My husband and I are visiting Boston this spring. This is a first time visit for us and we are really excited. We will be staying at the Westin Copley Place. I understand that the T is a great way to get around the city, but we would like to do a couple of day trips to Salem and Plymouth. What is the best way to get there. We are not opposed to renting a car for a day or two, but are also wondering if the public transportation system goes to these locations. What other locations do you recommend? We will be there for a week.

Renting a car will be the easiest, fastest, and most flexible way to go to both Plymouth and Salem, and what I would choose every time. You will want to be mindful of traffic (particularly to/from Plymouth), but public transit will be more of a hassle.

I took a ferry from Boston to Salem, and a train back. It was in no way a hassle, and I enjoyed the scenery from the ferry. No worries about the traffic, the route, or the parking.

I didn't go to Plymouth, but Rome2Rio says there's a bus.

I assume you are looking at Plymouth to visit Plymouth Rock and plantation. Since you have a week, you might also consider....Newburyport (historic seaport 1/2 hr north of Boston) & Plum Island, Portsmouth, NH (historic small city, 1 hour north of Boston) even southern Maine. Or Newport, RI, about an hour or so south of Boston. Of course, there is always Cape Cod.

As mentioned, traffic going either north of south of Boston is often a nightmare, to try and avoid commuting times.

Plenty to see and do in a week in the Boston area.

Salem is incredibly easy to visit via public transportation. Commuter Rail runs from North Station in Boston to Salem, with the latter’s station within a couple blocks from the attractions. I would definitely not drive unless you want to fit a couple North Shore destinations into one day, as there’s no good limited access road route between the two. But there’s easily enough to see in a day in Salem, so I’d devote a full day here. You can also take the ferry in season, though the drop off spot in Salem is a bit of a walk to downtown.

You can take commuter rail to Plymouth from Boston’s South Station as well, though Plymouth’s station is a good-sized hike from the attractions downtown, and Plimouth Plantation is close to neither downtown nor the train. A car might make more sense here.

Calabria62 alluded to some other day trips, and there are several good ones, most all of which can be done via bus or commuter rail from Boston. Salem and Plymouth are two of the best, but there’s also New Bedford, Gloucester, Concord, Lexington, Marblehead, Ipswich, Quincy, Rockport, Lowell, Newburyport, and Manchester by the Sea. And that doesn’t include various further afield destinations like Cape Cod (Provincetown makes an ideal day trip via ferry), Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Sturbridge in Massachusetts; Providence and Newport in Rhode Island; Mystic in Connecticut; Portsmouth, Manchester, Exeter, and Concord in New Hampshire; and various southern Maine destinations. A car is needed for a few of these, though most can be done as a day trip via bus or train if you leave early enough.

Boston itself requires a bare minimum of three days, but 4-5 is far better.

Thank you so much for all the advice. With all of the places to visit, I wish I had two weeks. I think we will plan to spend 4-5 days sightseeing in Boston with a couple of day trips to Salem and Plymouth. It sounds as though we can easily take the commuter rail to Salem. Would it be possible to take the rail to Plymouth and then take an Uber to the downtown attractions and to the plantation?
We will have to come back again to see some of the other nearby locations. Thank you again!

There are directions on the Plimouth Plantation website for bus and train transportation to Plymouth. They suggest taking a taxi but I assume Uber would also be possible. Note that the Mayflower II replica is about 3 miles from the plantation, right near Plymouth Rock.

I think with only a week you are wise to concentrate on Boston (and probably Cambridge) with only a few day trips.

Regarding seeing the Mayflower 2, it is now being refurbished (actually almost completely rebuilt) at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, getting it ready for the 400th anniversary next year. We've been watching the repairs over the past year plus and they are doing a fantastic job.

If seeing it was part of your plan, save Plymouth for 2020.

Thanks for the clarification about the Mayflower II, emalloy. The part of the website I looked at quickly just gave directions w/o explaining the ship isn't there now. The anniversary celebrations in 2020 should be interesting.