A Complete Massachusetts Road Trip Along the Coast
Massachusetts is a great state with many cities and historical sites to see. Growing up in New York, I have taken many Massachusetts road trips to Boston, Cape Cod, and many other places. Boston is a super fun city and I love the coastline (Cape Cod) Massachusetts has. In this article I will talk about my favorite cities and places to see in Massachusetts.
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This post is all about a Massachusetts Road Trip.
Massachusetts Road Trip:
Hiking Mount Greylock
Originally, I wanted to start this MA road trip off in Salem, however, another cool place you could start this road trip off, is in Adams, MA. So, you can hike Mount Greylock. Mount Greylock is the highest peak in Massachusetts and has a great view of the Taconic and Berkshire Mountains. I would suggest driving to Adams, MA, spending the night. Then I would get up early the next morning and hike Mount Greylock. Then after your hike, I would make the 4 hour drive to Salem, MA.
Salem Massachusetts Road Trip
This road trip is specifically going to talk about all the cities along the coast to visit in Massachusetts. Eventually, we will end this road trip at the southern most tip of Massachusetts, Provincetown. Of course there are other towns you can start your Massachusetts road trip itinerary off with but I think Salem or Adams make the most sense.
Okay, so Salem is a really cool place. However, it has gotten a lot of hype in the past couple years and I think because of that it has gotten a little hokey/cheesy. Now, it could have always been this way, I’m not sure. I’m basing this assumption off of my visit in 2023. Prior to 2023, I had never been to Salem, so again, I’m not sure if it’s always been a little hokey. There are a lot of historic houses to see and the famous, “Hocus Pocus,” house. Because of Salem’s witch history from the “Salem Witch Trials,” there are a lot of stores created and decorated to represent witches. This is where I think a lot of the cheesiness comes from.
But I do recommend going to Salem at least once in your lifetime for the fun of it. Salem has a lot to do especially during Halloween time. They have a lot of parades, events and other activities that you can find here. Some other noteworthy places to visit while in Salem are the Witch House at Salem, Hocus Pocus House, Witch Dungeon Museum, the Burying Point, Salem Pioneer Village, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, Gallows Hill Museum, Salem Trolley, Salem Witch Museum, and Old Town Hall.
Lexington & Concord Stops
After visiting, Salem, okay I lied a little, because we’re going to go a little outside of the coast, west towards Lexington and Concord. However, I do think these two cities are worth visiting, especially if you are a history buff. Lexington is about a 40 minute drive from Salem and Concord is about 45 minutes.
There are so many things to see in Lexington and Concord. There are a lot of different history tours to take of the city, along with many historical buildings. Such as, Hancock-Clarke House, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, Minute Man National Historical Park, Munroe Tavern, Buckman Tavern, Lexington Battle Green, Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, and the Old North Bridge/Concord and more that you can find here.
Some more things to do in Concord are seeing Walden Pond, Old Manse, the Concord Museum, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Verrill Farm, the Wayside Home of Authors, Battle Road Trail, Ralph Waldo Emerson House, Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Wright Tavern Center, and more that you can find here.
Cambridge & Harvard University (Optional Stop)
Now, if you like visiting universities, then I do recommend taking the 30 minute drive to Cambridge from Lexington and Concord. So, you can see the famous Harvard University and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Visiting Harvard makes a great Massachusetts fall road trip, so you can see all the different colored leaves. In addition, this stop is only 20 minutes from Boston, which is our next stop on this road
Boston Massachusetts Road Trip
Finally, you can be on your way to Boston, Massachusetts capital and biggest city. There is so much to do in Boston. It’s a super fun and expensive city to visit especially along the water/harbor. Boston is only about 20 minutes away from Cambridge.
Now, if you’re from Boston or you’ve visited before, you can disregard this paragraph, as I’m sure you’ve already been to most of the places I am going to suggest visiting. Warning, there is a lot that I’m going to mention visiting in Boston, so wherever you are coming from, I would allow yourself at least 2-3 days to explore the city.
Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and has many famous historical sites to visit, shopping areas, museums, and more. I really like Boston for the baseball games. I know this might be a volatile opinion, but Fenway is my favorite baseball park. I like the old/historic feel to it and I like that it’s an open stadium. I do not like indoor baseball stadiums. Some other notable places to see are the Maritime Museum, Clarke’s Turn of the Century, Boston Public Garden, Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, Six Flags New England, Whale Watching, Kayaking on the Charles River, and more that you can find here.
Some more historical sites to see in Boston are the Boston Freedom Trail, the Paul Revere House, Quincy Market, Faneuil (Nathaniel) Hall, Old South Meeting Hall, Massachusetts State House, Trinity Church, USS Constitution, Boston Common, and Old State House. There are more historic sites you can see, but I think these are the most worthwhile ones.
Plymouth Road Trip
Okay, after you’ve seen all the history of Boston, you can see more historical sites in Plymouth! Plymouth is about a 50 minute drive from Boston. Some fun things to do in Plymouth are seeing Plymouth Rock, National Monument to the Forefathers, Plimoth Patuxet Museums, Plimoth Grist Mill, Mayflower II, Brewster Gardens, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Burial Hill, Jabez Howland House, Myles Standish State Forest, Pilgrim Memorial State Park, Mayflower Brewing Company, Hedge House Museum, American Theatre Company, First Parish in Plymouth, Plymouth Long Beach, Plymouth Farmers’ Market, Plymouth & the South Shore, tons of tours, whale watching, and more that you can find here.
{Related Article : The Best Things to do in Cape Cod}
Cape Cod Road Trip
Next on our list is visiting Cape Cod. Cape Cod truly is one of my favorite places and is only a 40 minute drive to Hyannis. Hyannis is not my favorite place on the Cape however, you can catch ferries here that go to beautiful islands such as Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
Wellfleet is about a 50 minute drive from Hyannis and is one of my favorite places all along the east coast. Some great beaches to visit are White Crest, Cahoon Hollow, Cape Cod National Seashore, Marconi National Seashore, Nauset, and Mayflower.
Another fun thing to do is to go to the many fresh water ponds or Great Island to Jeremy Point and Tavern Loop (you do this hike too one day). I suggest going to the “Gut” or Great Island one day and explore the beach there. The “Gut” or Great Island is a long stretch of beach bewteen Wellfleet harbor and Cape Cod Bay. It has much calmer and less crowded beaches then others along Cape Cod. You do have to walk here to access Jeremy Point. Jeremy Point is the tip of Great Island, it will be a total, round trip of 9 miles. However, to just go to Great Island it will be about half the distance. There are two small parking lots at Great Island.
Provincetown : Massachusetts Road Trip Ideas
Finally, onto our last town on this road trip, Provincetown. Wellfleet is about a 25 minute drive from Provincetown. There are a lot of fun shops and restaurants here to see. Race Point Beach, Herring Cove Beach, drag shows, and many more things that you can find to do here.
Conclusion
And that concludes our Massachusetts road trip planner. Overall, I really love the state of Massachusetts and think it has some awesome cities and places to visit within the state. I have been to many of the places listed above but there are some cities like, Plymouth, that I discussed that I would love to visit. Thus, I hope this article was helpful to you as well in finding new cities to discover and explore. Thank you so much for reading and take care!
