Know&Go Guide: Salem, Massachusetts, USA
Nearly every school kid has heard of Salem, Massachusetts. It was home to witches and those who persecuted them, right?
As with all history/myths it's a little more complicated than that. However, far from shying away from that small period of its history, Salem boasts five seasons a year: the usual plus Halloween, when they go crazy with events from September to November.
All well and good, but you would be short-changing this lovely, historic maritime town if that were the only time or reason you visited. Salem is a year ‘round festival destination or ‘FESTination,’ as I like to call it. It also boasts one of “America’s most beautiful streets,” the country’s oldest continually operated museum, is the birthplace of the National Guard and the first commercially produced candy… you get the idea, this is one of the towns where America started. #StillMakingHistory
-
Considering the town’s 400 year history, let’s put things into perspective:
English settlers, led by Roger Conant, came to the area inhabited by the Naumkeag tribe in 1626. They soon renamed it Salem, the Hebrew word for peace and, two years later, the Massachusetts Bay Company arrived and paved the way for floods of Puritans to populate the town.In 1636, Salem’s maritime trading history started with ships taking salted cod to the West Indies. This was the first of many trade routes that would take them all over the known world, establishing Salem as was one of the most significant seaports in colonial America. England’s monopolisation of Atlantic trade routes, prompted local captains to go further afield in search of precious spices, establishing a lucrative trade with Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies.
In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials began, escalating very quickly and resulting in the execution of twenty innocent people – fourteen women and six men. Before you start thinking they were burned at the stake, that only happened in Europe. Here they were all hanged, aside from one man who was ‘pressed’ to death.While a very harrowing and traumatising time, it lasted just nine months. Out of four hundred years, that’s a mere blip in the history of Salem. However, it is what it is and there’s no way to remove the association, so the town embraces it – it’s even known as Witch City – but they like to focus on the human story.
-
Aside from driving, there are a couple of other ways to arrive in Salem. See here for all of them.
However, if you are based in/coming from Boston, I suggest taking the commuter train or the ferry and walking everywhere once you’ve arrived.
Bewitched by Salem
Being an Australian, my first exposure to Salem was through the 1960s-70s cult TV series, Bewitched. Don’t groan, I’m not alone. There is a #selfieready statue of Samantha Stevens in downtown Salem, put there by the TV Land cable channel in 2005. Locals felt that it was insensitive to the witch trials victims but, love it or loathe it – and tourists love it – there it stands.
The real reason it’s there is that when the production company brought the show here in 1970 – to film an eight-part story arc which saw Samantha, Darrin and Endora travel to Salem for the centennial Witches Convocation – it brought renewed interest to the town and a tourism boom followed.
Case in point: the Salem Witch Museum opened in 1972 to capitalise on the attention.
The multitude of people who visit throughout the year have many reasons to do so: some have traced a connection to someone involved in the trials; some come for the ‘spooky’ factor; others just want to say they’ve been; and the rest discover what a sweet town it is and fall under its spell… (yes, I went there!) which is what happened to me.
In 2016, I was originally scheduled to spend three days throughout the North of Boston Region, with just a few hours in Salem, but the moment I drove down Washington Street I was hooked. Through the generosity of Destination Salem and the Salem Waterfront Hotel I was able to extend my stay to six nights in Salem and I loved every minute of it (and my rental car had a paid vacation because I walked everywhere!). Afterwards, I created the original Destination Guide and it went viral, being picked up by publications and websites around the world.
Updated February 2020: Four years is a long time in the life of a town, so I decided to return and update it, adding new attractions. This time around, I travelled up from Boston on the commuter train (just $8 and 30 minutes) to explore this eminently walkable town on foot.
Updated October 2023: I returned for a one-night stay on my first post-COVID trip to celebrate The USA 50/50 Challenge 10th Anniversary. I’m happy to say that every place listed here survived COVID due to Salem’s fantastic community spirit and the Hampton Inn opened and is doing a roaring trade.
Experience
Founded in 1799 – when the East India Marine Society created a “cabinet of natural and artificial curiosities” – this is the country’s oldest continually operated museum.
