House Hotel is staying open during the offseason and dropping room rates from a summer high of $350 a night to an offseason starting price of $89.