The New England Diaries

A few weeks before my 21st we headed to Boston for a week and had the most magical, celebratory time! It was a snowy wonderland and we truly experienced the beauty of a New England Winter.

We stayed in the heart of the city and enjoyed how easy it was to walk around to restaurants, shops and sites. Although it was freezing, the snowy pavements and Boston Common just made everything look so magical!

There's so much to see in the city including lots of restaurants and coffee shops, the lovely Newbury Street with boutiques in town houses, the Boston Common park and much more. Just walking around this city is a beautiful day in itself as there's some great architecture and historical buildings all around.

Highlights of this trip included walking the Freedom Trail, visiting Salem and the witch museum, visiting the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Concord and Louisa May Alcott's house, and driving over to Newport in Rhode Island.

Salem was a great experience, and the town truly had a magical feel to it. From witchy themed shops selling books, crystals, and gifts, to the Salem Witch Museum, you can everything about the history of this infamous town. The museum is an immersive and informative tour into Salem's past, and definitely worth visiting.

Concord is a quaint little town not far from Boston and is known for being the home of many American authors, such as Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne. You can visit Sleepy Hollow Cemetery which is the resting place for these literary greats, as well as visit their houses. The Main Street in Concord offers quaint cafes, antique stores, and the cutest bookshops I have ever seen. I could have spent a whole day just browsing and walking in Concord, and so I highly recommend it when visiting Boston or the surrounding area.

Louisa May Alcott's house, called 'Orchard House', is a museum dedicated to the Alcott family, and her famous Little Women. The majority of Alcott's house is still in tact from the time she lived there, with many of the family's own objects and artwork still in cabinets and on the walls. It's truly surreal walking through the rooms where this literary great once lived and wrote some of the best novels of all time, and to experience some of the family atmosphere that was such a huge part of her life. Some scenes of the Greta Gerwig film adaptation were even filmed in the school house next-door!

Walking around the Harvard campus and surrounding area is a great experience too, and Cambridge itself is a perfect spot for lunch and some cute boutique and merchandise browsing. There is even a lovely park in the centre of the town to sit with a good book and a coffee, and take in the quaint surroundings. Visit the campus store for endless arrays of Harvard souvenirs and books. Strolling around here makes for a perfect afternoon and there is plenty to see and learn about.

The town of Newport in Rhode Island isn't too far a drive from Boston, and is such a pretty seaside town with gorgeous houses, boutiques and ice cream shops. It's a lovely place to visit both during the day and at night for a cosy dinner and shopping spot away from the bustle of the city. In addition to picturesque Newport, Providence, Rhode Island's capital, is not too far from Boston either, and a great visit to add to the itinerary. Unfortunately, the majority of things were closed in Providence at the time we visited, so I definitely would love to go back and explore properly!

Boston quickly became one of our favourite cities and while a week was perfect, there was plenty more we would love to see in the future!