Boston · day trips
Day Trips from Boston
Ten escapes you can do in a day by train or car, ranked with honest verdicts, from a 30-minute commuter rail ride to a ferry-and-bike island adventure.
Boston in brief
What is the best day trip from Boston?
Salem for history and atmosphere, or Cape Cod for beaches. Salem is 30 minutes by commuter rail; Cape Cod needs a car (75 minutes).
What is within an hour of Boston by train?
Salem (30 min), Providence (75 min Amtrak), Plymouth (55 min commuter rail), Concord (40 min commuter rail), Rockport (70 min commuter rail). All are comfortable same-day returns.
Can you do Martha's Vineyard as a day trip?
Yes, but it is a long day. Drive 75 minutes to Woods Hole, then a 45-minute ferry. A car ferry needs advance booking. The island itself needs a bus or bike. Plan 12+ hours round trip.
Day trips from Boston at a glance
Every trip below is doable in a day from downtown Boston. Costs are an approximate round-trip fare per person; entries and food are extra.
| Destination | Best for | Travel time | Round trip | Train? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem | Witch history + Peabody Essex | ~30 min | ~$15 | Yes |
| Cape Cod | Beaches + seafood | ~75 min | ~$40 (Cape Flyer) | Summer only |
| Concord & Lexington | Revolution + Walden Pond | ~40 min | ~$14 | Yes |
| Plymouth | Mayflower + Plimoth Patuxet | ~55 min | ~$14 | Yes |
| Newport, RI | Gilded Age mansions + Cliff Walk | ~90 min | Gas + tolls | No |
| Rockport & Cape Ann | Art colony + whale watching | ~70 min | ~$14 | Yes |
| Providence, RI | Food + WaterFire + RISD | ~75 min | ~$25 (Amtrak) | Yes |
| Portsmouth, NH | Seaport + Strawbery Banke | ~60 min | Gas + tolls | No |
| White Mountains, NH | Foliage + hiking | ~2-2.5 hr | Gas + tolls | No |
| Martha's Vineyard | Island beaches + villages | ~2.5 hr total | ~$19 ferry + gas | No |
The best day trips from Boston are Salem for Witch Trials history and the Peabody Essex Museum, Cape Cod for beaches and seafood, and Concord & Lexington for Revolutionary War sites and Walden Pond. All three sit 30 to 75 minutes away, and four of the top six are reachable by commuter rail without a car. Below we rank the ten most popular escapes by how much we would prioritize them on a first visit, with honest verdicts, real travel times, and roughly what each one costs round trip.
How to choose your day trip from Boston
Short on time? Salem is 30 minutes by train and fills a half day or a full one. Chasing beaches? Cape Cod is the classic, though Rockport on Cape Ann is easier by train. After American history? Concord & Lexington and Plymouth cover the Revolution and the Mayflower. Want architecture and ocean views? Newport is the mansion-and-cliff day. The map and table below show where each one sits, how long it takes, and whether you need a car.
The lay of the land
Where Boston's day trips are
Every pick below fans out from downtown Boston, most within two hours by car or train. Tap a pin for the quick verdict.
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Ranked, with honest verdicts
The best day trips from Boston, ranked
Ten escapes worth a day, ordered by how much we would prioritize them on a first visit, from the easiest train ride to the ferry-and-bike adventure.
- 1
Massachusetts · ~30 min Worth itSalem
Witch Trials history, the Peabody Essex Museum, and a walkable waterfront, all thirty minutes from North Station.
Salem is the easiest and most rewarding day trip from Boston. The commuter rail drops you within walking distance of the Witch Trials Memorial, the Peabody Essex Museum (whose collection spans maritime art to a transplanted Chinese house), and a harbor lined with restaurants. October is the headline season, when the town leans hard into its witchy reputation with parades, haunted houses, and crowds to match. Off-season, Salem is quieter and arguably better: the museum is less packed, the House of the Seven Gables is atmospheric year-round, and the waterfront still has good seafood. The whole town is compact enough for a half day if you are short on time.
Getting there: ~30 min by MBTA commuter rail from North StationCost: ~$15 round trip trainBest time: Oct for Halloween season, spring/fall for fewer crowdsTime needed: Half to full dayHistoryCultureTrain-accessible - 2
Massachusetts · ~75 min drive Worth itCape Cod
Beaches, lighthouses, seafood shacks, and Provincetown at the tip, best from June through September.
Cape Cod is New England's beach day trip, a 75-minute drive (or a summer Cape Flyer train to Hyannis) to a 65-mile arm of sand, dunes, and salt marshes. The national seashore beaches on the outer Cape, Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light Beach, are the standouts: wide sand, big surf, no boardwalk clutter. Provincetown at the tip is a lively arts-and-dining town reachable by a fast ferry from Boston (90 minutes) that skips the bridge traffic entirely. The honest caveat: a one-day drive means bridge traffic on summer weekends, and you will spend a chunk of your beach time in the car. The Cape Flyer or the P-town ferry cuts the stress, but limits where you can go once there.
