Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Salem at Halloween!

40 replies

cooolio · 30/09/2022 22:34

Yes, we've just watched Hocus Pocus 2 and now the kids want to go to Salem at Halloween. Not this year as we are already booked up.

Has anyone been? Should we aim to stay in Salem? Are there Halloween events on in the week leading up to it? We'd probably go for around 11 nights, Boston and Salem. Any tips welcome! 🎃

OP posts:
Cupcakegirl13 · 30/09/2022 22:39

Don’t light the candle on All Hallows’ Eve if you’re a virgin 😜

CwtchWithMam · 30/09/2022 22:41

I went to Boston and Salem in the summer a few years ago...loved it. I can't give any Halloween themed recommendations but both places are great to visit. Lots of history and plenty of things to do. Plus travel between the two is quick, cheap and easy on the train.

Original poster
cooolio · 30/09/2022 23:08

"Don’t light the candle on All Hallows’ Eve if you’re a virgin 😜"

That ship has sailed 😅. Yes, planning to travel between the two on the train and avoid car hire faff.

OP posts:
Skelligsfeathers · 30/09/2022 23:13

Boston is fab. Honestly , Salem is a day if you're being generous with your time. It is a normal, modern town with witches basically . Lots of shops selling tarot cards and stuff.

RampantIvy · 30/09/2022 23:17

We holidayed in New England, taking in Boston and Salem the week before Halloween. Salem has quite a lot of interesting history, but the town does tend to overegg the witch stuff.

Everywhere had Halloween decorations, and our taste buds got a little jaded from places adding cinnamon to as many foods as they could.

Howabsolutelyfanfuckingtastic · 01/10/2022 13:48

Sorry to derail this post but just looking for advice. Is hocus pocus 2 ok for children? Someone told me it's 12+ and i was going to watch it tonight with some of my children (the youngest who would watch it with us is age 6.5). I'd be grateful for opinions from people who have watched it already 🧙🏻‍♀️🧟🎃☠️🕯🕷

FrownedUpon · 01/10/2022 13:52

Salem is a bit disappointing. It had a really weird vibe & I was glad to leave. Lots of tacky witch & tarot themed shops. Boston was great though.

Carrieonmywaywardsun · 01/10/2022 14:03

Howabsolutelyfanfuckingtastic · 01/10/2022 13:48

Sorry to derail this post but just looking for advice. Is hocus pocus 2 ok for children? Someone told me it's 12+ and i was going to watch it tonight with some of my children (the youngest who would watch it with us is age 6.5). I'd be grateful for opinions from people who have watched it already 🧙🏻‍♀️🧟🎃☠️🕯🕷

DD is 8 and loved it. Nothing too scary, as long as your youngest is aware there are witches, spells, a zombie type character etc they should be alright 🎃

Lysianthus · 01/10/2022 14:21

Salem is 50 minutes by coach from Boston. Boston is great! Concordcoachlines.com for more details. Coaches are super reliable and great way to see the area.

Howabsolutelyfanfuckingtastic · 01/10/2022 14:38

@Carrieonmywaywardsun thank you very much for replying. They'll be fine if it's similar to the first, they've watched that one but that's a PG rating so i was wondering what's in this new one to make it a 12+ age rating. Looking forward to watching it later 😁

JenniferBarkley · 01/10/2022 15:44

DH lived in Boston for a couple of years, my favourite trip to visit him was in early October.

We got the ferry to Provincetown for a weekend which was lovely, and did a day trip to Salem on the train. Glad I've been to Salem but at the same time it wasn't all that.

Boston is fabulous.

Kote · 01/10/2022 15:53

Another vote for Salem being disappointing. Not worth the trip IMO.

