SALEM

Salem (aka “Witch City”) is the location of our welcome party and a larger city with far more lodging and dining options. The downtown area is very walkable; highlights include Pickering Wharf and Front Street. Worth a visit. Boat tours of the harbor are also available.

FOOD & DRINK

Salem is a city with plenty of places to wine and dine. Some favorites are listed below.

Unlike Marblehead, Salem has many good breakfast spots. Our favorite is Red’s Sandwich Shop.
Our favorite restaurant in Salem is Passage to India, a great Indian place on Washington Street near the Derby.
For seafood, the Clam Shack in Salem Willows has great fish in a beautiful setting. Skee-ball is accessible at the Willows arcade.
Even after living in New York for a decade, the first breakfast back home always involves a trip to Bagel World on Canal Street. You can thank me later. —SR

ART & HISTORY

There are plenty of museums and historic sites in Salem that have nothing to do with witches.

The cultural jewel of Salem is the Peabody Essex Museum, an internationally renowned art & maritime history museum featuring rotating exhibits and a permanent Chinese house (pictured above). We can’t recommend a trip to the PEM strongly enough.
The House of the Seven Gables and the Nathaniel Hawthorne Statue pay tribute to Salem’s most famous author.
Salem Maritime National Historic Site consists of several colonial and early American buildings, most notably the Custom House featured in The Scarlet Letter and a replica of The Friendship, an 18th century merchant ship now operated as a museum.

WITCH STUFF

But yes, the history is mostly witches. The Salem Witch Trials put Salem on the map in 1692. While October is the high season for local witchcraft, all sites remain open year-round.

The Witch House is the only remaining structure from the period of the trials themselves; if you’re doing one witch activity, pick this one.
Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery is a neat horror museum. Good for kids.
The Salem Witch Museum has the most detail about the history of the witch trials.
The Salem Witch Trial Memorial memorializes the victims of the Salem Witch Trials.
The Salem Wax Museum has wax sculptures of witches.