Best Day Trips from Boston: Cape Cod, Salem & Newport

Boston sits at the top of the US northeast corridor — within 1-2 hours of some of New England's finest destinations: the Cape Cod National Seashore, the witch-trial history of Salem, and the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, Rhode Island.

Salem (30 minutes by commuter rail)

Famous for the 1692 witch trials — and now a year-round destination with genuinely excellent history museums. Peabody Essex Museum (world-class American maritime art), Witch Museum, and the Salem Heritage Trail. At Halloween, the entire city transforms — book months ahead if visiting October.

Cape Cod (1.5-2 hours by bus/car)

A 70-mile peninsula curving into the Atlantic — the definitive New England summer destination. Provincetown (the tip, with the Pilgrim Monument and celebrated LGBTQ+ scene), Chatham (charming village, seal colony), and the Cape Cod National Seashore (40 miles of protected ocean beach). Plymouth is en route — where the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

Newport, Rhode Island (1.5 hours)

The Gilded Age summer playground of America's Vanderbilt-era wealthy. Tour the Breakers or Marble House mansions (from $25). The Cliff Walk (free, 3.5 miles) skirts the ocean edge of the mansion estates.