Getting there: ~75 min drive, or Cape Flyer train (summer weekends)Cost: ~$40 Cape Flyer round trip, or gas + bridge tollBest time: June through SeptemberTime needed: Full dayBeachesNatureSeafoodSourcesnps.govcapecodchamber.org
- 3
Massachusetts · ~40 min Worth itConcord & Lexington
The shot heard round the world, Walden Pond, and the homes of Alcott, Emerson, and Thoreau, forty minutes out by commuter rail.
Concord and Lexington pack two kinds of pilgrimage into one trip. The Revolutionary War trail runs from Lexington Green (where the first shots were fired in 1775) along Battle Road to the Old North Bridge in Concord, all of it free and walkable with National Park Service markers. The literary half is just as rich: Walden Pond, where Thoreau built his cabin, is a short walk from Concord center, and the homes of Louisa May Alcott (Orchard House), Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne line the same stretch of road. The commuter rail runs to Concord; Lexington is a short bus or rideshare from there. Both towns are leafy and quiet, the kind of day that leaves you with more than a sunburn.
Getting there: ~40 min by MBTA commuter rail to ConcordCost: ~$14 round trip trainBest time: Spring through fall; Oct for foliageTime needed: Full dayHistoryNatureLiteratureTrain-accessibleSourcesnps.govconcordmuseum.org
- 4
Massachusetts · ~55 min Worth itPlymouth
Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower II, and the Plimoth Patuxet living museum, where costumed interpreters stay in character year-round.
Plymouth is where the textbook version of American history starts, and the town leans into it with care. Plymouth Rock itself is, honestly, a modest boulder under a portico, but the Mayflower II (a full-scale replica of the original ship) and the Plimoth Patuxet Museums are worth the trip. Plimoth Patuxet recreates both a 1627 English village and a Wampanoag homesite with living interpreters, and it is genuinely well done, not kitsch. The waterfront has a handful of good seafood spots, and the town is compact enough to walk. The commuter rail from South Station takes about 55 minutes, making it one of the easier train day trips on this list.
Getting there: ~55 min by MBTA commuter rail from South StationCost: ~$14 round trip train; Plimoth Patuxet ~$30 entryBest time: Spring through fall; Thanksgiving season for atmosphereTime needed: Half to full dayHistoryFamilyTrain-accessibleSourcesplimoth.orgseeplymouth.com
- 5
Rhode Island · ~90 min drive Worth itNewport, RI
Gilded Age mansions on the cliffs, the Cliff Walk along the ocean, and a sailing harbor that still earns its reputation.
Newport is where the Vanderbilts and Astors built their 'summer cottages,' and the mansions are genuinely staggering. The Breakers, a 70-room Italian Renaissance palazzo, is the headliner ($29 entry), but Marble House and Rosecliff are just as photogenic. The Cliff Walk pairs the mansions with a 3.5-mile oceanfront trail that runs along the back of the estates, free and open year-round. After the walk, the harbor area has good restaurants and the sailing scene Newport is known for. The drive is about 90 minutes, or you can take an Amtrak to Providence and a bus from there, though the logistics are easier with a car.
Getting there: ~90 min drive via I-93 S and MA-24 SCost: The Breakers ~$29 entry; Cliff Walk is freeBest time: May through OctoberTime needed: Full dayArchitectureCoastalScenic - 6
Massachusetts · ~70 min Worth itRockport & Cape Ann
An artist colony on a granite coast: Motif No. 1, lobster rolls, and whale watching from nearby Gloucester.
Rockport is a small fishing-turned-artist town on the tip of Cape Ann, reachable in about 70 minutes on the commuter rail from North Station. Bearskin Neck is the main strip, a narrow lane of galleries, gift shops, and lobster shacks ending at a granite breakwater. Motif No. 1, the red fishing shack on the harbor, is the most-painted building in America (the claim is arguable, but the shack is real and photogenic). Gloucester, the next town over, adds whale watching (Stellwagen Bank is a reliable feeding ground June through October) and a grittier, working-harbor character. Together they make a full day of coast without the Cape Cod bridge traffic.
Getting there: ~70 min by MBTA commuter rail from North StationCost: ~$14 round trip train; whale watch ~$55Best time: June through OctoberTime needed: Full dayArtCoastalTrain-accessible - 7
Rhode Island · ~75 min Amtrak Worth itProvidence, RI
WaterFire on the rivers, Federal Hill for Italian food, and the RISD Museum (free on Sundays), all reachable by Amtrak.
Providence is a small city with outsized food and art credentials. Federal Hill is the Italian neighborhood, and it delivers: old-school red-sauce joints alongside newer spots that take the produce seriously. The RISD Museum, attached to the Rhode Island School of Design, is free on Sundays and punches well above its size, with everything from ancient Egyptian to contemporary. WaterFire, the art installation that lights bonfires on the three downtown rivers on selected evenings (mostly summer and fall), is the signature experience. The Amtrak from Back Bay takes about 75 minutes, or you can drive in about an hour. It is more city-break than escape, but a very good one.
