If you live in Boston or are visiting the city in the fall, here are some suggested fall day trips you can take by bus, or set out in your car for scenic autumn destinations within a two-hour drive of Boston, Massachusetts.
Need to rent a car? See this list of car rental companies in New England, or compare car rental rates at Kayak.com.
© Kim Knox BeckiusSet out from Boston on a 10-hour motorcoach tour of the New England countryside this fall. The trip includes a stop at an orchard for apples and cider.
Book your seat on the Fall Foliage Spectacular tour via Viator.com, priced from $60 including complimentary Boston hotel pick-up.
© 1999 Kim Knox BeckiusBook via Viator.com, and a motorcoach will take you out of Boston for a six-hour pilgrimage to Plymouth, Massachusetts, the historic home of the Pilgrims. You'll be on your own to explore Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth's waterfront, Plymouth Rock, Mayflower II and other historic sites. Monday, Wednesday and Friday departures are available through late October. This day trip is priced from $65 including complimentary Boston hotel pick-up.
© 1999 Kim Knox BeckiusSalem, Massachusetts, is just 25 miles north of Boston, and the spooky city where the Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692 is easily accessible via car or MBTA trains, or book a spot on a Salem-bound bus tour direct via Viator. October is a particularly good time to visit Salem--in addition to the town's normal host of bewitching attractions, you'll find a full calendar of Haunted Happenings.
© 1999 Kim Knox BeckiusYou've probably heard of Stonehenge--that mysterious collection of megaliths (big rocks) over in the old England. But did you know that New England has its own
Stonehenge in Salem, New Hampshire, just a 40-minute drive from Boston? Fall is the perfect season for a day trip to this mysterious attraction.
© 2003 Kim Knox BeckiusWalden Pond covers 62 acres, but it's really much larger than that. Few bodies of water have celebrity status to rival that of this serene pool in Concord, Massachusetts. 19th-century writer Henry David Thoreau is, of course, responsible for turning the pretty pond into an icon. See photos and learn how you can visit this scenic spot in the fall. It's just a 35-minute car trip from Boston in Concord, Massachusetts.
© 2001 Kim Knox BeckiusOld Sturbridge Village is a 200-acre time machine that transports visitors to the early 1800s. Within moments of setting foot inside the complex of historic buildings populated with authentically costumed "interpreters," you can't help but feel immersed in yesteryear. Old Sturbridge Village is the Northeast's largest living history museum, a place where the routines and rituals of a 19th-century New England community play out day after day, season after season. Autumn is harvest season at Old Sturbridge Village, a fascinating and picturesque time for a visit. It's an easy day trip destination from Boston, located just over an hour's drive from the city.
© 2001 Kim Knox BeckiusNew England's oldest and largest cornfield maze is the 8-acre
Mega Maze at Davis' Farmland in Sterling, Massachusetts. Leave Boston behind for a scenic hour and 10-minute drive to this challenging, larger than life puzzle, where you can "get lost" for a while this fall and have loads of fun in the process.
© 2010 Kim Knox BeckiusJust over a two-hour drive from Boston in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, you'll be stunned by the fall views from
Castle in the Clouds, the spectacular, 5,500-acre estate built by eccentric industrialist Thomas Plant in 1914. Pause and hike to a waterfall on your drive up to this mountaintop abode, and, after your castle tour, linger over lunch or snacks and drinks at the Castle Cafe in the Carriage House.
