Small Town Stay Near Boston?
 

Two adults, considering spur of the moment trip to Boston area first couple weeks of October. Would stay about a week in Boston proper but would also like to visit a nearby small town with easy train access from Boston. We could do some pleasant outdoor strolling and visit historical sights for another 3-4 nights. We will not have a car. Concord? Plymouth? Coastal town sounds nice since we don't live near one but not an absolute requirement.

Thanks!

Portsmouth, NH?

If you rented a car, going out to Cape Cod would be perfect!

J62, Portsmouth looks like a good option with nice beaches around, will research further and show it to my wife.

starrs, Cape Cod jumped out at me when I looked at the map but I'm 99% sure we have decided no car for this trip. Keep it simple and slow. Appreciate the thought.

Cape Cod in fall is pretty simple and slow. It's a gorgeous, non-crowded time to go. If you aren't doing a Saturday to Saturday rental, you don't have to deal with the awful Saturday morning traffic getting onto the cape, but that's more summer than fall. Without that one traffic snarl, there's no traffic to be concerned with. I've gone in October a few times and it's one of my very favorite places. It really IS "simple and slow" if driving is a possibility. "Drive around" using google maps for a while to see what the roads are like. I think you'd love it!

Thanks again starrrs. I will definitely suggest this to her. I looked at some photos and it does look fabulous, which was also reported by some friends who were there in May. But I don't think a car will fly for this trip, so to speak. When I say I'm 99% sure that means she is 100% sure. :) At least right now.

Portsmouth does not have beaches, you'll need a car to get to any beach.

Old Orchard Beach Maine is accessible via Amtrak, miles long beach that is uncrowded at that time of year. The town itself is a little honky-tonkish but more quiet than rowdy in the fall. Portland Maine is also reachable via train but is harbor, not beach.

Beverly Mass is easy & quick by train from Boston for a night or two and you can easily uber or taxi to Salem and Marblehead.

There is ferry-boat transportation from Boston to Cape Cod (Provincetown) until Oct 14th.

There is also a little town on the ocean near Boston, Winthrop, where some people stay for less-expensive lodging than you'll find in-town Boston. Transportation into the city isn't bad, either a taxi to the T-station (subway, the blue line) or there's a bus from Winthrop to the t-station.

I was just about to say that it was a shame it's not summer because you could take the ferry. I didn't realize it ran that late. I was going up for the 3rd weekend in October so I suppose that's why it was too late in the season for me. Even if you don't stay in Ptown (a VERY gay friendly, okay, gay-centric town) you would take a cab or uber elsewhere.

Re Winthrop - great idea! Friends stayed there several years ago for their Boston trip and LOVED it. They had the cutest litle vrbo. I can ask about it if you'd like for me to.

Newton is a nice town, and you can take the train into Boston. It's not coastal, but nice nonetheless.

Thanks for all those suggestions. Winthrop looks nice but if we stay for 7 nights in a Marriott in the harbor area the prices come down to reasonable in our world (less than $300 / night). We decided to go that route after looking at a number of airbnb options.

The Provincetown idea sounds perfect except for the getting there part. She suffers from extremely severe motion sickness and getting on a boat is now risky. (Result of damaged inner ear vestibular system due to freak accident, unfortunate since our first years together were spent on a lot of boats).

I'll swing back to Plymouth. She really enjoys touristy sites where the docents dress in period costume like Plimoth Plantation Museum. So that sounded good when she saw it online, and we could easily spend a full day there. No one has seconded Plymouth as a possible destination. Is that a bad idea for any reason?

Thanks again for your time.

You can take the ferry to Salem, it is more than witches. House of seven gables is beautiful, dining on the water, a little tram that takes you around town.

Macross, Salem looks great. Definitely on the list at least for a day trip. I found some historical tours that she'd love, and House of Seven Gables looks like a must. Thanks!

The usual problem of too many great options and limited time.

How do you plan to get there?

It looks like the MBTA train goes there. (?)

Well, looks like it's become moot as we are now likely going to stay in Boston the whole time, and use it as a base for day trips.

Thanks again everyone.

Quick update: we did decide to stay the whole time in Boston, and take day trips that are within an hour or so one way by public transportation or Uber. This way we can get a taste of more than one place

We'll stay in a Marriott Residence Inn with a kitchenette so we can prepare meals, shop in delis or markets, or return with restaurant leftovers. This model has worked well for us in the past when visiting other cities and their surrounds.

Thanks once again.

Day trip then to Rockport, MA

Thanks Gail, that looks great, it's on the list. Looks like we easily have 4 day trips over our time in Boston, maybe 9 nights total. We won't run out of things to do!

Right sf, Concord, Salem, Plymouth, Rockport, some days easily spent at Harvard Museums, all the stuff to do in Boston, from Frredom Trail to Faneuil Hall to Boston Public Gardens, a harbor cruise, eating in the North End... One quickly runs out of time!

A friend who grew up there has told me: "So you can blend in with the locals, try saying gahdin, watah, and wicked pissah (amazing, awesome). The thing you drive is a cah. And the favorite soup is chowdah. You are staying in Bahstin"