Getting there: ~75 min by Amtrak, or ~60 min driveCost: ~$25 round trip Amtrak (booked early); RISD Museum free SunBest time: WaterFire evenings (check schedule); year-round for foodTime needed: Half to full dayFoodArtCultureTrain-accessible - 8
New Hampshire · ~60 min drive Worth itPortsmouth, NH
A historic seaport with Strawbery Banke Museum, craft breweries, and Market Square, about an hour north.
Portsmouth is a compact, walkable seaport town with more good restaurants per block than most New England cities twice its size. Strawbery Banke Museum ($22) is the anchor: a ten-acre outdoor museum of 37 restored buildings spanning four centuries of the town's history, with costumed interpreters in the summer months. Market Square is the center of town, ringed by independent shops, bookstores, and restaurants. The brewery scene is strong (Smuttynose and Earth Eagle among others), and the Prescott Park waterfront hosts free outdoor theater in summer. It is an hour's drive north on I-95, straightforward and scenic. No train, though; you need a car or bus.
Getting there: ~60 min drive via I-95 NCost: Strawbery Banke ~$22 entryBest time: June through OctoberTime needed: Half to full dayHistoryFoodCoastal - 9
New Hampshire · ~2-2.5 hr drive Worth itWhite Mountains, NH
Mt. Washington, Franconia Notch, and the Kancamagus Highway, best for fall foliage in early October. Car required.
The White Mountains are the big nature day trip from Boston, and they earn the longer drive. Franconia Notch State Park has the Flume Gorge (a boardwalk through a granite chasm), the tramway up Cannon Mountain, and the basin pools. The Kancamagus Highway, a 34.5-mile scenic road with no gas stations or development, is the foliage drive, best in the first two weeks of October when the sugar maples go red. Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the Northeast at 6,288 feet, offers the auto road or cog railway to the summit, where the wind has been clocked at 231 mph. The drive is two to two and a half hours, so start early and commit the full day. No train option; this one needs a car.
Getting there: ~2-2.5 hr drive via I-93 NCost: Flume Gorge ~$18; Mt. Washington Auto Road ~$35Best time: Early October for foliage; summer for hikingTime needed: Full dayNatureHikingFoliageSourcesnhstateparks.orgfs.usda.gov
- 10
Massachusetts · ~75 min drive + 45 min ferry MixedMartha's Vineyard
Victorian Edgartown, the Gay Head Cliffs, and a bike-friendly island, but a long day trip. Easier as an overnight.
Martha's Vineyard is gorgeous, and it is technically doable as a day trip, but the logistics make it a long one. Drive 75 minutes to Woods Hole, catch a 45-minute Steamship Authority ferry (walk-on; a car ferry needs advance booking, especially in summer), and you arrive on an island with no car. Vineyard Transit Authority buses cover the main towns, and bike rentals are easy in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs. Edgartown's whaling-captain houses, the Aquinnah (Gay Head) clay cliffs, and the gingerbread cottages of Oak Bluffs are the highlights. Realistically, plan 12+ hours door to door. We rank it lower not because the island is not beautiful (it is) but because the travel time squeezes the actual time on the ground. An overnight turns a rushed day into a relaxed one.
Getting there: ~75 min drive to Woods Hole + 45 min ferryCost: ~$19 walk-on ferry round trip; bike rental ~$30/dayBest time: June through SeptemberTime needed: 12+ hours round tripBeachesScenicIsland
Rankings and verdicts are our own. Travel times and costs are an approximate per-person guide and shift with the route and season.
The big draw
Fall foliage day trips from Boston
New England in October is the day trip most people build a Boston visit around. Three routes, all about two to two and a half hours out, each with peak color in the first two weeks of October.
The Berkshires
Rolling hills, covered bridges, and Tanglewood's grounds blazing with maples. ~2.5 hr.
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White Mountains, NH
Kancamagus Highway through a corridor of red and gold, with trailhead stops along the way. ~2 hr.
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Mohawk Trail
Massachusetts' oldest scenic road, winding through the northern Berkshires with valley overlooks. ~2 hr.
See morePractical
Getting there: trains, ferries, and drives
Boston's commuter rail reaches more day trips than you might expect, and Amtrak fills the gaps. A car opens up the coast and the mountains, but parking and traffic are the trade-off.
MBTA Commuter Rail
Covers Salem, Rockport, Plymouth, and Concord from North or South Station. Fares run $7 to $14 round trip.
Amtrak
The Northeast Regional reaches Providence in about 75 minutes and Portland in about 2.5 hours from Back Bay or South Station.
Cape Flyer
A seasonal weekend train from South Station to Hyannis on Cape Cod, running Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Driving tips
Avoid I-93 and I-95 during rush hour (7-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m.). EZPass saves time at tolls. Cape Cod's Bourne and Sagamore bridges back up on summer weekends.
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