Salem, Massachusetts

Salem has small neighbourhood beaches of its own at Salem Willows, Forest River Park and Winter Island. They are pleasant for paddling and a picnic, but they are harbour shores rather than places to spend a beach day. The better sand is a drive away along the North Shore: Devereux Beach in Marblehead, Singing Beach at Manchester-by-the-Sea and, best of all, the long dunes of Crane Beach in Ipswich, about forty minutes away.

This is the Gulf of Maine, so even in August the water rarely gets much above 19°C and the swimming season lasts only from July to early September. Most visitors treat a beach as a cool dip on a summer afternoon, not the reason for the trip.

Eating in Salem is small-town New England done reasonably well. Expect chowder, fried clams, lobster rolls and North Shore oysters, along with a cluster of independent bistros, brewpubs, cafés and a handful of international kitchens around the pedestrian streets and the wharf. The town is compact, so a good dinner is rarely more than a short walk away.

The range is still narrow. There is no market culture to speak of and little fine dining, and in October the queues and set-up-for-crowds menus can wear thin. Food lovers usually save their serious meals for a day in the city, about half an hour away.

Salem's story runs on two tracks. One is the witch trials of 1692, remembered at the quiet Witch Trials Memorial, the Witch House (the only building left with direct ties to the trials) and the old Charter Street burying ground, and less soberly in a string of theatrical witch museums. The other is the seafaring wealth that followed. The Salem Maritime National Historical Park keeps the wharves, custom house and a replica tall ship, the House of the Seven Gables stands by the harbour, and Chestnut Street and the McIntire Historic District hold some of the finest Federal-era houses in the country.

The Peabody Essex Museum is the anchor. It is a large, serious museum with strong Asian, maritime and American art collections and a complete Chinese merchant's house rebuilt inside. Everything fits into two full days on foot.

Going out in Salem means a pint in a taproom, a cocktail in a historic building or a drink at one of the bars around the pedestrian centre, and then bed. There are no real clubs, and most of the year the streets are quiet well before midnight. October is the exception: the Halloween season fills the town with costumed crowds and the bars stay busy, though it is still a festival atmosphere rather than a late scene. Anyone wanting a proper night out takes the train into the city.

The outdoors here is coastal and gentle. Salem Willows and Winter Island give harbour views close to town, and the Marblehead headlands and the granite shore of Cape Ann at Halibut Point and Rockport make fine walking. Sea kayaking among the harbour islands is popular in summer.

Further afield, the Parker River refuge on Plum Island is one of the best birding spots in New England, and boats from Gloucester run out to the Stellwagen Bank feeding grounds for humpback whales. Inland there are wooded state forests for walks and cycling. Autumn colour is the high point, while winters are cold, grey and raw. The landscape is pretty rather than grand, and there are no mountains within easy reach.

Salem's great asset as a base is Boston, about half an hour away by commuter train, with the Freedom Trail, Beacon Hill, the museums and Harvard across the river in Cambridge. Lexington and Concord, where the Revolution began and Thoreau and Emerson lived, are an easy drive.

Up the coast, Marblehead's old harbour lanes are almost next door, and Gloucester and Rockport on Cape Ann are reachable by the same rail line. Newburyport, with its brick Federal centre, is about forty minutes north, and Portsmouth in New Hampshire is about an hour. Plymouth, with its Pilgrim heritage, and the mill museums of Lowell make longer outings. Taken together, the list is varied and much of it works without a car.

Salem is easy to manage with children. The centre is small, flat and safe, and older children often love the costumes, the pirate and witch museums and climbing aboard the replica tall ship at the maritime park. Salem Willows has an old-fashioned seaside arcade, ice-cream stands and a park by the water, and the Peabody Essex Museum runs hands-on family spaces.

There is little made purely for children, though, and much of the witch material dwells on hangings and dark history that can frighten little ones. October brings shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. Families usually make Boston's aquarium and science museum a day out.

Within Salem, a car is a burden rather than a help. Nearly everything worth seeing, from the Common and the wharf to Chestnut Street and the museums, lies within a twenty-minute walk, and in October the town effectively closes to traffic around the centre. The commuter rail station is a short walk from the centre, with direct trains to Boston and up the line to Gloucester and Rockport.

Beyond the rail line, things get harder. Local buses are sparse, and beaches such as Crane, the state forests and towns like Concord are much easier to reach by car.

Salem's shopping is a niche of its own. Along Essex Street and around Pickering Wharf there are dozens of shops selling tarot cards, crystals, herbs, candles and spell books, some run by practising witches, alongside plenty of Halloween souvenirs. Antique dealers, a few independent bookshops and the Peabody Essex Museum shop add some quality. Fashion and department stores are absent, and serious shoppers head to Boston.

Salem is an expensive place to stay. Hotels and inns are few, and rooms carry Boston-area prices for most of the year. In October they are among the hardest beds in New England to find at a reasonable rate, and many visitors stay further out or come for the day. Eating out costs the usual American amount once tax and tip are added. Getting around is cheap, since the town is walkable and the train into the city is inexpensive, and most sights charge modest fees.

Salem has a small live scene of its own: a modest professional theatre company, occasional concerts and talks at the Peabody Essex Museum, and local bands in a few bars. October adds street performers and theatrical witch-trial re-enactments. For opera, a symphony orchestra or major theatre, visitors take the train to Boston and come back on a late service.

Salem has no bathing tradition, and its wellness offer is a few day spas and massage studios plus a crop of tarot readers, crystal healers and meditation sessions that fit the town's spiritual bent. Outside October it is a quiet harbour town, good for a slow walk along Chestnut Street or the waterfront. In the Halloween season, though, it is anything but restful.