Massachusetts Calendar of Events, Attractions and Hotel Listings

Fun things to do during your Massachusetts Vacation!

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Whether it's a free or budget-friendly event or an upscale attraction, we have a wide variety of Massachusetts event and attractions listings to help with your your Massachusetts trip planning. We look to include local attractions, fairs, festivals, carnivals, town common community events and dinners, local concerts and art exhibits, sleigh rides, hay rides, sporting and recreational events and everything else "Massachusetts." If you have a family-friendly, calendar of events press release you'd like published on VisitingNewEngland.com, please email us and we'll consider it for publication. Please check back often for Massachusetts calendar updates!

Below you will find a sampling of upcoming Massachusetts attractions and events.

 
OUTDOOR SUMMER FUN IN MASSACHUSETTS WITHOUT THE COST
State Offers Wealth of Activities for Under $15.00

Source: massvacation.com.
 
May 15, 2008 (Massachusetts) – A tight budget is no reason for travelers to nix their plans for summer vacation fun. From gardens and museums to Swan Boats and historic forts, Massachusetts travelers can fill their summer afternoons with an endless array of fun activities that will cost next to nothing.
 
Following is a list of free and inexpensive things to do around the state this summer. For discounted lodging rates from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, visit www.massvacation.com/specialOffers/lodging-deals.php.
 
Boston Harbor Islands
The Boston Harbor Islands include 34 islands situated within the Greater Boston shoreline, rich in natural and cultural resources. Explore tide pools, walk through a Civil War–era fort, climb a lighthouse, hike lush trails and salt marshes, camp under the stars or relax while fishing, picnicking or swimming...all within reach of downtown Boston.
Hours: Check Web site for island operating hours
Cost: Ferries cost $14 for adults, $10 for seniors (65+), $8 for children 3–11, and free for children under 3
Boston
www.bostonislands.com
 
Harvard University Arnold Arboretum
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is the oldest public arboretum in North America and one of the world’s leading centers for the study of plants. A unique blend of beloved public landscape and respected research institution, the Arnold Arboretum provides and supports world-class research, horticulture and education programs that foster the understanding, appreciation and preservation of trees.
Hours: Open daily, from sunrise to sunset
Cost: No admission charge but donations are welcome
Jamaica Plain
www.arboretum.harvard.edu
 
Tower Hill Botanic Garden
Tower Hill Botanic Garden is a living museum of plants and features a variety of gardens that include a Lawn Garden, a Secret Garden, a Cottage Garden, a Systematic Garden and, in winter, an Orangerie filled with fragrant, blooming plants. Special shows, tours, lectures and workshops are also available.
Hours: Open year-round, Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Cost: $10 adults, $7 seniors, $5 youth 6–18, free for members and children under 6
Boylston
www.towerhillbg.org

 
Walden Pond
Walden Pond State Reservation includes 462 acres of protected open space so that visitors from near and far may come to experience the pond that inspired Henry Thoreau. In summer, the reservation is a popular swimming destination. In the spring and fall, many people hike the trails that ring the pond and visit the replica of Thoreau’s one-room cabin. Year-round interpretive programs and guided walks are offered as well as a gift shop, bookstore and the Tsongas gallery.
Hours: Open 8:00 a.m. until sunset
Cost: No admission charge; $5.00 parking fee
Concord and Lincoln
www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/
 
The Emerald Necklace
Boston’s Emerald Necklace consists of a 1,100-acre chain of nine parks linked by parkways and waterways. This linear system of parks and parkways was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to connect the Boston Common, which dates from the colonial period, and the 1837 Public Garden along the Muddy River and Leverett, Willow, Ward’s and Jamaica Ponds through the Arnold Arboretum to the great country park, Franklin Park.
Hours: Open year-round
Cost: No admission charge
Boston
www.cityofboston.gov/parks/emerald/
 
The Heritage Museums and Gardens,
The Heritage Museums and Gardens celebrate the American spirit by preserving and sharing the history, industry, art and horticulture of America. Famous for its Dexter rhododendrons that bloom late May into early June, the Heritage Museum and Gardens feature beautifully landscaped grounds, and many of America’s most distinguished artists’ works are on exhibit in the Art Museum. The Art Museum is also the home of the 2008 featured exhibit, A Short Life and Merry: Pirates of New England.
Hours: Open daily, through October 31,10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Cost: $12.00 for adults, $10.00 for seniors (65+), $6.00 children 6–16, free for children 5 and under
Sandwich
www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org/
 
