Going to Salem during spooky season has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and my husband and I finally decided that this was the perfect year to make our trek to Salem during October! It was absolutely incredible - I couldn’t recommend it highly enough! See below for ideas on how to spend a perfect day in Salem!

Take the Ferry from Boston:

During our time in Massachusetts, we stayed in Boston for 3 nights and took a day trip to Salem. If you’re interested in what we did in Boston, you can read my blog post here! From Boston, Salem is only about a 25 minute drive or train ride. However, during the summer and early fall, you can take the ferry! We decided we wanted to try both, so we took a ferry one way to Salem, and then took an Uber back to Boston at the end of the day. The ferry captain told us some of the history of the area as we sailed to our destination, and the views were incredible. In total, the ferry took about 50 minutes and cost roughly $30 per person. It also drops you off at a very convenient location in Salem, right near the House of the Seven Gables and several restaurants and shops. Ferry tickets can be purchased online here if you are interested!

Walk through history at the Witch House:

The Witch House at Salem is the former home of Judge Jonathan Corwin and is one of the few structures you can visit in Salem with direct ties to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Jonathan Corwin, along with many others, was involved in the accusations, arrests and trials that took place for the 20 victims. The house is packed with artifacts and copies of legal documents from the trials that give you insight into life back then and some of the events that occurred during that period. During the month of October, same day tickets are released at 8am and they sell out quickly. Be sure to set a reminder so that you can snag tickets before they’re all gone for the day! Also, be sure to snap some photos in front of the house - it’s one of the best photo ops in Salem!

Stroll down Essex Street:

Essex Street is where you can find most of the shops, restaurants and the best people watching! Especially during the month of October, you’ll see street performers, people in costumes, live music and more. Wandering down this lively thoroughfare was one of the most memorable parts of our day in Salem!

Pay respects to the 20 Witch Trials victims at the Salem Witch Trials Memorial:

Each of the 20 victims are remembered in this beautiful, yet somber memorial. Each victim is memorialized by a large granite stone carved with their name and the date and manner in which they were executed. Many people choose to pay their respects by leaving flowers, seashells and other items on the stones.

Snap a photo of the Bewitched Sculpture:

This sculpture makes a great photo opp, and is located right on Essex Street, in the middle of tons of great shops and restaurants!

Look at neighborhood house decorations:

Salem residents go ALL OUT for the month of October. We had a wonderful time strolling through the neighborhoods and admiring all of the spooky decorations on each of the houses!

Buy candy at Ye Olde Pepper Candy Companie:

Be sure to make a stop at this candy store, which in fact is the oldest in the U.S. and has been in operation 1806! Grab some Halloween themed candy or some of their famous Gibralters to take with you!

Visit Thackery Binx’s house in Pioneer Village:

Pioneer Village is a living history museum that reimagines what Salem may have looked like in 1630, and is also one of the filming locations from Hocus Pocus! It has a $5 admission fee, and, like the Witch House, gives you a good idea of what life in 1600s Salem would have been like. We spent quite a bit of time wandering through the village, going into each of the dwellings, learning the history and snapping photos - it was one of my favorite parts of the day!

Get an Aura Reading at Ascend:

One of the coolest things we did in Salem was getting our aura photos taken at Ascend! To get your photo taken, you can either make a reservation online, or you can do a walk in appointment. We did a walk in appointment, and only had to wait a few minutes. :) It is a quick and simple process, and once your photo is finished developing, you receive a reading of your photo and what the different colors shown represent. Each of our readings were incredibly accurate and we loved how our photos turned out so much, we ended up framing them when we returned home!

Buy some witchy souvenirs:

Witch Village, Ascend and Witch City Consignment are only a few of the many stores in Salem that we were able to check out. Other shops that we didn’t get a chance to visit include Hex, Emporium 32, Witch City Wicks, BlackCraft and Black Veil Shoppe of Drear & Wonder. I bought a cute witch hat at Witch City Consignment, and can’t wait to wear it on Halloween this year. :) Be sure to shop around and load up on souvenirs that you can only buy in Witch City!

Eat dinner at Ledger:

Ledger is one of the best restaurants in Salem, and the perfect place to grab dinner after a long day of exploring. I would recommend trying the Painkiller and Devlish Diva from their cocktail menu, as well as the Radiatori Bolognese from their dinner menu - simply delicious!

You can’t visit Salem without seeing at least a few of the Hocus Pocus Filming Locations! Click the links below to see where in Salem each of these are located:

Old Town Hall (Where the Halloween party takes place and the Sanderson sisters perform their musical number “I Put a Spell on You”)

Max and Dani’s house (No explanation needed!)

Ropes Mansion (Allison’s house)

Salem Common (Where Max and Allison talk after school)

Salem Pioneer Village (Where Thackery Binx is shown to live at the very beginning of the movie)

Phillips Elementary School (Max and Allison’s school)

Old Burial Hill Cemetery (Where Max gets his shoes stolen by his two not so nice classmates)

It’s almost impossible to squeeze in all things Salem in just one day! Because of this, we really had to pick and choose what we did during our time there. Here are a few of the things we didn’t have time to do but are very popular:

Salem Witch Museum: I’ve heard mixed reviews on the Witch Museum. It’s pretty hard to get tickets (you have to purchase them at midnight on the day you want to go) and from the Google reviews, it sounds like some people love it and others hate it. We decided to skip it because of this, but if we had more time in Salem, I probably would have checked it out.
The House of the Seven Gables: I also would have liked to take a tour of this famous house, but we unfortunately didn’t have time. It is best known as the setting for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 novel, and I’ve heard great things about it!
Salem Common: We barely scratched the surface of this large park loaded with vendors, food trucks and more. Again, if we’d had more time, I would have loved to do some shopping, eating and more people watching here!
I’ve also heard good things about the Peabody Essex Museum and the Witch Dungeon Museum, among many others. Because there is so much to see and do in Salem, you’ll definitely want to do some of your own research before you go!

Tips for visiting during October:

October is the busiest time of the year in Salem, so I can’t stress enough how important it is to choose your top few attractions and research their open days/times/when and how to purchase tickets. Make notes of days and times that attractions are open, and when tickets go on sale so you can be prepared as soon as they do go on sale. For example, the Salem Pioneer Village is only open from 12-4pm on weekend days from June through October, and the Witch House only offers same day tickets that go on sale at 8am.
I tried to group activities together based off of where they were located. For example, the Salem Pioneer Village and Max & Dani’s house are located very close to each other, but both are about a 30 minute walk from the rest of the Salem attractions. I would recommend creating a Salem list on Google Maps and adding the sites/restaurants/shops you’d like to visit to that list. This will help you determine where everything is located, so that you can group activities together and make the most of your time in Salem. :)
Download the Destination Salem app before you go. It is a great resource for everything Salem - including events, parking options, weather and more!
Dress for the elements. Everyone wants to look cute for Salem photos (including me!), but if the weather looks like it may be rainy or cold, I would highly recommend bringing a coat, warm shoes, beanie, umbrella, etc.
Again, October is the busiest time of year in Salem. The city is packed to the brim with lines outside of every store, restaurant and attraction. You’ll have to be a bit patient, but you’ll still have an amazing time!