Massachusetts has no shortage of fun things to do. From museums, to amusement parks to historic houses as well as seasonal attractions like haunted attractions, there’s something for everyone in Massachusetts.
The following is a list of popular tourist attractions in Massachusetts:
Agawam:
Six Flags New England: an amusement park that features thrill rides, shows and activities
Agawam Axe House: an indoor axe throwing range that features 8 throwing lanes and a VIP lounge
Amesbury:
Lowell’s Boat Shop and Museum: a historic 18th century boat shop and museum
Amesbury Carriage Museum: a museum that features a collection of 18th and 19th century carriages
Macy-Colby House: a historic 18th century house
Amherst:
Emily Dickinson Museum: a historic house museum where poet Emily Dickinson lived
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art: a museum about artwork in children’s picture books
Beneski Museum of Natural History: a museum about fossils and minerals
Mead Art Museum: a fine art museum at Amherst College
Barnstable:
Coast Guard Heritage Museum: a museum dedicated to the history of the Coast Guard
Berkley:
Dighton Rock Museum: a small museum that houses the historic Dighton Rock, which is a boulder covered in mysterious petroglyphs
Beverly:
John Hale Farm: a historic 17th century house where Reverend John Hale lived during the Salem Witch Trials
John Balch House: a historic 17th century house that is considered one of the oldest wood-frame houses in America
John Cabot House: a historic 18th century house
Brewster:
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History: a small museum about natural history and archeology
Crosby Mansion: a historic 19th century mansion
Boston:
Dreamland Wax Museum: a wax museum featuring wax figures of celebrities and historical figures
The Mapparium: a three-story stained glass globe built in 1935
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum: a library and museum dedicated to John F. Kennedy
Boston Children’s Museum: a museum dedicated to educating children
Museum of Fine Arts: a fine art museum established in 1870
The Institute of Contemporary Art: an art museum featuring modern art
New England Aquarium: a public aquarium featuring 20,000 animals and fish
Museum of African American History: a history museum about African-Americans in Boston in the 19th century
Museum of Science: a science museum and indoor zoo
Boston Tea Party Museum: a history museum about the Boston Tea Party
Old State House Museum: a history museum about the Old State House and the American Revolution in Boston
Commonwealth Museum: a free museum about the history of Massachusetts
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: an art museum featuring a collection of European, Asian and American art
Paul Revere House: a historic 17th century house where Paul Revere lived during the American Revolution
Fenway Park: a historic baseball park and home of the Boston Red Sox
Warren Anatomical Museum: a historical medical museum that features medical specimens from Harvard Medical School
Brookline:
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site: a historic 19th century house where landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted lived
International Paper Museum: a museum dedicated to the history of papermaking
Larz Anderson Auto Museum: a car museum housed in a historic 19th century carriage house
John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site: a historic early 20th century house where John F. Kennedy was born and raised
Cambridge:
Cooper-Frost-Austin House: a historic 17th century house that is the oldest house in Cambridge
Harvard Art Museums: a series of three art museums, the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler Museums, owned and operated by Harvard University
Hart Nautical Museum: a gallery in the MIT Museum at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard Museum of Natural History: a natural history museum owned and operated by Harvard Museum of Natural History
Longfellow House / Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site: a historic 18th century house
Carver:
Edaville Family Theme Park: an amusement park and heritage railroad
King Richard’s Faire: a renaissance fair held every fall
Chatham:
Marconi-RCA Wireless Museum: a historic short-wave radio station and museum
Chatham Railroad Museum: a historic 19th century train station and locomotive museum
Concord:
Old Manse: a historic 18th century mansion where Concord writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson lived during the 19th century
Orchard House: a historic 17th century house where Louisa May Alcott lived when she wrote Little Women in the 19th century
Concord Museum: a museum about Concord’s history
Ralph Waldo Emerson House: a historic 19th century house where Ralph Waldo Emerson lived
Danvers:
Rebecca Nurse Homestead: a historic 17th century house where Rebecca Nurse lived during the Salem Witch Trials
Glen Magna Farms: a historic 19th century country estate
Judge Samuel Holten House: a historic 17th century house where Sarah Houlten lived during the Salem Witch Trials and where Judge Samuel Holten lived in the 18th century
Dedham:
Fairbanks House: a historic 17th century house that is considered the oldest surviving timber-frame house in North America
