The Best Day Trips from Boston

The 10 best day trips, ranked

Ordered by how well they repay a full day - factoring travel time, what you can actually see, and how easy they are without a car.

1. 1

   Salem

   History with an edge

   16 miles northeast · ~30 min by train

   The 1692 witch trials are the hook, but the substance is broader: the Peabody Essex Museum, one of America's oldest, the quiet Witch Trials Memorial beside the Old Burying Point, and the House of the Seven Gables on the harbor. Skip the haunted-house kitsch and it is a serious maritime-history town. October's Haunted Happenings draws enormous crowds - go weekday morning or pick another month.

   Getting there: MBTA Newburyport/Rockport line from North Station to Salem (~30 min, trains roughly every 30-60 minutes). The historic core starts a 10-minute walk from the station. In October, take the train no matter how you feel about trains - parking is hopeless.

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2. 2

   Rockport & Gloucester (Cape Ann)

   Working coast & art colonies

   30–40 miles northeast · ~55–70 min by train

   Gloucester is America's oldest seaport: the Fisherman's Memorial, working docks and whale-watch boats sailing roughly May to October. Rockport is the postcard - Bearskin Neck's galleries and the red fishing shack known as Motif No. 1, said to be the most-painted building in America. Walk the granite quarry ledges at Halibut Point State Park if you have time.

   Getting there: The same Newburyport/Rockport line from North Station: Gloucester in ~55-60 minutes, Rockport at the end of the line in ~65-70. The two towns are about 15 minutes apart by train, so covering both in one day is easy.

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3. 3

   Concord, Lexington & Walden Pond

   Revolution & literature

   20 miles northwest · ~40 min by train

   The opening day of the American Revolution and the American literary canon in one small town: the Old North Bridge and Minute Man National Historical Park, Orchard House where Alcott wrote Little Women, and Authors Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne and Alcott lie within steps of each other. Swim at Walden in summer - the state caps attendance, so arrive early on hot weekends.

   Getting there: MBTA Fitchburg line from North Station to Concord (~40 min, roughly hourly). The Old North Bridge is a 15-minute walk from the depot; Walden Pond is about 2 miles south - walk, bike or taxi. Lexington's battle green is easier with a car or local buses.

4. 4

   Provincetown

   Beach, art & whales

   50 miles southeast by sea · ~95 min by fast ferry

   The tip of Cape Cod: Commercial Street's galleries and people-watching, the 252-foot Pilgrim Monument (the Mayflower anchored here first, before Plymouth), and Race Point's dune-backed National Seashore beach. Whale watches leave MacMillan Pier for Stellwagen Bank, one of the best whale-watching grounds on the Atlantic coast.

   Getting there: Two seasonal fast-ferry operators cross Cape Cod Bay in ~95 minutes: Bay State Cruise Company from the Seaport district and Boston Harbor City Cruises from Long Wharf, roughly May to October, with several sailings daily in high summer - book ahead for weekends. Driving takes 2.5-3.5 hours around the Cape; the boat wins.

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5. 5

   Plymouth

   Pilgrims & living history

   40 miles southeast · ~1–1.25 h train + short ride

   The 1620 story told properly: board the Mayflower II, a full-scale sailing reproduction at the State Pier, then Plimoth Patuxet Museums, where costumed interpreters run a 1627 English village alongside a Wampanoag homesite. Plymouth Rock itself is famously small - treat it as a two-minute stop, not the destination. Burial Hill's colonial graves have the harbor view.

   Getting there: MBTA Kingston line from South Station (~55-60 min); Kingston station is a ~10-minute taxi or local GATRA bus ride from the Plymouth waterfront. Drivers do it in about 50 minutes on Route 3.

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6. 6

   Newport, RI

   Mansions & coastal walks

   70 miles south · ~1.5–2 h by bus or car

   The Gilded Age preserved: tour The Breakers, the Vanderbilts' 70-room summer cottage, then walk the 3.5-mile Cliff Walk between the mansions' back lawns and the Atlantic. In town, Bowen's Wharf handles lunch and Touro Synagogue (1763) is the oldest in the United States. Buy a multi-mansion ticket if you want more than The Breakers.

   Getting there: No train: drive ~90 minutes, or take a Peter Pan bus from South Station (~1 h 45, several departures daily). Once there, everything from the wharves to the mansions is walkable or a short trolley ride.

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7. 7

   Portsmouth, NH

   Colonial seaport & food

   60 miles north · ~1–1.5 h by bus or car

   A working colonial seaport at the mouth of the Piscataqua: Strawbery Banke Museum keeps dozens of historic buildings from four centuries of one waterfront neighborhood, Market Square has the coffee and bookshops, and summer cruises run out to the Isles of Shoals. Small enough to cover on foot in one relaxed day.

   Getting there: Drive about an hour up I-95, or take the C&J bus from South Station (~1.25-1.5 h); its Portsmouth stop is a short taxi ride from downtown. There is no train.

8. 8

   Providence, RI

   Art school energy & food

   50 miles southwest · ~35–80 min by train

   A proper city day at commuter-rail prices: the RISD Museum, Benefit Street's mile of colonial and Federal houses on College Hill, and Federal Hill's Italian restaurants for lunch. On select evenings from roughly May to November, WaterFire lights dozens of braziers along the downtown rivers - check the schedule and stay late if it lines up.

   Getting there: MBTA Providence line from South Station (~70-80 min, cheap and frequent) or Amtrak (~35-45 min). Providence station sits between the State House and downtown - everything is walkable from there.

9. 9

   Portland, ME

   Food & lighthouses

   110 miles north · ~2.5 h by train

   Maine's food capital on a working waterfront: the cobblestoned Old Port, lobster rolls, and the Portland Museum of Art's Winslow Homers. Casco Bay Lines ferries make cheap harbor loops past the islands. With a taxi or rental car, Portland Head Light (1791), Maine's oldest lighthouse, is 20 minutes away in Cape Elizabeth.

   Getting there: Amtrak's Downeaster runs from North Station to Portland roughly five times daily (~2.5 h); the Portland Transportation Center is a short bus or taxi ride from the Old Port. Take the first morning departure to make the day worthwhile.

10. 10

    Cape Cod (Hyannis)

    Gateway to the Cape & islands

    70 miles southeast · ~2.5 h by train (summer weekends)

    The Cape's transport hub and the Kennedys' town: the JFK Hyannis Museum, Main Street, and harbor beaches a short ride away. The real move is the springboard play - fast ferries from Hyannis reach Nantucket in about an hour, turning a summer Saturday into a two-island day. Book the ferry before the train.

    Getting there: The CapeFLYER train runs from South Station to Hyannis on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day (~2.5 h). The rest of the year, Plymouth & Brockton buses from South Station take ~1.5-2 h. In Hyannis, the ferry docks and Main Street are close to the station.

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