For those that have toured Salem, MA - how much time do I need?

jaminmd

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 28, 2008
We are planning a trip to Salem but I'm not sure how many days to plan for. The following are my must-do's, I just don't know how much time each tour will take. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Salem Witch Museum
Peabody Essex Museum
House of the Seven Gables
Witch Dungeon Museum
The Witch House
Salem Trolley
 
Honestly I would do one day, maybe 1.5, and move on to something else. I took my DD last year for a day trip and it just did not seem like the same place I loved to visit on occasion. It has been a good 15 years since I had been there.
 
Hi! I grew up in Peabody, which is the town next to Salem, and I lived in Salem for 3 years; it's the "thing to do" when you get your first apartment! I've never been to/heard of the Witch Dungeon Museum, so can't help you with that OR the Trolley, but I'd think the website (or tripadvisor.com) could give you some info. I can spend most of a day at the Peabody Essex Museum, but I'd plan at least an afternoon. The Salem Witch Museum is a presentation- an hour will probably do it. I'd say maybe an hour to an hour and a half at the Witch House; same with the Gables. I haven't been to either of them in about a decade, but I'd guess that should do it. You also should consider wandering around Derby Street while you are at the Gables; there are some historical buildings there associated with the waterfront, and there used to be a ship moored at the waterfront that you could tour (but I'm not sure it's still there).

And I agree with mtemm... Salem's not really what it used to be. I'd say a half-day for the Peabody Essex Museum and you could do all the other stuff in one day.
 


The witch dungeon museum is much better than the witch museum imho.

Are you coming from far away? How much time were you planning in the area? Would be happy to recommend so other ideas outside of Salem if you are interested.
 
The witch dungeon museum is much better than the witch museum imho.

Are you coming from far away? How much time were you planning in the area? Would be happy to recommend so other ideas outside of Salem if you are interested.
Sure, I'm open to any recommendations. We are in Maryland and we could take up to a week. We will probably drive instead of flying.
 
We just did one day but I will say it was considered one of the highlights of our trip as a whole (was back in July 2013 right around 4th of July). We were staying that year in Plymouth (rather than actually in Cape Cod like the year before) and we drove up to Salem for the day. We did the trolley tour as one of the things we did and we enjoyed that a lot-you get a lot of the history. We spent probably 2 hours in the cemetary just walking around (without a tour) and taking in the history there. I don't think we really did the museums TBH and I think mostly that's because we enjoyed the trolley and the cemetary so much that took over our time.
 


We went last summer on our way home. We drove up the day before from CT, did a whale watch tour, back to hotel, watched the US women's soccer game...we were late, aka the whale watching boat got back late so my dd wasn't happy!

The next morning we drove to Salem since my DH always wanted to go. Parking was simple...parked in the mall. We walked around a bit, didn't go into the shops because we really didn't need any of that stuff. Kids took a picture with Samantha Stevens, aka bewitched and then my DH wanted to go to the Salem witch museum. It was not what we expected. My then 10 year old clung to me since again we didn't know what to expect. She wouldn't leave since I did offer to take her out. The kids liked the gift shop the best! Then we left. I think we were there for about 3-4 hrs.

I do have a friend that loves it, not sure what they do/see but I know they spend a night to get 2 days in.

Defiantly check out trip advisor.

I will say it is very pretty. We went in the morning so it was a bit quieter and I am glad we did as it was getting HOT!
 
I have been twice and it time spent one day. My favorite thing was taking a guided walking tour in the evening.
 

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