Vacation In Western Massachusetts
Vacation In Western Massachusetts is a week-long art and music festival that takes place every year in western Massachusetts. The goal of this website was to make the layout clean, while focusing on colors and feeling like a craft fair. The ability to edit was important to the client, so I made it easy to update with some info on the vendors, an uncommon feature for Drupal websites.
Vacation in Western Massachusetts: Visitors to the Berkshires love the simple lifestyle and outdoor activities
If you are looking for a destination to visit, Western Massachusetts is the spot. In fact, New England in its entirety offers something different and exciting around every corner. The most popular vacation spots in New England are Boston, Providence, Hartford and Vermont.
In this article I’ll be covering the basics of vacationing in Northern Massachusetts. For a bit of background, Western Massachusetts consists of the Northwestern portion of New England (it doesn’t technically include Vermont) as well as Southern New Hampshire.
The Berkshires are a region in Western Massachusetts with stunning scenery and outdoor activities. This guide is a collection of our favorites: hiking, swimming, golf, restaurants, and all around Berkshires fun.
Vacation In Western Massachusetts
It’s probably impossible to overstate the amount of cool stuff to do in Massachusetts’s western half. This list runs down just such attractions, including museums, Gilded Age mansions, hiking routes, a scenic train, a murder mystery dinner, and an idyllic bookstore.
As far as getting to all of them them, a car is probably best—though getting to Western Mass. itself can be achieved via myriad modes of transport. Also, this list does not include lodging. That’s covered here and here.
And, should you want to set down sticks for a bit and really explore, try this guide to the key small towns of Western Mass.
Eric Carle Museum
Amherst
You don’t have to be a kid to appreciate this museum dedicated to children’s picture-book art. The institution says its mission is “to inspire a love of art and reading through picture books,” with a heavy dose of nostalgia.
The 50th anniversary celebration of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is open until March 2019, and worth checking out if you read the book as a child, read it to your kids, or just appreciate good illustrations.
The museum takes on a socially conscious perspective in choosing which books to highlight. Visit the Coretta Scott Illustrator awards to see highlights from African-American authors and illustrators, or the LGBTQ representation in picture books exhibit.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can sit in on a class and try your hand at illustrating.
New England Peace Pagoda
Leverett
Inaugurated in 1985, this Leverett Peace Pagoda is a testament to the local community.
The Buddhist caretakers boast that this location is one of the best examples of local integration and support of a Peace Pagoda. The structure is a memorial containing a relic of the Buddha, but it’s open to people of all faiths.
Alongside the main pagoda, the community has been building a new temple since 2011 for prayer and living space for monastics. The area is open from sunrise to sunset year round.
Bridge of Flowers
Shelburne Falls
This bridge started out with a more typical purpose in 1908: Connecting passengers and goods between Shelburne and Buckland. As cars became more popular and the railway stopped maintaining the bridge, weeds overgrew it.
The local women’s club raised money to repurpose the bridge into a community garden in 1928, and in the 1980s, updates to the garden brought it up to its current condition. Now, it blooms from April through October.
Consult the website to learn which flowers you might see during your visit, and stop by late in the season to enjoy the bridge with a background of colorful leaves.
Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation
South Deerfield
For a moderate hike, try the View of the Valley trail up South Sugarloaf Mountain via Pocumtuck Ridge Trail. This easygoing outing leads you to a pavilion at the summit where can see the Connecticut River, the Pioneer Valley, and the Pelham and Berkshire Hills.
If hiking isn’t your thing, don’t worry. You can drive up South Sugarloaf on a seasonal road, open from late spring to late fall foliage season.
Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary
Easthampton
If you’re looking to spend one of the warmer days of winter outdoors and away from the dreariness, check out Arcadia. Thanks to the evergreens that populate the area, this wildlife sanctuary is green year-round.
Maintained by Mass Audubon, Arcadia has trails, grasslands, and marshes spanning 724 acres in Easthampton.
If you’re lucky, you might spot some animals, including painted turtles and the great blue heron rookery. Check out the annual winter solstice bonfire, which includes a play and music.
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Children’s Museum at Holyoke
Holyoke
As far as children’s museums go, this is one of the best. Exhibits focus on interactivity and play, making this museum a great place to wait out a rainy or a snowy day.
The new World of Motion exhibit, which teaches STEM ideas through pulleys and levers, keeps kids entertained for an afternoon and is visually interesting for adults.
Outside, the Holyoke Heritage State Park is worth stopping by, too. Take a ride (only $2!) on the antique carousel and admire the hand-carved horses.
Ventfort Hall
Lenox
Home to the Museum of the Gilded Age, this Jacobean Revival-style mansion was built in 1893 for J.P. Morgan’s sister. In what was once a popular resort destination in Lenox, the home is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Restoration is still in progress, but the first floor and much of the second floor are open to the public. The site is beautiful and a resource to learn about the lives of the very wealthy in the Gilded Age, but also notable for its events.
Frequent lectures and reading series from academics draw in locals, and “Murder Mystery Dinner Theater” evenings often sell out.
Hoosac Valley Train Ride
Adams
If you like trains, history, or views of beautiful foliage, take a ride on the Hoosac Valley Train. The hour-long trip takes you on a 10-mile loop between North Adams and downtown Adams in a vintage 1955 Budd Rail Diesel Car.
The Fall Foliage rides are available on weekends in September and October. The crew dresses in period-appropriate attire to provide historical facts and narrate the trip.
From the car, you will see the Hoosac River, Mount Greylock, and the Hoosac Mountain Range.
Yankee Candle Village
South Deerfield
The Yankee Candle flagship store in South Deerfield is, maybe surprisingly, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Massachusetts, western or otherwise, with more than 3 million visitors a year.
It’s no tourist trap, though, and may be your best bet to get into the holiday spirit. While you’re there, there are several exhibits to check out along with a candlemaking museum.
In Yankee Candle’s Bavarian Village, it’s Christmas all year long. Kids can visit Santa’s workshop in the Nutcracker Castle, and snow falls every day. At Wax Works, try making your own jar candle.
In the flagship store itself, you can find all the current scents, along with some discontinued ones if you’re missing an old favorite.
Mohawk Trail
Millers Falls
Established in 1914, the Mohawk Trail is one of the oldest auto touring roads in the United States and can be a weekend in itself [link].
Driving the 63 miles of this scenic byway will take you through some of the best foliage Massachusetts has to offer. Pull off the road in Gill to go over the French King Bridge and take in views high above the Connecticut River.
The Mount
Lenox
Once the home of prolific writer Edith Wharton, today the Mount is a National Historic Landmark, cultural center, and museum. While living here, Wharton wrote The House of Mirth and Ethan Frome.
Don’t skip out on the tours of the main house or the gardens, especially the sunken Italian garden. If you’re interested, you can book a private tour for two of the library, which contains Wharton’s personal book collection with her original annotations.
For a less literary experience, reserve a ghost tour and let a guide take you throughout the grounds at night to clue you into the potentially haunted bits of the Mount.
Norman Rockwell Museum
Stockbridge
“Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.” —Norman Rockwell
Containing the largest collection of the late artist’s work, this museum offers the chance to see famous pieces, including those featured in the Saturday Evening Post, with more than 900 illustrations on display.
Rockwell’s drawing studio, which was moved to the museum, is open to visitors from May through October. There they can see his paintings, furniture, and the environment where he worked.
Be sure to check out his later work with Look, when he began to focus more on civil rights and the war on poverty.
To get the most out of this museum, wander around Stockbridge itself to see the community that inspired many of Rockwell’s works [link to small towns piece]. Or, if you really want to be authentic, try out his bike route through Stockbridge.