Fall Day Trips from Boston

Set out from Boston on a 10-hour motorcoach tour of the New England countryside this fall. The trip includes a stop at an orchard for apples and cider. Book your seat on the Fall Foliage Spectacular tour via Viator.com, priced from $55 including complimentary Boston hotel pick-up.

Book via Viator.com, and Brush Hill Tours will take you out of Boston by bus for a six-hour pilgrimage to Plymouth, Massachusetts, the historic home of the Pilgrims. You'll be on your own to explore Plymouth's waterfront, Plymouth Rock and other historic sites. Monday, Wednesday and Friday departures are available through late October. This day trip is priced from $35 including complimentary Boston hotel pick-up.

Salem, Massachusetts, is just 25 miles north of Boston, and the spooky city where the Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692 is easily accessible via car or MBTA trains. October is a particularly good time to visit Salem--in addition to the town's normal host of bewitching attractions, you'll find a full calendar of Haunted Happenings.

You've probably heard of Stonehenge--that mysterious collection of megaliths (big rocks) over in the old England. But did you know that New England has its own Stonehenge in Salem, New Hampshire, just a 40-minute drive from Boston? Fall is the perfect season for a day trip to this mysterious attraction.

Walden Pond covers 62 acres, but it's really much larger than that. Few bodies of water have celebrity status to rival that of this serene pool in Concord, Massachusetts. 19th-century writer Henry David Thoreau is, of course, responsible for turning the pretty pond into an icon. See photos and learn how you can visit this scenic spot in the fall. It's just a 35-minute car trip from Boston in Concord, Massachusetts.

Old Sturbridge Village is a 200-acre time machine that transports visitors to the early 1800s. Within moments of setting foot inside the complex of historic buildings populated with authentically costumed "interpreters," you can't help but feel immersed in yesteryear. Old Sturbridge Village is the Northeast's largest living history museum, a place where the routines and rituals of a 19th-century New England community play out day after day, season after season. Autumn is harvest season at Old Sturbridge Village, a fascinating and picturesque time for a visit. It's an easy day trip destination from Boston, located just over an hour's drive from the city.

New England's oldest and largest cornfield maze is the 8-acre Mega Maze at Davis' Farmland in Sterling, Massachusetts. Leave Boston behind for a scenic hour and 10-minute drive to this challenging, larger than life puzzle, where you can "get lost" for a while this fall and have loads of fun in the process.

Hyland Orchard & Brewery, located just over an hour's drive from Boston in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, is a fun place for the whole family on weekends in the fall. Through October, Hyland hosts Music in the Fields on select weekends. Check the schedule of live concert performances online or call 508-347-7500, then pack up the kids. They'll enjoy hayrides and the petting zoo. Adults can sample beer in the barn turned brewery. Apples and pumpkins are available for picking.