What town to stay in while visiting the area..... (Boston: rentals, hotels)

[Emma2]

Hi! My husband and I (and our 2 dogs) are planning a trip to the Boston area (this fall) and I was hoping for any advice/input on what town we should stay in during our visit.

I am thinking we should stay north of Boston as we will only be going into Boston 1 day and the other few days we plan to visit some points of interest in Old Salem, Marblehead, Gloucester and Portsmouth, NH. We were hoping to find a place sort of close to those areas as a "home base" during our visit. Most importantly I am interested in a nice safe area as we will be walking our dogs.

We also love great restaurants so please feel free to include any of your favorites.


Thank you very much for any help!

[brightdoglover]

I think Salem would be a great jumping off place. I'd check TripAdvisor for B&Bs or pet-friendly hotels (are there many?). As for restaurants, that completely depends on budget and how often you want to be around Boston/Cambridge. Salem has some very good Portuguese and other ethnic restaurants, although specifics escape me. Again, I'd use Trip Advisor.

Maybe people up north-way can suggest restaurants in Gloucester, where I haven't been for a while. But you'd better nail down your lodging now, not later, given the tourist rush in the fall. October is magical in the whole area, enjoy your stay!

[Emma2]

Thank you very much brightdoglover, I appreciate your advice. I'll check out Salem.

We travel with our dogs most of the time and if there isn't a pet friendly hotel we have always (knock wood) had great luck with private rentals from places like vacation rental by owners..etc.

As for restaurants we are pretty open on the budget. We enjoy trying local favorites, food that is fresh, local, farm to table type. We have been in little restaurants in the most casual of clothes (where your shoes might stick to the floor in places) eating a piece of pie so delicious you could barely see straight. In that same spirit we will get dressed up and go to an expensive restaurant on vacation as well, as long as the food is amazing, we are open. I do know we will be looking for amazing lobster rolls, be it out of a food truck/stand/fancy restaurant.

[brightdoglover]

Then I'd chef Trip Advisor for best restaurants in Gloucester and Rockport, at least for lobster rolls. Don't know about farm to table except a couple of fine places way southwest of Salem.

[wolfgang239]

Fish chowder at The Causeway in Gloucester is the best I've ever had. Cool little joint next to a liquor store where you can bring byob supplies from.

[in_newengland]

Gloucester--http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g41580-d518356-r230917905-Halibut_Point_Restaurant-Gloucester_Cape_Ann_Massachusetts.html --Halibut Point has delicious meals and the atmosphere is great too. Former home of locally famous seaman Howard Blackburn.

Rockport--if it's still open in the fall, walk way out to the end of Bearskin Neck and get something like fish and chips or just a delicious hotdog at Top Dog. Not fancy, you eat outside at picnic tables but very yummy and the ocean is all around you. There's another cute little place on the left as you walk out toward the end, can't remember the name but on a cool day it's a warm place and the food is good. Bearskin Neck is A LOT of fun shopping and cute boutiques--spend the day.

There are lots of B&Bs in Rockport and you are right next to Gloucester, not too far north of Salem, close to Ipswich and Essex. Essex is famous for fried clams, if you like them, and Ipswich has The Clam Box which is also famous--the shop looks like a clam box.

These are all in the Cape Ann area, not to be missed.

Salem--great eating all over the place, especially Passage to India, which is famous.

These are merely a few...........

[johngolf]

In the fall, Rockport would work. A unique place in itself but also allow you to galavant around from Portsmouth NH to Boston.

[brightdoglover]

I think there are very nice B&Bs in Ipswich, which is convenient to Salem and the North Shore towns. Dunno about the dogs!

[Emma2]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

Fish chowder at The Causeway in Gloucester is the best I've ever had. Cool little joint next to a liquor store where you can bring byob supplies from.

Thank you wolfgang for the recommendation!

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Gloucester--http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g41580-d518356-r230917905-Halibut_Point_Restaurant-Gloucester_Cape_Ann_Massachusetts.html --Halibut Point has delicious meals and the atmosphere is great too. Former home of locally famous seaman Howard Blackburn.

Rockport--if it's still open in the fall, walk way out to the end of Bearskin Neck and get something like fish and chips or just a delicious hotdog at Top Dog. Not fancy, you eat outside at picnic tables but very yummy and the ocean is all around you. There's another cute little place on the left as you walk out toward the end, can't remember the name but on a cool day it's a warm place and the food is good. Bearskin Neck is A LOT of fun shopping and cute boutiques--spend the day.

There are lots of B&Bs in Rockport and you are right next to Gloucester, not too far north of Salem, close to Ipswich and Essex. Essex is famous for fried clams, if you like them, and Ipswich has The Clam Box which is also famous--the shop looks like a clam box.

These are all in the Cape Ann area, not to be missed.

Salem--great eating all over the place, especially Passage to India, which is famous.

These are merely a few...........

Thank you for all the great info in_newengland! I will add those food recommendations to our list and check out places to stay in Rockport as well as Salem.

Originally Posted by johngolf

In the fall, Rockport would work. A unique place in itself but also allow you to galavant around from Portsmouth NH to Boston.

Thanks johngolf! Appreciate the advice and have added Rockport to our list of possible places to stay.

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

I think there are very nice B&Bs in Ipswich, which is convenient to Salem and the North Shore towns. Dunno about the dogs!

Thank you brightdoglover!

[Emma2]

Thanks again for all the great info. From all the posts above it seems like Salem and Rockport are safe places to stay and would be good locations for us and the towns we are visiting! A neighbor recommend Marblehead (saying a friend vacationed there and loved it) but she has never been herself, so I appreciate all the help from those of you in the know!