Hi all
I'm from the UK and am going to a friends wedding in Holyoke staying at the Holiday Inn, I can't really find anything about the place, IE whats on whats there to do where to eat I will be there for three days.

Any info would be much appreciated.

Assuming you mean Holyoke, MA.

There is a huge mall there that has a ton of chain restaurants. Look up Ingleside Mall.

Are you getting a rental car? If so, you may want to drive up to Northampton, MA and Amherst, MA as there is a lot of little shops / restaurants. Could also take a drive through the Berkshires - Stockbridge, Lenox, etc to go to the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Holyoke is a small and very impoverished city in the middle of the state of Massachusetts. If you have a car, it's in a very interesting area, but if you're in the city, there's not much but the St. Patrick' Day parade. It's usually held on the Sunday after St. Pat's. but since this year that's Easter Sunday, it will be postponed to March 30 (can't have it the Sunday before, that would conflict with Boston's parade).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holyoke,_Massachusetts

Thanks for the reply, I will be hiring a car and will be taking the advice posted.

Can't wait only ever been to Orlando and New York so looking forward to somewhere different.

I can not think of any scenic, nice place in Holyoke - there must be, I just can't think of one. But the surrounding area is beautiful, as mentioned above. What time of year?

Phew...Holyoke will be different alright!!

If you have free time head out to the Berkshires, specifically Stockbridge, Lenox, or Williamstown. You could do it as a day trip taking the Mass Pike to Lee, then seeing Stockbridge, up to Lenox, on up to Williamstown, driving rte 7, then east on scenic rte 2 then back down I-91 to Holyoke.

Another possibility would be taking 91 north into Vermont and do a loop of southern Vermont--30 over to Manchester, back south on rte 7 to rte 2 mentioned above, east to 91 and back to Holyoke.

We can make much better suggestions if we know when you'll be there.

Also, what your interests are: the area has some outstanding academic institutions, museums, and a couple of those "living museums" that are villages with authentic historic period buildings and costumed interpreters. Or we can tell you where to see dinosaur tracks.

Aside from the scenic beauty of the area, Springfield, Massachusettes is nearby. There is a nice quad of museums there, plus the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Wait, isn't HOlyoke, MA only about a 15 minute drive from South Hadley, MA or am I thinking of somewhere else???

If so, it is a stone's throw from the Five College Consortium of Amherst College, Mt HOlyoke, Smith, Hampshire, UMass -

meaning there are a ton of wonderful B & B's and great Innes with wonderful amenities all around that gorgeous area -

when we were looking at colleges a few years ago we stayed out there and Northampton was a very hip downtown area with wonderful cafes and restaurants and funky shops and Mt holyoke had a gorgeous campus and we stayed in a great B & B

I would suggest going on those college websites, clicking on "visiting campus" and then the links they all have to "accomodations and lodging, restaurants" and see if you can not find something that would give you a wonderful taste of New Engand B & B or Inne and enjoy some of the small, excellent restaurants and downtowns in the area.

Yes, it is not too far from South Hadley, etc. The town itself is the usual former mill town gone downhill.

The surrounding countryside is quite nice amnd scenic and you don;t have to go far for that, either.

Also checkout museums10, a consortium of all the nice but small museums in the Amherst/Hadley/Northampton area.

Definitely head up to the Amherst and Northampton area. Add the Berkshires if you have a bit more time.

Quabbin Reservoir, Skinner State Park, Deerfield historic buildings?

If you do head toward Quabbin Reservoir (or even Amherst) head toward Belchertown and visit the Stone House Museum ... check their website for hours, etc.

www . stonehousemuseum . org

Very intricate, lol.

Assuming you are staying at the Holiday Inn in Holyoke, it is right off I91, close to the Holyoke Mall, Barnes & Noble, Cracker Barrel and Friendlys. There is a restaurante across the street, JB I think where you'll find a little townie flavor.

The Skinner National Park is an interesting place to visit. You will need a car to drive up. It used to be a hotel in the turn of the century. They used a tram to bring the guests up top of the mountain (hill to westerners) and has a wonderful view, rocking chairs on the porch, places to walk around.

A college area is nearby, about 15 minute ride I91N or Route 5, which includes Northampton, South Hadley and Amherst, that have interesting shops, no malls. Northampton is the most intersting people wise and shop wise. Great ice cream place, Herrells and a variety of restaurants. Amherst has a great fruit farm, Atkins.

Berkshires are about a 20 minute ride on the MassPike. Unlimited places to visit and see here.

Springfield is in the other direction, about 15 minutes I91S. Places to visit are the Basketball Hall of Fame, Dr. Seuss, Springfield Museums of Firsts, Springfield Armory (Revolution and Civil War munition artifacts), a Titantic Museum in Indian Orchard (sort of a suburb of Springfield). In Agawam there is a Six Flags Amusement Park open on weekends through October, and if you are here during the Big E, Sept. 12-28th that's a day trip.

Hope you have a great trip visiting the USA. Will you be going anywhere else while you are here? Oops, just checked your date, maybe you already came and went.

To would head to Northampton for some fun. Stopping at Skinner Park as mentioned above.

Oops, sorry... see now that this is an old post & I already said that!