Getting there

Planes

Direct flights from the UK arrive at Boston’s Logan Airport, two hours or so from the Berkshires, and New York City’s JFK Airport (three hours away). Internal flights from major US cities (as well as Toronto, Montreal and Amsterdam) touch down at Hartford‘s Bradley International Airport (www.bradleyairport.com), an hour and a half away by car.

Trains

Amtrak’s (www.amtrak.com) Vermonter route snakes from St Albans to New York and Washington via Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Metro-North Railroad from New York (www.mta.info) runs from Grand Central to Waissac in Massachusetts, where a summer weekend express bus connects with Great Barrington.

Automobiles

Although train and bus services around the Berkshires are pretty comprehensive, a car is a necessity for cruising the rural roads from hamlet to hamlet. Make sure you’ve pocketed the keys to a convertible in summer months, a 4x4 for winter. There are plenty of car hire outlets at Bradley International, NYC and Boston Logan – try www.hertz.com.