I did 2 weeks for leaf peeping similar to what you are looking for. One week was at a timeshare near Lincoln, NH which is fall color central. We were there the week of Columbus Day which is a big holiday in NEngland. It was crowded over that weekend, but the colors were superb. We then moved to Bar Harbor for Acadia and had a week at Harbor Ridge which is right in Acadia NP. The latter was at the top of my wish list for years, but I found it did not live up to expectations, or at least the ocean part. As an example, Thunder Hole in Acadia is a very small and unimpressive version of Devils Churn at Cape Perpetual in Oregon and even Cadillac Mtn (really a hill that you and the tourist buses can drive to the top) was underwhelming. We were there mid-Oct and the colors were fading and things were shutting down for the season in the park. The crowds were less and we did a lot of drives around to see the area and enjoyed the stay, but a couple days in the park were enough. We did We went to Campobello in New Brunswick and I remember looking at the ferry to Nova Scotia, but the logistics didn't work and I think I always planned to come back and do that as a separate trip; but haven't. In hindsight, I wished I had done the trip to Nova Scotia.