Regions in Brief

Guilford

One of the state's oldest Colonial settlements (1639), this village, 13 miles east of New Haven, is embraced by the West and East rivers and has an uncommonly large public green. There are dozens of historic houses to see in town, most of them privately owned and a few others open to the public on a limited basis, typically from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. Hyland House, 84 Boston St. (tel. 203/453-9477), built around 1690, and the Thomas Griswold House, 171 Boston St. (tel. 203/453-3176), from 1774, are two of these.

Madison

Madison, 19 miles east of New Haven, is home to a historic architectural district that stretches west of the business district along the Boston Post Road, from the main green to the town line, and contains many examples of 18th- and 19th-century domestic styles.

The well-to-do town has completed the transition from colony to seaside resort to year-round community, a process begun when the first house was built in 1651. Today, there are two dwellings from the early years that can be visited on limited summer schedules. Deacon John Grave House, 581 Boston Post Rd. (tel. 203/245-4798), dates from 1685, and the Allis-Bushnell House, 853 Boston Post Rd. (tel. 203/245-4567), from 1785.

Off the Boston Post Road east of the town center, also reached from Exit 62 off I-95, is Hammonasset Beach State Park (tel. 203/245-2785), a 900-plus-acre peninsula jutting into Long Island Sound that has the only public swimming beach in the area, and it's over 2 miles long. It has a nature center, picnic areas, campgrounds, fishing, and boating. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, cars with Connecticut plates are charged $7 Monday through Friday, $9 on weekends and holidays; out-of-state plates are charged $10 Monday through Friday, $14 on weekends and holidays.

Shopping -- Madison's commercial district may look ordinary at first glance, but several shops along Boston Post Road and intersecting Wall Street provide entertaining browsing. R. J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Rd. (tel. 203/245-3959), holds frequent author readings and poetry slams.

The British Shoppe, 45 Wall St. (tel. 203/245-4521), stocks such favorites as kippers, pork pies, and sublime cheeses. Classic ploughman's lunches recall those in English pubs. (Tough licensing requirements don't allow for pints of English beer, but you can bring your own.)

Exit 63 off 1-95 west leads directly to Clinton Crossing, 20-A Killingsworth Tpk. (tel. 860/664-0700), a "premium" outlet mall with more than 80 shops. Clothing stores by such designers as Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Ralph Lauren are augmented by Coach leather goods and Le Creuset cookware.

Old Saybrook

Its location at the mouth of the Connecticut River (35 miles east of New Haven, 26 miles west of Mystic) is this otherwise nondescript town's principal lure. Get off Route 1 to see it at its best. Pick up Route 153 south at the western edge, following the nearly circular route as it touches the shore and passes through the hamlets of Knollwood and Fenwick and across the causeway to Saybrook Point before ending up back in the main business district.