Salem: Witch City Day Trip
A car-free day trip from Boston to Salem: the commuter rail from North Station, the 1692 witch trials at the Witch House, the Witch Trials Memorial and the Old Burying Point, the Peabody Essex Museum, the old sailing-ship waterfront at Salem Maritime National Historical Park, and a tour of the House of the Seven Gables. Written honestly for October, when Salem is at its busiest.
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From September to early November, Salem usually has mild to cool days and chilly evenings. September can still feel like summer; by late October the air is crisp, and wind off the harbor makes Derby Wharf feel colder than downtown. Coastal storms and nor'easters can bring a day of heavy rain and strong wind in any week of the fall. Days shorten quickly, and after clocks fall back on Sunday, Nov. 1, it is dark before 5 pm. These are seasonal expectations, not a forecast for your travel date; check the NWS forecast the evening before and the morning of your trip.
Admission and parking are separate. Check current conditions before departure.
A Cape Ann driving day from Boston: Gloucester's harbor and Fishermen's Memorial, an optional hour at the Cape Ann Museum, Rockport's Bearskin Neck and Motif No. 1, a granite-and-ocean walk at Halibut Point State Park, then fried clams in Essex on the way home.
A full day west of Boston that follows April 19, 1775 from Lexington Battle Green along the Battle Road to Concord's North Bridge, then turns literary: Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, Authors' Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, and a late-afternoon walk at Thoreau's Walden Pond.
A Plymouth day from Boston: opening time at Plimoth Patuxet Museums for the Historic Patuxet Homesite and the 17th-Century English Village, a seafood lunch on Town Wharf, then Mayflower II, Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims' hilltop burying ground and the 81-foot National Monument to the Forefathers before the drive home.
A car-free day at the tip of Cape Cod from Boston: a 90-minute fast ferry to MacMillan Pier, the view from the Pilgrim Monument, a bike ride (or the free summer shuttle) through the Province Lands dunes to Race Point Beach, then Commercial Street until the evening boat home. It works only in ferry season, roughly mid-May to mid-October.
A long but doable Martha's Vineyard day from Boston without bringing a car across: park at the Steamship Authority's Falmouth lot, walk on the ferry from Woods Hole, then ride island buses to the gingerbread cottages and Flying Horses Carousel in Oak Bluffs, lunch in Edgartown, and the clay cliffs and Gay Head Light at Aquinnah. Be honest with yourself: it starts before 7 am and ends after 9 pm.
A long Berkshires driving day from Boston: the Norman Rockwell Museum and his studio, an optional stop at Chesterwood, lunch on Stockbridge's Main Street by the Red Lion Inn, and an afternoon at Edith Wharton's house and gardens, The Mount, in Lenox. Best in late September and early October, when the hills are turning.
A full day at New England's 1830s living-history village in Sturbridge: the common and meetinghouse, the Freeman Farm, lunch at the Bullard Tavern and the three water-powered mills, with an optional walk at Wells State Park. It's planned around the Village's Wednesday-to-Sunday schedule and its earlier fall closing time.
A full Newport day from Boston or Providence: a timed morning entry at The Breakers, the open stretch of the Cliff Walk past Ochre Court and The Breakers' lawn, lunch on Bowen's or Bannister's Wharf, Marble House in the afternoon, then Ocean Drive to Brenton Point and an evening on Thames Street.
A car-free Providence day from Boston on the MBTA commuter rail: the State House, a walk down Benefit Street's Mile of History to the Athenaeum, the RISD Museum, the Riverwalk to Waterplace Park and an Italian dinner on Federal Hill. On a lighting night, stay for WaterFire before the late train home.
A full summer day on Block Island from Providence: the Point Judith ferry to Old Harbor, then a bike loop to the Mohegan Bluffs and Southeast Lighthouse, an optional walk in Rodman's Hollow, a picnic at Settler's Rock and the North Light, and a late-afternoon swim at Crescent Beach before the boat home.
A coastal Connecticut day from Providence: a long morning aboard the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan and through the Mystic Seaport Museum village, lunch by the Mystic River bascule bridge, then a slow walk through Stonington Borough to the 1840 stone lighthouse at the harbor mouth. Mystic Aquarium is the swap for a wet day or young children.
A lower Connecticut River day from Hartford or New Haven: Gillette Castle on its bluff in the morning, the little Chester–Hadlyme ferry across the river, Essex village and the Connecticut River Museum, then the Essex Steam Train and the Becky Thatcher riverboat in the afternoon. It ends at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, with an evening show if you book one.
A fall-color driving day from Hartford through Connecticut's northwest corner: the colonial green and historic district in Litchfield, a lakeside stop at Lake Waramaug, the 1842 Bull's Bridge over the Housatonic, lunch in Kent village, the stepped cascades of Kent Falls and the red covered bridge at West Cornwall.
A long White Mountains foliage day from Boston: a timed walk through Flume Gorge, the Old Man of the Mountain Profile Plaza and Echo Lake in Franconia Notch, lunch in Lincoln, then the 34.5-mile Kancamagus Highway east past mountain overlooks, Sabbaday Falls and Lower Falls to Conway.
A Portsmouth day from Boston: the rocky shore and Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne Point, a drive through New Castle, lunch at Market Square, the old houses of Strawbery Banke, the Prescott Park gardens and a late-afternoon harbor cruise, finishing with dinner by the water.
A long, honest day from Boston to the 6,288-foot summit of Mount Washington: drive the steep Mt. Washington Auto Road (or ride the Cog Railway), visit the state park summit building and the Observatory's small weather museum, then come down to Pinkham Notch, the short walk to Glen Ellis Falls and Jackson's red covered bridge before the drive home.
A southern Maine coast day from Boston: Nubble Light from Sohier Park in York, Ogunquit Beach, the Marginal Way cliff walk to Perkins Cove with a lobster roll at the harbor, then Dock Square in Kennebunkport and the Ocean Avenue drive to the Walker's Point overlook. It's planned around one paid parking spot in Ogunquit and the seasonal trolley.
A full day trip from Boston to Portland, Maine. Start with a morning at Portland Head Light, first lit in 1791, and the cliffs of Fort Williams Park. Then park once and walk the rest: lunch in the brick Old Port, the 1807 signal tower on Munjoy Hill, the Eastern Promenade above Casco Bay, an optional ferry ride to Peaks Island and dinner by the wharves.
A long Vermont day from Boston: the bridge view and gorge trail at Quechee Gorge, lunch above the waterfall at Simon Pearce's glassblowing mill, a reserved mansion tour at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, the working dairy at Billings Farm, then Woodstock's village green and Middle Covered Bridge at the end of the afternoon. Better still as an overnight.