I am considering attending a training in Greenfield, MA at the end of March, beginning of April. I have been searching for things to do there, and am not having much luck finding anything. Can someone familiar with the area please help? What airport would I fly into (from Anchorage)? What is there to do/see within a couple of hours, say if I came in early or stayed after the training?
Thanks for any information!

Since Greenfield is not too far north of Amherst and the closest airport to Amherst is Bradley International outside of Hartford, CT., I'm guessing that Bradley would be the best airport.

I don't know whether you're into candles, but I've heard good things about Yankee Candle near Greenfield. I believe it's their headquarters.

Amherst and Northampton are great college towns with some good restaurants.

Actually, since you said "within a couple of hours", Boston is in that time frame. It's about 80 miles from Amherst.

Greenfield is a small town, so it's not surprising that you can't find anything to do specifically there However, it is very centrally located in the New England area You'd be roughly equidistant (roughly 1 - 2 hours) from the airports in Boston, MA, Manchester, NH, or Hartford, CT.

Bradley International Airport (Hartford) is definitely the closest and is about 1 hours drive. Manchester, NH and Boston are about 2 hours away. If cost and schedule are considerations for you, you should probably look into all 3, but if convenience is primary, Hartford would be the best.

Northampton and Amherst, both 'college towns' are very close by. What types of things are looking to do?

Jane

Does Southwest fly into Anchorage? My daughter has gotten good deals to and from school flying Southwest from Midway (Chicago) to Bradley.

Definitely fly into Bradley Int'l in Hartford, then drive up the main highway 95/91.

Northampton and Amherst are both lively New England college towns. Shopping, restaurants, etc.

J.A. Skinner State Park nearby in Hadley is a wonderful old vacant hotel with stunning views of the CT river.

Hey, I was just in Greenfield this weekend! (Do you like watching youth hockey?)

Famous Bill's is a nice steak and sandwich restarrant downtown Greenfield.

Historic Deerfield is very close -- a preserved/restored village from colonial times. You can walk around and watch re-enactors do old-timey stuff.

March is maple syrup time -- you should be able to find a sugarhouse still open. (A sugarhouse is a building where they boil the maple sap down into syrup -- on weekends they set up a breakfast kitchen and serve you pancakes with syrup dipped from the big vat.

There is a really awesome bookstore/coffeshop in Montague (Montague Book Mill -- there motto is ``Books you don't need in a place you can't find.)

Rt 2 (the Mowhawk Trail) is a very scenic drive -- you can go to some great little art museums in Williamstown and North Adams.

Amherst and Northampton, yes. Northampton, especially, is known for having great restuarants.

(If you are really willing to drive 2 hours you could get to Boston, maybe visit Lexington and Concord, via Rt. 2...)

Or you could head north to Brattleboro VT is a fun town with a good main street.

Here's the local chamber of commerce site. It's a very pretty area, but, aside from the suggestions you've gotten, I'm not sure how much there is "to do."

http://www.co.franklin.ma.us/attract.html

All the posts cover what is to do.

1. Yankee Candle Factory in S. Deerfield is great. Also, go to Old Deerfield.
2. The drive over Mohawk trail to Williamstown is gorgeous. May not be the right time of year due to the S-Turn in Florida, MA but Williamstown is a small college town.
3. Definitely go to North Hampton / Amherst. Spent 3 years there for college.

Fly into Bradley, unless you want to spend time in Boston on each end for things to do.

Thanks for all of the great information! I'm hoping I can figure out a way to go to the training.

For a memorable drive through the New England countryside, along the Quabbin Reservoir (which supplies Boston's water) and culminating in a fabulous dinner you might consider driving about an hour east via Rt. 2 and 122, to Picasso in Barre. www.dineoutpicasso.com

We happened upon this gem of a place last fall as we were leaf-peeping along the back roads of central MA, heading from Amherst to Worcester. Picasso Restaurant ended up being the highlight of our trip because rain the night before basically wiped out the leaves! The menu is varied and the food, at about 1/2 the price, is better than we found in Boston. Ari, the chef/owner, serves many organic meats, freshly cooked to order with a lovely presentation. On Thursday nights they have live jazz with 2 very talented young women singing the blues. Great fun! If you decide to spend a night in that area there are several B+B's to choose from. Take a look at the Inn at Clamber Hill in Petersham for a first class place to stay...it's only 15 minutes from Picasso Restaurant in Barre. Both Petersham and Barre have typical NE town greens in country village settings. Petersham has a very charming, old-fashioned country store. The Harvard Forest, adjacent to the Quabbin Reservoir is a great place to hike.

Here's a link to the Harvard Forest...sorry, I meant to post in with my previous post!
http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/museum.html