Hartford Packages/Deals & Travel Agents Near Me

Overview

Introduction

Hartford, Connecticut, the state's capital city, is located in the north-central part of the state. It was originally a Dutch trading post before the Rev. Thomas Hooker established an English settlement there in the 1630s.

Although mainly known as an industrial, financial and insurance center, Hartford has a number of historic buildings and some good restaurants in the downtown area. You can get an idea of the importance of the insurance business to Hartford's economy at Constitution Plaza (site of the graceful, boat-shaped Phoenix Mutual Life building) and at the Travelers Tower (headquarters of the Travelers Insurance Co.), which offers sweeping views of the surrounding area.

Start your visit with a stop at the state Capitol building, topped by a magnificent gilded neo-Gothic dome. It overlooks Bushnell Park, which was codesigned by the famed Frederick Law Olmsted and has an antique carousel that's accompanied by a mighty Wurlitzer organ.

Hartford has a number of museums and historic homes of interest. Visit the Connecticut Historical Society's archives and exhibits pertaining to the state's history.

Go to State House Square for the Old State House, the Pavilion, a collection of shops and restaurants in a postmodern/classical structure.

On the west side of Hartford, visitors can tour the homes of Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom's Cabin) and Mark Twain—the two writers were neighbors on Farmington Avenue. Twain wrote many of his most famous books while living in this house. The building looks like something you'd expect the author to live in—an eccentric structure that resembles a land-bound steamboat.)

A good way to take in Hartford's historic sights is to walk and drive the city's Victorian Trail, a tour similar to Boston's Freedom Trail. It includes some two dozen stops. You can obtain a brochure from the Greater Hartford Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Overview

Introduction

West Hartford separated from Hartford in 1854, and since then the two have had little in common. West Hartford Center, on Farmington Avenue and Main Street, now is emerging as a mecca for trendy, upscale restaurants and shops. The Museum of American Political Life, on the University of Hartford campus, is a fascinating collection of this country's sometimes inspiring, sometimes disgusting and sometimes hilarious politics over two centuries. Noah Webster House on South Main Street, the dictionary master's birthplace, is open for tours. The Science Center of Connecticut, on Trout Brook Drive, has hands-on exhibits on animals, technology and space as well as a life-size model of Connecticut's state mammal, the sperm whale.

In nearby New Britain is the New Britain Museum of American Art, a small but impressive collection of American art from the 18th through the 20th centuries (including some well-known Thomas Hart Benton murals). And visit Farmington, a charming rural town filled with colonial and Federal-era houses. There you'll find the excellent Hill-Stead Museum, whose setting is an estate codesigned by Theodate Pope Riddle, one of America's first notable female architects. Her father's fine collection of impressionist art is on display.