4 Days in Mass.
 

Hello, Planning a trip to New England in October. We are booked on a tour of Boston and the islands..I think we have one day in Boston. Hubby and i are planning to stay 4 extra days....would it be possible to visit Lexington/Concord, Shaker village in Pittsfield, Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Salem and possibly Deerfield village..are we planning too much? Do we need another day in Boston? We have never visited any of these areas, so any advice would be appreciated. We are retired and fairly active, history buffs, not sure how much time each place needs! We could extend our days if necessary. Thanks in advance! vicki

Yes, you need a lot more time in Boston. You can go out to Lexington and
Concord by car or a roir or Salem(by ferry). The other locations are in Western MA. Where are flying out of at the end of spur stay?

Are you willing to rent a car? You will need one for the Western Mass. portion of your trip. You could drive to Stockbridge in the morning, tour the Rockwell Museum, and drive to Pittsfield and stay overnight somewhere in the area. Depending on timing you can see the Shaker Village in the afternoon or next morning. Then drive to Deerfield and explore the historic area, drive to Concord and maybe spend another night. Visit the Minuteman Visitor Site, the Concord Museum, and the Old North Bridge. You can also visit the homes of literary Concord.

From Boston, you can easily take a train (or ferry) to Salem.

Your timing is important. Visiting Western Mass. during the week will be less crowded especially if the foliage is on display.

Boston is busy in October with foliage tours, and on the third weekend, the Head of the Charles Regatta, a huge event that fills the hotels.

When is your tour ending? So two nights exploring, one day in Salem, and probably two more days in Boston. Also if you can avoid going to Salem on a weekend in October, it will be much less crowded. I recommend the Peabody Essex Museum and the Maritime Visitor Center.

We will fly out of either Albany or Manchester. Any advice on places not to miss? Will each place take a day or maybe half a day? I know there are lots of things to do in Boston.

I'm no expert on touring but used to live in Western Mass. I don't think you have near enough time to do the things you have listed!

Our tour ends on the 21st, in Cape Cod. We were going back to boston, rent a car and finish the trip. We decided to take deerfield off the list. That puts us on a Saturday in Boston, Sunday in Salem and then off the Lexington/Concord. Then to Pittsfield and Stockbridge. Flying out of Albany. With all the activity in Boston and Salem on the weekend, maybe it would be better to reverse the last portion of our trip. and fly out of Boston. (Details, details, details, retired librarian has to have all her ducks in a row!) I truly appreciate all the advice! We are pretty flexible with our time, could add a day if necessary.

Have you checked on hotels in Boston for the 21-22? That is the weekend of the Head of the Charles Regatta and one of the busiest times for Boston hotels, next to the Boston Marathon weekend. Maybe your tour offers add-on day packages.

I don't want to discourage you from staying in Boston, but hotels tend to fill up.

your tour ends in cape cod, so you will probably be taking the bus to Boston.

You need to check accommodations in Boston if intend to stay there after Cape Cod. Salem and Lexington/concord
are not far from Boston.

Stockbridge is about 3 hours from Boston You will need a car for this portion of the trip. The Shaker Village is in Hancock, not Pittsfield. Hancock is further north and closer to Albany. You should check the drop off fee, as you will rent in Mass and drop off in Albany.

You will be doing a lot of driving and seeing just a few sights in a very short amount of time.

Here's the possible itinerary for our trip. Bus tour ends in Cape Cod and bus back to Boston.
Arriving in Boston at noon on Oct. 21st . Rent a car and drive to Peabody. Planning on a day in Boston and a day in Salem, using the comuter rail.
Next would be Lexington and Concord...enough to do for a day there?
We would either stay in the area (Concord) and drive next day to Sturbridge or Hancock Shaker village, 1/2 day and drive to Stockbridge for Rockwell museum. Drive to Albany airport to drop off car on the 26th....

Have we planned too much? Sturbridge or Shaker village..or do we have time for both?

If you need more to do in Lexington/Concord area, you could also visit Fruitlands in Harvard. If you visit the Alcott House in Concord, it makes a nice follow up or use the time to drive to Sturbridge. Many people do a full day at Sturbridge.

I have not been to the Hancock Shaker Village. The one in Canterbury NH has an interesting tour that requires a couple of hours for tour plus visit.

Thanks for the tip on Fruitlands...it looks wonderful, going to check it out! Thanks to everyone who offered advice. Can't wait for the trip to begin.