Deerfield:
Historic Deerfield: a museum about the history of Deerfield
Indian House Children?s Museum: an interactive history museum for children
Memorial Hall Museum: a history museum established in 1880, making it one of New England’s oldest history museums
Dennis:
Cape Cod Museum of Art: an art museum that features artwork from Cape Cod artists
Duxbury:
Alden House Historic Site: a historic 17th century house where Mayflower pilgrims John and Priscilla Alden lived
Gershom Bradford House: a historic 19th century house where Captain Gershom Bradford lived
King Caesar House: a historic 19th century Federal-style house
Essex:
Cogswell’s Grant: a historic 18th century working farm and farmhouse
Essex Shipbuilding Museum: a maritime museum about the history of the local shipbuilding industry
Lafayette-Durfee House: a historic 18th century house owned by the Durfee family and frequented by Marquis de Lafayatte
Fall River:
Maritime Museum: a maritime museum at Battleship Cove that features memorabilia, artifacts, and ship models
Falmouth:
Highfield Hall and Gardens: a historic 19th century house and estate
Fitchburg:
Fitchburg Art Museum: an art museum featuring artwork by New England artists
Gloucester:
Hammond Castle: a castle built by American inventor John Hays Hammond out of pieces of historic European castles
Sargent House Museum: a historic 18th century Federal-style mansion where feminist writer and philosopher Judith Sargent Murray lived
Cape Ann Museum: an art museum that features artwork by local artists
Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House: a historic turn-of-the-century mansion
Groton:
Bancroft’s Castle: a stone tower built in 1906 by General William Bancroft
Hancock:
Hancock Shaker Village: a former Shaker community and historic site
Harvard:
Fruitlands Museum: a history museum about the former Utopian community that existed in the 19th century
Haverhill:
Winnekinni Castle: a historic 19th century castle built by local chemist Dr. James R. Nichols in the 1870s
Buttonwoods Museum: a museum featuring historic furniture, ceramics, glassware, quilts, dolls and toys as well as Native American artifacts
John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead: a historic 17th century farmhouse were poet John Greenleaf Whittier was later born and raised in the 19th century
Holyoke:
International Volleyball Hall of Fame: a sports museum dedicated to the players, coaches, officials, and leaders who have made significant contributions to the game of volleyball
Children’s Museum at Holyoke: a children’s museum featuring art and exhibits related to science and daily life
Hyannis:
John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum: a historical museum dedicated to the legacy of John F. Kennedy
Cape Cod Central Railroad: a heritage railroad line
Ipswich:
Whipple House: a historic 17th century house
Wolf Hollow: a wolf sanctuary where visitors can watch gray wolves in their natural environment
Castle Hill estate: a historic turn-of-the-century mansion on a sprawling country estate
Heard House Museum: a historic 18th century house
Indian Orchard:
Titanic Museum: a maritime museum dedicated to the history of the RMS Titanic
Lenox:
Frelinghuysen Morris House and Studio: a historic house museum and art studio of American Abstract Artists George L.K. Morris and Suzy Frelinghuysen
The Mount: a historic turn-of-the-century house where writer Edith Warton lived in the early 20th century
Ventford Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum: a historic Jacobean-style mansion built in 1893
Leominster:
Frances H and Jonathan Drake House: a historic 19th century house that served as a stop on the Underground Railroad
Lexington:
Buckman Tavern: a historic 18th century tavern where the local militia gathered before the Battle of Lexington
Hancock-Clarke House: a historic 18th century house where John Hancock and Samuel Adams were staying when Paul Revere arrived to warn them the regulars were coming
Munroe Tavern: a historic 18th century tavern where British soldiers gathered after the Battle of Lexington
Lowell:
Whistler House Museum of Art: a historic 19th century house house where artist James McNeil Whistler was born
American Textile History Museum: a museum dedicated to the history of the textile industry in America
National Streetcar Museum: a museum and heritage railway dedicated to the history of the streetcar
Lynn:
Grand Army of the Republic Museum: a history museum about the Grand Army of the Republic which was a veterans organization for Civil War veterans during the 19th century
Marblehead:
Abbot Hall: a town hall and history museum dedicated local history
Marblehead Museum: a museum dedicated to local history
Jeremiah Lee Mansion: a historic 18th century mansion built by Colonel Jeremiah Lee
Martha’s Vineyard:
Cottage Museum: a museum dedicated to the history of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association and its famous gingerbread cottages
Mashpee:
Old Indian Meetinghouse: a historic 17th century meetinghouse for Native Americans who had converted to Christianity
Cape Cod Children’s Museum: a museum that features interactive play-&-learn exhibits designed for 6-month-olds to 8-year-olds.
Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum: a cultural museum housed in one of the oldest remaining homesteads in Mashpee and features a range of exhibits on the history of the Mashpee Wampanoag Indians
Milton:
Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory & Science Center: a weather observatory tower and science center
Blue Hills Trailside Museum: an interpretive center for the Blue Hills Reservation
Eustis Estate Museum and Study: a historic late 19th century mansion
Forbes House Museum: a historic early 19th century mansion
Milton Art Museum: an art museum that features a collection of fine art, limited prints, sculpture, photography, and Asian art
Monson:
Keep Homestead Museum: a historic farmhouse that features one of the largest collections of antique and vintage buttons in the northeast
Nantucket:
Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum: a maritime museum dedicated to the history of shipwrecks off the Nantucket coast and in Nantucket Sound
Fire Hose Cart House: a history museum that features exhibits and artifacts of firefighting on Nantucket
Mitchell House: a historic 19th century house where astronomer Maria Mitchell lived
African American Meetinghouse: a historic 19th century meetinghouse for the African-American community in Boston
Hadwen House: a historic 19th century mansion
New Bedford:
New Bedford Whaling Museum: a maritime museum dedicated to the history of the whaling industry
New Bedford Art Museum: an art museum featuring local artists
Fort Taber / Fort Rodman Military Museum: a history museum dedicated to the history of Fort Taber and Fort Rodman
Newbury:
Coffin House: a historic 17th century house
Dole-Little House: a historic 18th century house
Newburyport:
Custom House Maritime Museum: a maritime museum housed in a historic custom house
Cushing House Museum and Garden: a historic 19th century mansion
Museum of Old Newbury: a history museum about local history
Newton:
Jackson Homestead and Museum: a historic 19th century mansion that served as a stop on the Underground Railroad
North Oxford:
Clara Barton Birthplace Museum: a historic 19th century house where founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton, was born
North Adams:
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art: an art museum that features contemporary art
Norton:
Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame and Museum: a museum and hall of fame honoring notable golfers
Orleans:
French Cable Station Museum: a historic 19th century cable station and museum that features displays of Atlantic undersea telegraphic cables, instruments, maps and memorabilia.
Peabody:
Elizabeth Cassidy Folk Art Museum: an art museum featuring local folk art
General Gideon Foster House: a historic 19th century house
George Peabody House Museum: a historic 18th century house where entrepreneur, philanthropist George Peabody was born and raised during the 19th century
Nathaniel Felton Houses: a pair of historic 17th century houses where Nathaniel Felton Sr and Jr lived during the Salem Witch Trials
Pittsfield:
Herman Melville’s Arrowhead: a historic 18th century house where author Herman Melville lived during the 19th century
Berkshire Museum: a museum about art, natural history and ancient civilization
Plymouth:
Plimouth Plantation: a living history museum about historic Plymouth colony
Plymouth Rock: a glacial erratic rock where the Mayflower pilgrims where reported to have landed in 1620
Pilgrim Hall Museum: a history museum about the pilgrims and Plymouth colony
1749 Courthouse and Museum: a historic 18th century courthouse that is believed to be the oldest wooden courthouse in America
Harlow Old Fort House: a historic 17th century house where Plymouth colonist Sergeant William Harlow lived
1809 Hedge House Museum: a historic early 19th century house
Jabez Howland House: a historic 17th century house where Plymouth colonists Jabez Howland House
Plimoth Grist Mill: a replica of Plymouth colony’s 17th century grist mill
Mayflower House Museum: a historic 18th century house operated by the Mayflower Society
Richard Sparrow House: a historic 17th century house where Plymouth colonist Richard Sparrow lived and is considered the oldest surviving house in Plymouth
1749 Spooner House: a historic 18th century house
National Monument to the Forefathers: a historic 19th century monument dedicated to the Mayflower pilgrims
Pilgrim Mothers Monument: a monument dedicated to the female Mayflower pilgrims
Provincetown:
Provincetown Museum: a museum featuring exhibits on the region’s cultural & maritime history
Pilgrim Monument: a monument commemorating where the Pilgrims first landed in 1620
Rockport:
The Paper House: a house constructed entirely out of newspaper
Old Castle: a historic 18th century house
Salem:
Salem Wax Museum: a wax museum featuring life-size figures depicting scenes from local history
