The Best Places to Eat Thanksgiving Dinner in New England This Year

Plimoth Plantation, the living history museum that recreates the day-to-day lives of New England's first English settlers, offers three Thanksgiving dining options if you'd like to celebrate with the Pilgrim "cast." Choose the Thanksgiving Day Homestyle Buffet, with a choice of four seating times, or enjoy The "Story of Thanksgiving" Dinner during one of three seatings on Thanksgiving day (there is also one seating on the Friday after Thanksgiving). Advance reservations are required for both of these unique dining experiences, which usually sell out.

Reservations are accepted online beginning June 1 (May 1 for Plimoth Plantation members). Call toll free, 800-262-9356, ext. 8353 for more information. Plimoth Plantation also stages a special New England Harvest Feast with the Pilgrims on select evenings in October and November, although not on Thanksgiving Day.

There's one place in New England where Thanksgiving dinner isn't served on just one day in November. The menu at Hart's Turkey Farm, an enduring destination in New Hampshire's Lakes Region which opened for business in 1954, features turkey cooked more ways than you've probably ever seen. It's tough not to gravitate, though, toward traditional turkey dinner served with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potato and sliced apples... on Thanksgiving and 364 other days of the year.

The Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, Maine, offers a grand buffet for Thanksgiving featuring naturally raised ingredients supplied almost entirely by Maine farmers. On Thanksgiving Day, the Inn typically serves more than 1,800 pounds of locally raised free-range turkey, 1,500 pounds of local vegetables, 625 pounds of Maine lobster and 60 dozen farm fresh eggs, in addition to many other locally raised products.

For details and reservations, which are required and book quickly, call toll free: 800-342-6423.

The Thanksgiving package at Kennebunkport, Maine's Captain Fairfield Inn includes lodging for two nights in a room at this circa 1813, Federal-style sea captain's mansion turned inn, plus small-plate breakfasts, chocolate chip cookies each afternoon, a Wednesday night cheese and wine reception, Thanksgiving dinner for two at Pier 77 Restaurant and dessert at the inn before you turn in.

Indulge in an expansive Thanksgiving Day buffet—raw bar, carving station, soup, salad, bountiful sides and Viennese dessert table included—without having to get your apron dirty at this scenically situated banquet facility in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Call 413-535-5077 for your holiday reservations.

The Thanksgiving package at the Camden Harbour Inn in Camden, Maine, includes champagne and hors d'oeuvres to welcome you, luxurious lodgings for two nights, an a la carte champagne breakfast each morning and a five-course Thanksgiving Celebration dinner at the inn's AAA Four Diamond restaurant: Natalie's.

Spend Thanksgiving in New Hampshire's scenic White Mountains at the Snowvillage Inn, where your Thanksgiving Day Getaway includes lodging for two nights, a complimentary cocktail to sip by a crackling fire, homemade chocolate cookies in your room, a classic New England Thanksgiving dinner and a hiking map if you'd like to work off that extra serving of stuffing. Holiday weekend guests also receive coupons for getting a jump start on holiday shopping at the Settlers Green outlets.

Your kids will never forget the Thanksgiving you spent at Red Jacket Mountain View Resort in North Conway, New Hampshire. The Thanksgiving Day buffet alone will make them wide-eyed: In addition to fresh-carved roast turkey, it features prime rib, cider-glazed ham, baked seafood casserole and sides and desserts galore. The real fun is admission to the Kahuna Laguna indoor water park each day of your two-night package stay. With its wave pool, slides, play tower, hot tub and water basketball court, it keeps everyone in the family entertained.