Berkshire Botanical Gardens
The Berkshire Botanical Gardens consist of 15 acres of colorful perennial and annual gardens, herb and rock gardens, pond gardens, ornamental vegetable gardens, arboretum, greenhouse and other specialty collections and a woodland interpretive trail. Educational programs and special events take place year-round, and guided tours are available for groups by appointment.
Hours: Open daily, through October, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Cost: $7 adults, $5 seniors, $5 students, free to children under 12, free to members
Stockbridge
www.berkshirebotanical.org
 
Bridge of Flowers
What started as a trolley bridge in 1908 has been transformed into an unusual garden—the only one of its kind in the world—for visitors to enjoy. Meticulously tended by the Shelburne Falls Women’s Club, the Bridge of Flowers boasts over 500 varieties of flowers, vines and shrubs, which assure visitors a 400-foot span of continual blooming from the pastel tulips of April through the last blazing chrysanthemums in October.
Hours: N/A
Cost: No admission charge
Shelburne Falls
www.shelburnefalls.com/attractions/bridge.html

 
Mt. Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior, recognizing it as one of the country’s most significant cultural landscapes. Founded in 1831, it was the first large-scale designed landscape open to the public in the United States. Today its beauty, historical associations and horticultural collections are internationally renowned.
Hours: Open daily, May through August, 8:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.
Cost: No admission charge
Cambridge
www.mountauburn.org

The Swan Boats
The Swan Boats are as much a part of Boston as the bean and the cod. Famed in the stories Make Way for Ducklings and The Trumpet of the Swan, the Swan Boats are the only boats of their kind in the world. To the delight of the young and old for over 120 years, the Swan Boats have appeared in the Public Garden Lagoon with grace, giving each passenger the opportunity to enjoy the natural splendor provided by the Public Garden’s 24 acres.
Hours: Open through June 20, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Open from June 21 to September 1, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Open from September 1 to September 21, 12:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. weekdays; 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. weekends
Cost: $2.75 adults, $2.00 seniors, $1.50 children 2–15
Boston
www.swanboats.com
 
Glen Magna Farms
Owned by the Danvers Historical Society, Glen Magna Farms was founded in 1889 “to discover, collect and preserve objects which illustrate local history, but particularly the history and development of the Town of Danvers.” Glen Magna Farms survives unrivaled as an estate exemplifying historic North Shore summer living. It typifies the golden age of American gardens when eclecticism and historicism dominated landscape as well as architecture.
Hours: Open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. until dusk
Open Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Cost: No admission charge, but a $2.00 per person contribution is suggested
Danvers
www.glenmagnafarms.org
 
Mytoi Garden
Mytoi (“me’-toi”) is a small Japanese-style garden set within an open pine forest. The garden’s signature feature is a small pond with an island that is reached by walking over an arched bridge. Winding footpaths take visitors through a birch walk, camellia dell, stone garden and hillside garden. A rustic shelter offers broad views of the garden and a chance to become immersed in the meditative qualities of the landscape.
Hours: Open year-round, daily, from sunrise to sunset
Cost: No admission charge but donations are welcome
Martha’s Vineyard
www.thetrustees.org/pages/334_mytoi.cfm

 
World’s End
World’s End is composed of four coastal drumlins—Pine Hill, Planter'’s Hill, and the double drumlins of World’s End proper—all connected by over four miles of walking paths that offer dramatic views of the Weir River, Hingham Harbor and Boston skyline. The reservation’s hills are traversed by tree-lined roads and dotted with tree groves. In between are broad grassy fields that attract butterflies and are managed to provide habitat for grassland-nesting birds.
Hours: Open year-round, 8:00 a.m. until sunset
Cost: Free to members of the Trustees of Reservations and children, $5.00 for nonmember adults
Hingham
www.thetrustees.org/pages/393_world_s_end.cfm
 
The Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism (MOTT) is the state agency dedicated to promoting Massachusetts as a leisure-travel destination in order to stimulate the Massachusetts economy by generating state and local tax revenues, creating jobs, and supporting the growth of travel-related businesses. MOTT serves as a leader in the tourism industry, bringing together the public and private sectors to promote Massachusetts as a leisure travel destination. Tourism is an integral part of the state's economy, generating more than $887.2 million in state and local taxes and $14.2 billion in travel related expenditures. The industry supports 125,800 in-state jobs.
 

A complete list of Massachusetts events, attractions,
outdoor activities, and accommodations is available on our web site: massvacation.com.