Salem Witch Museum: a history museum dedicated to the Salem Witch Trials
Salem Witch House: a historic 17th century house where Judge Jonathan Corwin lived during the Salem Witch Trials
The Witch Dungeon: a museum about the Salem Witch Trials that features a replica of the original Salem witch jail
House of Seven Gables: a historic 17th century mansion that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel of the same name
Peabody Essex Museum: a museum that features historical and cultural art, including American, Asian, Oceanic, African art and Asian export art, and two large libraries with over 400,000 books and manuscripts
Pioneer Village: a history museum that features a replica of Salem Village in 1630
New England Pirate Museum: a museum dedicated to the history of pirates in New England
Crowninshield-Bentley House: a historic 18th century house
Gardner-Pingree House: a historic 19th century house
Gedney House: a historic 17th century house that served as a tavern during the Salem Witch Trials
John Ward House: a historic 17th century house that was one of the first colonial-era houses to opened as a house museum
Ropes Mansion: a historic 18th century house where scenes from the 1993 film Hocus Pocus were filmed
Salisbury:
Joe’s Playland arcade: a 100-year-old seaside arcade featuring classic games like ski ball and pinball as well as modern video games
Carefree Arcade: a seaside arcade with classic and modern video games
Salisbury Historical Society Museum: a historic 19th century house that features historical maps, flags, documents, furniture, and Civil War memorabilia.
Sandwich:
Sandwich Glass Museum: a glass museum in Sandwich, Massachusetts, featuring a collection of rare glass
Heritage Museums and Gardens: a public garden that features a collection of specialty gardens and water features
Hoxie House: a historic 17th century house that is considered one of the oldest houses on Cape Cod and one of the oldest surviving houses in Massachusetts
Sheffield:
Colonel John Ashley House: a historic 18th century house where a slaved named Elizabeth “Mum Bett” Freeman worked before successfully suing the state for her freedom in 1781
Shrewsbury:
General Artemas Ward House: a historic 18th century house where Revolutionary War general Artemas Ward lived
Somerville:
Museum of Bad Art: an art museum dedicated to art that is considered ?too bad to be ignored?
Southbridge:
Optical Heritage Museum: a museum that features a collection of microscopes, Lensometers, multifocal and antique spectacles
South Hadley:
Nash Dino Land: a quarry where you can view dinosaur tracks and other fossils
Springfield:
Doctor Seuss Museum: a museum dedicated to Springfield native Theodor Seuss Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: a sports museum and hall of fame dedicated
George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum: an art museum that features the collections of George Walter Vincent Smith
Titanic Museum: a small history museum dedicated to the history of the Titanic
Sturbridge:
Old Sturbridge Village: a living history museum which recreates life in rural New England during the 1790s through 1830s
Stockbridge:
Chesterwood Estate & Museum: a historic 19th century house where American sculptor Daniel Chester French lived
Merwin House: a historic 19th century house that features furnishings of the late 19th century, with period antiques and items collected during world travel
Mission House: a historic 18th century house built by a Christian missionary to the local Mahicans
Naumkeag: a historic 19th century 44-room mansion
Norman Rockwell Museum: an art museum dedicated to the art of Norman Rockwell
Waltham:
Charles River Museum of Industry: a history museum about the American Industrial Revolution
Girl Scout Museum: a history museum dedicated to the history of the Girl Scouts
Gore Place: a historic 19th century country house
Watertown:
Edmund Fowle House and Museum: a historic 18th century house that is considered to be the oldest surviving house in Watertown
Wenham:
Wenham Museum: a history museum that features a large collection of antiques
Weymouth:
Abigail Adams Birthplace: a historic 17th century house where Abigail Adams was born in the 18th century
Jason Holbrook Homestead: a historic 18th century house that is now home to the Weymouth Historical Society
Worcester:
Worcester Art Museum: an art museum that features over 38,000 works of art
EcoTarium: a science and nature museum
Yarmouth:
Edward Gorey House: a house where author and illustrator Edward Gorey lived which now serves as a museum celebrating his life and work
For more info on Massachusetts, check out our Massachusetts travel guide.
Sources: “200 Things to Do Throughout Massachusetts.” Boston.com, Aug 10. 2017, www.boston.com/travel/travel/2017/08/10/200-things-to-do-in-massachusetts