Best towns to visit?

We are staying near Boston in Easton %26amp; want to visit the best Historic Towns, say within a 2 hour drive from here. We have a car but would be happy to use the train if at all possible.

Also interested in coach daytrips from the Boston area if there are any.

Any advice, tips etc would be much appreciated, thanks.

Best towns to visit?

You haven%26#39;t mentioned Boston, but I presume you either have been here recently or plan to spend at least a few days. If not, you really should. It%26#39;s a beautiful historic, yet vital city.

That said, other towns of interest you can look up. In the western part of the state: Lee, Stockbridge and Great Barrington. Lovely towns to stroll through, shop, have lunch. Make sure you visit the Norman Rockwell Museum.

West of Boston: Sturbridge Village is an early 19th century town where the folks live the way they did then. Very interesting to see, with real buildings from that time period. Lexington and Concord.

To the south of Boston, Plymouth, including the Mayflower II, Plymouth Rock and Plimouth Plantation, a recreated Pilgrim village from the 1600%26#39;s.Newport, Rhode Island. A nice port city with the the added feature of the ';cottages'; of the rich and famous.

Cape Ann, north of Boston: Rockport, a fishing village turned artist colony. Gloucester, a still-working fishing town. And Salem, of witch fame.

Best towns to visit?

Hi Kencar - for historic towns on the Easton side of Boston (by historic, I assume you mean relevant to the time before and around the revolt of the American colonies :-)?)

- others will likely have different opinions, but here%26#39;s mine - you%26#39;ll need a car for all but possibly Boston.

-Plymouth should be on the list, and it%26#39;s reasonably accessible from Easton - depending on how deep you want to go into it, ';Plimouth Plantation'; is a small community/outdoor museum that is supposed to represent the life of the early English settlers.

- Quincy is worth visiting, especially for the Adams House - it%26#39;s the residence and library of John Adams (and I believe John Quincy Adams too). It%26#39;s beautifully restored and maintained and pretty informative if you are interested in American history.

- Boston, of course, if you haven%26#39;t been to the inner city area where the Freedom Trail is located. Beacon Hill is worth walking around too if you want to see a neighborhood which was built around 1800. If you are walkers, I recommend a tour company called ';Boston By Foot';.

- A little further from Easton (probably close to an hour with no traffic), I%26#39;d recommend Lexington and Concord, northwest of Boston. They are beautiful towns, just for a drive, and also significant in the revolution. There might be a coach tour of these places too...

- If you are feeling really adventurous, you might check out the Peabody Essex museum (check the website for directions). Also, getting to that area might give you an opportunity to see some of our north shore coastline, which is quite lovely.

For coach daytrips, I%26#39;d suggest doing some web research for companies who offer trips - some ideas on places to look for - Newport, Rhode Island, Mystic, Connecticut, Salem, Mass., Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Hope these are helpful.

Fall River is beautiful--Battleship Cove in particular. There%26#39;s a museum there. Nearby there%26#39;s a giant cathedral type church, St. Anne%26#39;s. Across from that is a huge park and just off to the side, on Maine street, a nice little Portugese restaurant... Fall River is on the way to Newport/the Cape, close to New Bedford, which has a huge fishing culture and historic district with cobblestone streets and a whaling museum.

Thank you all so very much. We are staying in Easton for another 2 weeks so we will indeed be seeing as much of Boston as possible. We went yesterday %26amp; walked part of the Freedom Trail, all around Beacon Hill.........and loved the City!

What a beautiful place it is. We%26#39;ve visited many places in America %26amp; can truly say that Boston has impressed us the most.

Apart from the historical aspect of the City, it has that special %26#39;something%26#39; that makes you feel good, just walking the streets.

We%26#39;ve always wanted to come here after hearing such good things from friends who have visited %26amp; boy we are not disappointed.

The weather is the only downside at the moment but we managed to escape the downpour in Boston yesterday....just!

The forecast looks good after Tuesday so we%26#39;ll start our real sight seeing then. Tomorrow it looks like rain so we%26#39;ll spend some time (and money!) at the Mall.

Talking of which.........any tips on the best Mall, closest to Easton? We like the usual Big Stores %26amp; would love to browse any outlets close by????

We actually found Ikea today %26amp; were staggered by the low prices, half the price of Ikea in England!

Thank you all for your great tips %26amp; please keep them coming. I%26#39;ve printed off the advice %26amp; we%26#39;ll try to visit all of the above in the coming weeks....weather permitting.

Carole.

Kencar, You%26#39;re in luck. One of the best outlets is right near Easton and it%26#39;s a gem. It%26#39;s the Wrentham Premium Outlets, so look for the directions on their site and check it out as soon as you can:

www.premiumoutlets.com

Emerald Square Mall is a great Mall and it%26#39;s located in North Attleboro. Then there%26#39;s the South Shore Plaza which is located at 250 Granite St. in Braintree, a hop, skip and a jump from Easton, You%26#39;re going to be very busy from Easton!

Well we found Wrentham Premium Outlets, thank you. Spent lots of money %26amp; thoroughly enjoyed doing it! You were right it%26#39;s a great Mall.

Off to Boston tomorrow as the weather looks good. Wednesday%26#39;s forecast is not so good so we%26#39;ll head for Emerald Square Mall for more spending!

What would we do without Tripadvisor............???

Thanks again.

One thing to see in Easton are the H. H. Richardson buildings in North Easton-- one is the town hall, plus one or two others. Easton was the home town of the Ames family who made money in ploughs and railroads and financed these elaborate public buildings for the town. The other sight is Borderlands, an Ames estate that straddles the border between Easton and Sharon which happens to be the 17th century border between the Plymouth Colony and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Nice place for a walk. Many historic towns within a two-hour drive: Marblehead and Salem, Newburyport and Ipswich on the North Shore; also Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Cape Ann (Gloucester and Rockport) are must-see territory. Someone has mentioned Lexington and Concord--there%26#39;s much to see there. In Rhode Island, Newport, Wickford, and Bristol are three historic towns; people also say nice things about Westerly and Watch Hill, which are both close to Mystic, Connecticut if you get down that way. Stonington Borough, near Mystic, is an interesting old town. Cape Cod and the islands have a number of historic towns but the standout is Nantucket town. In Western Massachusetts, two towns well worth a visit are Amherst and Northampton--more or less historic but mostly just lively and enjoyable. A very historic town just upriver from there is Old Deerfield. Woodstock, Vermont, may exceed your two-hour rule but it%26#39;s very historic in a posh sort of way; as are many other Vermont towns like Bennington, Grafton, Ludlow, and others.

The train (from North Station, Boston) is possible for Concord (Fitchburg line) Salem, Gloucester, and Rockport on the Rockport line, and Ipswich and Newburyport on the Newburyport line.) Amtrak trains from North Station will take you to Portsmouth and Portland, Maine, which is also a great place.

Hi,

If you are in Easton, you might want to consider spending one day heading south to the Providence area. There%26#39;s lots of history and sights to see, as well as good shopping at the Providence Place Mall.

If you are a history buff , the birthplace of America%26#39;s Industrial Revolution is beautifully restored at the Slater Mill site in Pawtucket RI. This was the first cotton mill in America. Slater ';stole'; the design from a cotton mill he visited in England (at the time, it was Illegal to share the designs outside of the country), and recreated it from memory at Pawtucket.

http://www.slatermill.org/Visit.htm

Also, there%26#39;s lots of beautiful architecture and shopping and dining on the East Side of Providence near Brown University.