Original poster
cooolio · 01/10/2022 15:55

Ok, will keep Salem as a day trip or one overnight I think. Thanks

OP posts:
HauntersGonnaHaunt · 01/10/2022 15:57

Howabsolutelyfanfuckingtastic · 01/10/2022 14:38

@Carrieonmywaywardsun thank you very much for replying. They'll be fine if it's similar to the first, they've watched that one but that's a PG rating so i was wondering what's in this new one to make it a 12+ age rating. Looking forward to watching it later 😁

80s and 90s PGs are very different to today's PGs. If Hocus Pocus came out now it would definitely be a 12A.

Peridot1 · 01/10/2022 15:58

Went to Boston a few years ago and went to Salem for day. We went by boat and came back by train. We quite liked it. It’s pretty touristy. They do go all out with decorating houses so we spent a bit of time wandering around looking at houses off the main streets. People kept stopping g us to see if we were lost. I suspect they preferred tourists to stay in the centre.

Went with my sisters and tow of us are quite into history so really enjoyed that aspect.

Sherk · 01/10/2022 16:03

I went at Halloween a few years ago and agree with others that Salem was nice to see, and an easy trip from Boston, but a day was enough. Could have stretched to an overnight stay but I dread to think of what the prices would have been!

Original poster
cooolio · 01/10/2022 16:06

I'll probably do the boat trip there, an overnight and train back to Boston.

Is there enough to do in Boston to fill almost a couple of weeks or should I be considering splitting our time between Boston and somewhere else?

OP posts:
Sleepyquest · 01/10/2022 16:07

I went on Halloween completely unplanned. A once in a lifetime experience, was great but very very busy and finding a parking spot nearly broke us 😂

Sherk · 01/10/2022 16:11

Was also going to say, not sure I could drag out a trip to Boston to almost 2 weeks. We were there for a week including day trip to Salem and found it plenty of time.

BirdinaHedge · 01/10/2022 17:08

Salem is a very interesting town & an easy metro ride from Boston.

But the emphasis on witches in Salem is hugely distasteful. Really really awful. The 12 women & 8 men murdered as witches were not witches; it was a series of political killings, and almost all of the witch "sights" are immensely disrespectful to their memory. The only place worth going to for any person of any sort of respect for their fellow human beings is the small & unassuming memorial to the 20 people murdered as witches which is by the larger cemetery. Each stone names the dead person.

What is really interesting is to walk away from this gross commercialisation of murder of innocent people, down to the old harbour area of Salem, and do a tour of Nathaniel Hawthorn's house, and other historic houses in Salem. The docents there are very knowledgeable.

Stay in Boston & go to Concord - see the house of Louisa May Alcott. Far more healthy than the rubbish at Salem.

BirdinaHedge · 01/10/2022 17:10

Also from Boston - Provincetown is fun, and other locations on Cape Cod. From Boston, there's Cambridge with lots of historic houses & tours of Harvard. And Boston is a 3 hour train ride from NYC, so you could do both cities over 2 weeks.

Original poster
cooolio · 01/10/2022 17:32

Thanks, we have been to NYC but in the summer so I suppose it might be nice to return in the colder months.

I don't think we would want more than 5 nights in Boston and 1 night in Salem so that leaves me with 6/7 nights to fill.

OP posts:
Whycanineverever · 01/10/2022 17:37

We are planning a New York and Boston trip next October and hoping for a day in Salem. Like the idea of boat one way. There is a visit Salem Facebook page.

pollina · 01/10/2022 17:42

Totally agree with your post @BirdinaHedge . The thought of Salem being some kind of witchcraft theme park to visit at Halloween is really pretty disrespectful to the memories of the murdered. We also enjoyed Lexington, Concord and many of the Revolutionary war sites in the area (Boston Freedom trail is excellent for this). And pretty much anywhere you are, Americans will make a big deal of Halloween.

Original poster
cooolio · 01/10/2022 18:17

I get what you're saying but I've never looked at it as a witchcraft theme park. I understand completely being from the place the Pendle Witches were tried and killed.

The kids watched hocus Pocus and want to go at Halloween for the decorations. Hardly makes them ghouls, scuse the pun.

OP posts: