Top Reasons to Go

Early American history: From Plimoth Plantation to Salem, Concord, and Lexington, you can visit colonial-reenactment museums, Revolutionary War battle sites, historic homes, and inns.

Seafaring communities: Set off on a whale-watch from Gloucester, warm yourself after a windy coastal walk in Rockport with clam chowder, and admire the dedicated routine of local fishermen.

Revisit your reading: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s House of Seven Gables still stands in Salem. Liberate yourself with a swim in Thoreau’s Walden Pond. In Concord, see where both Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson penned their works.

Cranberry bogs: The bogs’ red, green, gold, and blue colors dot Cape Cod and the Plymouth area.

The Mayflower II: The story of the Pilgrims’ Atlantic crossing comes alive in Plymouth.