The current name comes from their mid-19th century benefactor, George Peabody, and an association with the Essex Institute whose focus was the history of the county. (By the way, it’s pronounced peebadee. Try it and you’ll sound like a local.)
The newer part was designed by starchitect Moshe Safdie and last year it was further expanded. The 1.8 million artefacts include over two centuries of international sailing trade mementos – like the 1950s scale model of the QEII – and a transplanted 200-year-old rural Chinese home, the only complete Qing Dynasty home outside of China. The original East India Marine Hall houses an animated digital projection called Figurehead 2.0, by Charles Sandison, using text and images from 18th century ships logs until January 1, 2022. Open Tuesday–Sunday, year ‘round with some holiday closings.
Dating from 1668, this is New England’s oldest wooden mansion. Officially known as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, it inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne – a relation of the Ingersolls – to set his book here and, in turn, it has been shaped by the international fame of the book.
A tour is included with admission and you’ll learn much about the family and how the house has evolved. The property also holds six transplanted historical buildings and my favourite was the 1655 Retire Beckett House – the oldest standing building in Salem – which holds the cozy Museum Store stuffed to the gills with great products.
Ticket sales for this non-profit museum benefit the community, with school and immigrant education programs. Open year ‘round (except the first two weeks of January and holidays).
This beautiful historic district north of downtown was formerly named the McIntire District for Salem-born Samuel McIntire one of the country’s earliest and most influential architects – but now renamed for its most famous street.
McIntire designed houses that blended European style with New England aesthetic for some of Salem’s wealthiest merchant families. It was and still is the wealthiest area of town with house prices in the millions.
While the whole district is beautiful, Chestnut Street is the standout as it allegedly holds "the greatest concentration of notable pre-1900 domestic structures” in the country, ranging from 1640-1940, with numerous notable Federal Era townhouses owned by merchants and maritime traders from the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
It was the first planned street in the area, being straight and double-wide to accommodate a turning carriage. It was referred to as “Surely one of the most beautiful streets in America,” by author PD James in 1985 and it is pretty spectacular.
Sailing in Salem Sound aboard a yacht is a pretty nice way to spend an afternoon.
When you do it aboard the replica of an 1812 privateer schooner, famed for taking over twenty prizes with only two small cannons and lots of moxie, it takes it to another level. Tall tales are told while you sip their famous Dark 'N' Stormy cocktails.
She sails up to four times a day from mid-May through late October.
This is the only historic house museum on Chestnut Street.
The core of the building is four rooms from an earlier house, which was transported by sled to this spot after a nasty divorce saw the house literally divided!
In 1821, a Federal-style mansion was constructed around it for a sea captain. Almost a century later, Anna Phillips bought the house and had it renovated into the current Colonial Revival style. Today it looks like a comfortable family home, decorated with five generations of international travel souvenirs. Open May–October.
I always recommend that your first activity when arriving in a new place must be a walking tour, any kind, to get the lay of the land and gain perspective.
I took my own advice and, though it was out of season, embarked on the ‘AM Coffee Walk’ with this fun company. Their full food tour includes many restaurants in town and takes several hours, but the shorter tour was a perfect taster for this lovely town and I learned a lot about the geography and history of Salem.
Tours run year ‘round, except major national holidays.
This is the place to get the lowdown on what actually happened during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials.
Salem’s most popular museum presents the trials in a theatrical yet factual and enlightening way.
The current popularity of discovering your ancestry has prompted their very popular, ‘Descendant Packets,’ that detail the lives and trials of all the victims.
Open year ‘round with extended hours in October.
Operating since 2014, this company gives two tours and I chose the daytime ‘History and Hauntings of Salem’ two-hour walking tour.
Our exuberant guide went deep into Salem’s maritime and witch trials history, while showing us places where important moments occurred with a dash of dastardly/ghostly events.
Tours run year ‘round.
For those interested in the spooky and haunted, this 90-minute tour will take you to the places with the most resonance and chill you with stories from the Salem Witch Trials.
The tour sets out from the store ‘Remember Salem’ which is a great place to indulge in all things Harry Potter! They also give day tours for the less gothically inclined.
Tours run rain or shine, year ‘round.
Consume
You’ll find this restaurant inside the former Salem Savings Bank building, the second oldest savings bank in the country (C 1818) and they’ve incorporated the bank’s old fixtures: like the wall of safety deposit box fronts that separates the bar from diners; and sommeliers serving wine from the old vault.
Open for dinner Tuesday–Sunday and weekend brunch, the culinary team under Chef Daniel Gursha make as much in-house as possible, including all of the treats on their famous charcuterie board, right down to the pickles.
The Wild Mushroom Campanelle pasta is the edible equivalent of a warm hug and the inventive house-made Ritz Cracker ice cream defies definition. Salem is richer with this restaurant in the heart of town.
Open Wednesday-Thursday 5-9pm, Friday-Saturday 5-10pm, Sunday brunch 10am-2 pm and dinner 4.30-8.30pm.
Having moved to its newer, bigger and more fabulous location on the water in late 2018, this well-established, award winning restaurant takes seafood to the next level.
Chef Serie Keezer has the most inventive and delicate touch with flavours. Their Buffalo Calamari – yes, you read that correctly – will convert you from wings with one taste, while the Street Corn Shrimp is transcendent and don’t get me started on the heavenly Crème Brûlée. Plus, their sushi chef, Jae, is ready to treat you to the real deal. Divine dining, indeed!
Open Sunday-Thursday 11.30am-12am, Friday-Saturday 11.30m-1am.
Nathaniel’s (inside the Hawthorne Hotel)
This charming restaurant serves lavish breakfasts in a 1920s glamour environment.
Their famous Seafood Benedict has been drawing the crowds for years and in the evening, the venue transforms into a music lounge with live piano or music from a gramophone.
Open for breakfast: Monday-Friday 7.30-11am, Saturday 8am-12pm, Sunday 8am-1pm.
Late night lounge 9pm-12am.
Kakawa is an Olmec word, meaning cacao or chocolate.
This specialty chocolate company is here to introduce us to and educate us on authentic Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican, Mayan and Aztec drinking chocolates, that have been gently adapted to our modern palettes.
This lovely café on Essex Street is a great place to bring the family during a day of sightseeing, with kids loving the milkshakes and house-made ice cream. You can even watch through the window as the artisans create uniquely flavoured chocolates and truffles – some with Hatch chiles from New Mexico, home to the original Kakawa. This is a delicious addition to Salem’s downtown.
Open Thursday-Monday 11am-6pm.
I love a place with a sense of humour.
Theirs starts outside with their signs – “Waffles are just pancakes with abs” – and inside with the menu including ‘sammiches’ and the ‘Benedict Batch.’
All of the tables are supplied with ‘ugly mugs’ donated by patrons and you’re invited to bring one in or buy any that take your fancy. The service is friendly and the portions large, so brings friends or be prepared for leftovers.
With an extensive menu, they are open daily from 7am–3pm.
Red's Sandwich Shop has been proudly serving Salemites since 1945.
Located in the historic London Coffee House (circa 1698) where the Patriots would meet to foment support for the American Revolution.
Now instead of weak ale and big talk, you can get a fabulous breakfast or filling lunch in these historic surroundings.
Open from 7am - 1pm Monday to Saturday, 7am-3pm Sunday.
Purchase
Opened in late 2016, this shop on Lafayette Street has quickly become a local favourite.
As soon as you enter, the smell of cheese – and on ‘Saturdays only’ the gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches – draws you forward to the main counter where Peter, the ‘big cheese,’ can tell you chapter and verse about the goodies therein.
Out of their impressive selection – from cow, goat and sheep – it turns out that their biggest selling cheese is…drum roll, please…an Australian soft blend of goat and sheep milk called ‘Aussie Magic.’ Being an Aussie myself, I’ve never heard of it, but having tried it I can see why it’s a bestseller.
