“It’s all just a bunch of hocus pocus.” – Hocus Pocus movie
Salem, Massachusetts is known for its dark and mysterious past with the infamous Salem Witch Trials. This charming town draws in hundreds of thousands of travelers every year, especially during the fall months of the spooky season (mid September thru October). Get ready to go on a journey through the bewitching streets of Salem, uncovering some of its history, exploring modern culture, and discovering some of the best attractions.
My girlfriends and I decided to plan a last minute trip to Salem, MA for a weekend getaway. We miraculously found an Airbnb outside of Salem in Beverly, MA. I say miraculously because usually September thru October everything is booked up in and around the Salem area. I have heard from others that if you want to visit Salem during the spooky season, you will need to start looking/planning/reserving hotels/Airbnbs almost a year in advance because there are so many people interested. Our stay was the first weekend in October, because we were hoping to beat most of the crowds.
When planning your trip to Salem, MA there are several things to consider. The first being when you want to visit and where you are going to stay. Like I mentioned, things get booked up pretty fast during the fall, make sure to have a plan and check hotels/Airbnbs in the area for openings. Once you have your time and place figured out, you will next want to consider transportation. Since this is such a popular spot, driving in and around Salem can get chaotic. The first time I visited Salem, was mid October of 2017. We stayed in a hotel about 30 minutes away and drove to Salem ourselves. There was not a single parking spot to be had at 8am. I remember we had to walk awhile before reaching the downtown area (which isn’t bad if you enjoy walking like me). This time, we drove to the Airbnb and then Ubered into town to save ourselves the hassle of having to find and pay for parking.
The streets of Salem have so much to offer, so make sure you have your walking shoes! There are many shops and restaurants to check out while you are walking along Essex Street. If you go during the Halloween season, there will be local vendors with tents set up with different items. A couple of my friends got these super cute ghost candles from one of them. There were also quite a few offering witches hats and elf ears.
If it is crowded, many of the attractions and shops will have lines of people waiting to go in. The Salem Witch Museum is one of the attractions you can buy tickets for in advance. The Witch Museum shows two short presentations of what happened in 1692. For the tickets, they are only available the day of. Tickets go on sale at midnight each night and there are showings about every thirty minutes. Tickets are non-refundable and times cannot be changed. Pricing for the show was $17.50 for adults and $14.50 for children under the age of 14. The presentations were interesting and something you should at least do once while visiting Salem.
Another popular attraction is the Witch House. This always has a long line! My friends and I waited about an hour and a half in line to go in. We were able to purchase tickets once we were inside ($9.00), but the website does say in the month of October tickets must be purchased online. This is a self guided tour. You can walk around the house that has direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692. Throughout the house there are plaques with information about furniture, clothes, plants, and other artifacts from the time period. Personally, I think this was worth the long wait. I thought it was pretty cool to walk through the house and see the history it holds. The front of the house is also an iconic photo stop. Once you have completed your tour of the house, you exit out the front door, the perfect location for a photo op.
If you are a Hocus Pocus fan, then you will want to check out these locations for photo ops. The first is The Ropes Mansion aka Alison’s House on 318 Essex St. The first time I visited we were able to walk through the inside of the mansion, but since COVID, inside tours are unfortunately not available at this time. Instead, the grounds are open to visitors and there is a beautiful garden in the backyard.
Another Hocus Pocus stop on Essex Street is Max and Alison’s School, Jacob Bailey High School. It is located on 86 Essex Street. The school closed in the 90s but it is still cool to walk by and snap a picture. Another popular spot is Town Hall. It is located off Essex Street on 32 Derby Street. This is where the Sanderson Sister sang I Put a Spell On You during the Halloween party.
Max and Dani’s house is located about mile outside of town. I didn’t visit this location as it is a private residence and I won’t post the address out of respect for the family that currently resides there. If you do choose to look it up and see this location, please be respectful to the locals, the properties, and their boundaries.
The Salem Common was also featured in Hocus Pocus. It is a large park with a playground, lots of grass space, and gazebo. During my visit there was actually a zombie run taking place and this was the starting point for the race. There were so many people dressed up like zombies. It was fun to watch! There were also more vendors set up around the perimeter of the park. There was a little bit of everything from food trucks, to homemade items, and clothing.
Next to the Common, there is the Hawthorne Hotel. This is a historic building and one of the most popular places to stay in Salem. There was a vampire ball happening the night we were in town. There were so many people dressed up and you could hear the music thumping from the Salem Common. It sounded like a good time.
One of the highlights of the trip was the ghost tour we signed up for. We went with Witch City Walking Tours and signed up for the Mysteries and Murders of Salem. It was a walking tour with a guide that took us around to different locations around town and told stories of things that happened there and things people experience to this day inside. Hearing about some history outside of the witch trials was interesting and it is definitely worth it! One of the first stops on the tour, our guide was telling us a story and said some people report the chandeliers swinging on their own out of nowhere. Well, I just happened to look behind the guide and look at the chandeliers and wouldn’t you know it, there was one chandelier that was swinging. I started tapping my friends and motioning them to look. It could have been something else causing it to happen or it could have been made to swing for the purpose of the ghost tours, but it gave everyone in the group a thrill. These tours book up fast so make sure to reserve your spot in advance!
You can always do a self-guided tour too! Looks up all the things to see around town and hit them all on your own time! The cemetery was pretty cool to see. There were little stone benches around with the names of the people who were charged as witches. There were little tokens, flowers, and letters left on some of them for people walking by to admire. The letters were really interesting! Some of them were from actual descendants.
There is more to Salem than Essex Street to see and do things. You can walk down by the water and find more shops and museums. It was fun walking around and admiring the architecture of the buildings and homes. There is also coffee shop down here that I will tell you more about!
Now that we’ve discussed places to stay and things to do, let’s talk about food! There are so many options for places to eat in Salem. We had a late breakfast/early lunch, brunch if you want to call it that, at Fountain Place Restaurant. It is located at 232 Essex Street. There was a long line and we did wait about thirty minutes, but the service was quick and the food was good. In this moment, I do not remember what I ordered, but I know I didn’t have any complaints about it. For an afternoon snack, we went to Jaho. It is this cute coffee shop that has an array of drinks and food. You can also get your drink with alcohol if you wanted a little extra something. This coffee shop is where I had my first ever pumpkin spice latte and it did not disappoint. With my PSL I got a giant chocolate chip cookie. For drinks, dinner, and dessert, we went to Longboards. Since I was in New England and next to the ocean, I decided to try something new and expand my palate. I was never a seafood person, but decided to start trying new things over the last couple of years. Since it had been cold and rainy throughout the day, I ordered New England clam chowder soup. It was really good! I get a lot of comments that Manhattan clam chowder is better, what do you think?
Longboards also had this interesting shot on their menu called the scorpion shot. It consisted of a shot of tequila and a scorpion. If you did the shot, you got a t-shirt. My friends and I watched a few people around the restaurant take this shot. I’m not going to lie, I gagged watching it happen. But in the end me and two of my friends ended up taking one. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be and it kind of tasted like fried chicken.
The most important thing to remember is to be respectful and patient if you are visiting during spooky season. The locals do not like all the tourists infiltrating their town. Even though the spooky season might seem like the best time to visit this historic town, outside of the spooky season can be fun as well. Consider that option if you want to skip the lines and crowds of people.
Have fun out there & stay spooky! 👻
The Venturesome Introvert 