Good heavens, what is meant "and the islands." Any exploring of the Cape and adjacent islands is too much. Yes, you have mapped out alot of sightseeing and surely allow for walking around. Soak in the history! Places you mentioned aren't all that close to each other but all are indeed worth a visit. As you know, you are talking about both east and west in the state, i.e. historical sites in Boston and lots in the Berkshires. Not mentioned is the Freedom Trail plus other Boston sites which does mean a day's walking and maybe sore feet? Well, yes flying out of Albany is good.

Our bus tour is 8 days, includes Nantucket, Cape Cod, martha's vineyard and Boston. We are staying an additional 5 days for more time to see the other mentioned places on our own. I don't think we will have time to see everything, but Salem and Stockbridge, for sure. Can Lexington & Concord be done in 1 day? We may have to choose between Fruitlands, Sturbridge and the shaker village for the other day....anyone have a favorite ? So many places to see in the USA, wish I could visit them all!

Arrive in Boston F 10/21. Stay in (very expensive) hotel in Boston (please - not Peabody) F and Sat nights. Do the Boston tourist stuff. Sunday AM rent a car and drive to Salem (30-40 minutes). See Peabody Essex Museum and since it is a week prior to Halloween, look at all the witch nonsense. If you really want to save money, stay just Friday night in Boston, still touring Boston F and Sat. Then late Saturday drive to north shore (Salem, Peabody, Danvers) and stay in whatever cheap hotel you want. Still tour Salem on Sunday and proceed with rest of trip.

Sunday late afternoon, drive to Lexington. There are some good restaurants in downtown. It is not that bad a trip since you hop on Rte 128 and get there in about 45 minutes. Better to drive Sunday than fight awful commuter traffic on Rte 128 Monday rush hour.

Stay in Lexington area. Monday AM do the Lexington tourist stuff and then drive out Rte 2 to Concord. Do the tourist stuff - and Concord is a cute little town.

Monday afternoon drive out to more western MA and pick which of your other things you want to see. You could drive all the way out to Stockbridge or just go as far as Sturbridge. Stay in that location Monday and Tuesday nights. Consider driving out as much as possible on Rte 2 (check a map depending on where you are ending up) rather than the Mass Turnpike and if you are lucky there will still be nice foliage.

Hopefully your flight is later in the day on Wednesday 10/26. You then will have enough time to drive to Albany and catch the flight.

This is going to be more expensive than you imagine October hotel prices in Boston will scare you more than the witch stuff in Salem. Picking up a rental car in Boston and dropping in Albany might be pricey as well.

An alternative is to reverse the itinerary - when you arrive in Boston on Friday 10/21, immediately pick up a car, drive to Stockbridge or Sturbridge and end up in Boston on W 10/26 for a flight.

Forget flying out of Manchester - it is not really direct to your route.

I love all things Halloween and witchy but you couldn't pay me to go to Salem in late October. I have been and it was horrible. Totally mobbed and un-enjoyable (I love Salem other times of the year).

Have you booked a hotel IN Boston yet? If you can't find one (or one you can afford) I would consider skipping it this trip. As wonderful as Boston is, that's a bad weekend to be there, might not be worth the money. Staying in a suburb and taking public transportation in is not a good idea (except Cambridge).

Concord is OK but I think Sturbridge and areas west have more to offer. Old Sturbridge Village is very well done and worth half a day.

If you want more to do and more scenic driving I would go north on I-91 to Northampton/Deerfield area (you initially mentioned Historic Deerfield, and Northampton is a college town worth stopping for lunch or the night). Then drive west to the Berkshires on Rt 9, or Rt 116, or Rt 2 (depending how far north you want to go). Quintessential New England. It will take longer than staying on the Mass Pike (Rt 90) but much more scenic. Rt 2 between Boston and the I-91 is not significantly more scenic than the Pike, and if you are going to Sturbridge it's out of the way. If you went all the way up to Rt 2 (The Mohawk Trail from Greenfield to Williamsburg) it is very scenic (but slower) you could visit Williamsburg before heading south to Lenox and Stockbridge.

That would position you well to fly out of Albany, but you might also want to look at flights out of Hartford (BDL - Bradly) which wouldn't be that much further. Just in case they had better flights.

If possible, visit Old Sturbridge Village, an authentic recreation of a small town with original buildings brought from the region. Interpreters do a fine job of explaining life in the colonial period, and there hands-on events in which you can participate. My husband helped make a wrought-iron hook in the blacksmith shop, and I had a lesson in cooking over an open fire. Lots of fun.