New to blue cheese? Try the Cambozola Black Label, a gateway cheese to get you hooked. They also have a charcuterie bar and a wide selection of gourmet goodies, including select wines chosen for their “organic, biodynamic and natural winemaking.” You can attend their free wine tastings on Friday and Saturday afternoons or one of many events hosted throughout the year, in partnership with other local vendors.
Open Tuesday–Friday 11am-6pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 12-5pm.
This fun and witty shop is in the Wharf District and stocks unexpected treasures for souvenirs or gifts.
You’ll find everything from witty stickers to Wizard of Oz-themed t-shirts and silver charms. This is the kind of shop you enter and the hours disappear while you discover more and more great things. It’s a pretty good bet that you’ll come away with something unique.
Open Monday-Thursday 11am-7pm, Friday-Sunday 10.30am-9pm.
They’ve been making candy here since 1806, when an English window was shipwrecked and washed up on Salem’s shore.
She used her candy making skills to start a new life and produced the first commercially made candy in America, the Salem Gibralter (sic) – a rock candy, geddit? – which proved very popular with sailors as it was long-lasting.
The next proprietor added Black Jacks, a molasses stick candy, to the repertoire. Both of these were invented here and can only be bought here, along with enough chocolates, fudges and candies to satisfy any sweet-tooth… and when Oprah states that the chocolate turtles are her favourites, that's a true seal of approval!
Open daily from 10am-5pm.
Salem has been importing spice directly since 1797.
Then the first load of black pepper arrived from Sumatra in the East Indies (now Indonesia) after a local captain decided to forge a new path, avoiding the English trading monopoly, and sailed all the way to Asia to establish an amicable trade with the locals.
It was so lucrative that more and more ships followed. Salem held the exclusive rights to import pepper and they took advantage of this, reportedly marking the price up by 700% before selling it on, making the many merchants in town the richest in the country.
To this day, the official seal of Salem contains a Sumatran native and a latin motto, Divitis Indiae usque ad ultimum sinum (Indies wealth until the last pocket). Appropriately enough, the shop is located on Pickering Wharf and they sell over 100 natural spices, with a wide variety of blends for your every culinary need.
Open Monday-Wednesday 10am-5pm, Thursday-Sunday 10am-6pm.
Rest
This friendly, maritime-themed hotel with superb staff and lovely rooms
It’s docked on Pickering Wharf and the man at the tiller, Ryan the GM, steers it true.
It’s a very popular wedding and events venue and the onsite Regatta Pub serves great food. The rooms are large and comfortable with nautical decor and excellent beds.
If you drove into town, take advantage of their large parking lot and discover this lovely town on foot.
This is the grandest of the old school hotels in Salem.
Built in 1925, it has been a fixture of the social scene ever since, hosting weddings and events of the who’s who.
Past guests include the great and the good, including Elizabeth Montgomery who stayed here whilst Bewitched was based in Salem for several months in 1970, making this a major stop for fans.
The rooms have old-world style with all the mod-cons. There are two onsite restaurants: Nathaniel’s (above) for breakfast and evening cocktails; and The Tavern a old-school club with oak-panelled walls, wood-burning fireplace and cozy chairs where you can enjoy lunch and dinner.
This is one of the country’s oldest bed & breakfast’s inside one of New England’s oldest homes, C 1667.
The passionate new owners found this treasure online and it quickly became a labour of love, as they gently modernised it while maintaining its historical integrity and charm.
The guest rooms are distinctly different and all have very comfortable, Salem-made Gardner Mattresses. Breakfast is served in the cozy antique parlour.
Sleep in the past, wake in the present.
You can see their fabulous new property, Silsbee’s (below), the grey building to the left and behind the main building.
This fantastic ‘new’ old property has been lovingly and respectfully renovated.
Located just behind The Daniels House Inn, where you take breakfast, Silsbee’s is a luxurious addition to Salem’s accommodation offerings.
Opened during the pandemic, this hotel has 113 rooms, onsite valet parking, restaurants and retail.
It’s the only branded property in Salem – all other accommodations are boutique and/or privately-owned – and they’re very excited to be part of the community.
This guide details all of the things The Packed Bag experienced. Please see Destination Salem for more.