Take a Moment to Enjoy Massachusetts with Your Family

Sponsored by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism

Memories may be invisible, but in Massachusetts it’s easy to watch them being made anywhere you see families exploring the Bay State together. The smiles of little kids reaching for a first scoop of real cow-to-cone ice cream, or digging into their first-ever lobster roll. The pride on parents’ faces as they tour their alma mater with their own budding scholars. The triumphant hugs shared between young and old after conquering a thrilling ski run, zipline, or summit hike for the first time.

No matter what your family loves to do — from playing in the outdoors to spending a day in the big city — Massachusetts is a destination that can be shared in by travelers of all ages, and will inspire them to keep coming back with future generations in tow. After all, there are always more memories waiting to be made.

Family Thrills

You’re never too old or too young to feel the adrenaline rush of tackling a brand-new adventure. Give white-water rafting a go in Charlemont, home to three leading outfitters that offer guided trips for kids as young as 5, or play among the treetops at one of Massachusetts’s aerial adventure parks, such as Boundless Adventures in Berlin, just an hour from Boston, or Ramblewild in Lanesborough. And zipline enthusiasts, take note: Berkshire East Mountain Resort boasts some of the longest and fastest ziplines in North America, letting riders rocket through the air at speeds of nearly 60 mph.

If winter sports are more your thing, the state’s ski areas are renowned for making excitement accessible to all, with instruction tailored to a variety of ages and skill levels. At Jiminy Peak in Western Massachusetts, for example, KidsRule Mountain Camps put children ages 4 to 14 on the path to a lifelong love of skiing and snowboarding. At the state’s biggest ski area, Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, you’ll find not only a wide spectrum of age-focused instruction but also an acclaimed adaptive skiing program that uses the latest equipment and techniques to help open up the world of downhill winter sports to guests with disabilities.

Beach Fun

Few things in childhood compare with seeing the ocean for the first time, and Massachusetts’s stay-all-day beaches and fun coastal towns offer the perfect setting for this magical moment. From Salisbury Beach in the north to Westport’s Horseneck Beach in the south, families can delight in surf and sand all along the state’s 1,500-mile coastline.

The Cape & Islands region is, of course, where you can experience the famed Cape Cod National Seashore, where 40 miles of pristine coastline are dotted with half a dozen standout beaches; some, like Nauset Light Beach and Race Point Beach, even feature picturesque lighthouses nearby. Just a short ferry ride from the Cape lie the stunning island beaches of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

South of Boston, Nantasket Beach in Hull is an especially fun trip for kids, because the nearby Clock Tower Building offers the chance to ride a historic wooden carousel. Another feature sure to delight little ones is the distinctive squeaky sand that inspired the name of Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea, on the North Shore’s Cape Ann. That part of Massachusetts boasts a number of other gems, including Gloucester’s Wingaersheek Beach and Good Harbor Beach. And don’t miss what’s been called one of the most beautiful beaches in New England: Crane Beach in Ipswich, a Trustees of Reservations property with pristine dunes and gentle, shallow waters that suit little swimmers to a tee.

Hands-on History

Learning goes hand in hand with fun at Massachusetts’s living history museums, where costumed interpreters and demonstrations transport visitors with the stories, sights, and sounds of another era. One of the biggest leaps back in time — to the 1600s — can be experienced at Plimoth Patuxet Museums in Plymouth, where you can see how indigenous peoples and Pilgrim settlers lived, and visit the Mayflower II, a full-scale replica of the original.

Moving ahead in history, there’s Hancock Shaker Village, a Berkshires landmark that traces its roots to the late 1780s. As they learn about the peaceful world of a Shaker community, kids can watch baby chicks hatch or try their hand at weaving on a loom that’s sized just for them. And in Central Massachusetts, Old Sturbridge Village invites visitors into a re-created 1830s rural New England town, where they can chat with costumed historians, artisans, and farmers as they work the tasks of yesteryear; visit the friendly heritage-breed farm animals; and wander around a lovely 200-acre-plus campus dotted with 40 historic buildings.

Outdoor Excursions

Looking to unplug with your family and get out into nature? There are literal paths to paradise in the form of countless biking and hiking trails that traverse some of Massachusetts’s loveliest landscapes. On Cape Cod, the paved 5½-mile Province Lands Bike Trail offers easy access to wild dunes and coastal forests; at the other end of the state, a hike up The Trustees’ Monument Mountain reveals the grand Berkshire views that once inspired Hawthorne and Melville. For Boston vacationers, a 7,000-acre swath of scenic wilderness can be found less than 10 miles from the heart of the city: Blue Hills Reservation, which has 125 miles of trails and the chance to climb Great Blue Hill, the highest point in Norfolk County.

If you are seeking an even deeper appreciation of the great outdoors, discover why Massachusetts is a go-to destination for family camping. To start with, there are more than 30 state camping facilities — from Nickerson State Park, set in the woods of Cape Cod and scattered with kettle ponds for swimming, to October Mountain, the largest state forest in Massachusetts. Many state properties are dog-friendly, and a select number also have special features for campers with mobility issues: DAR State Forest in Goshen, for one, offers the use of both a floating and a sunbathing beach wheelchair, and has an accessible trail and accessible fishing platforms, too. You can typically make reservations for state facilities between one day and four months before your arrival.

The state is also home to dozens of private campgrounds where you can pitch your tent or park your RV and take advantage of more extensive facilities, including laundries and fitness centers. A great example is Foxborough’s dog-friendly Normandy Farms Family Campground, whose 100-plus acres encompass soccer and softball fields; courts for tennis, pickleball, basketball, and volleyball; four pools; and much more.

Arts & Culture

Where grown-ups see masterpieces and history-rich artifacts, kids see a world of wonderful colors and strange new things to marvel at — and both come away with a shared learning experience that will last a lifetime. In the Berkshires, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) sets a high bar for all-ages appeal with a 16-acre campus made for wandering; larger-than-life art installations; and Kidspace, a child-centered art gallery and studio.

In Springfield, visit a world-class collection of art, science, and history institutions — collectively known as the Springfield Museums — that include the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum and a sculpture garden devoted to the beloved children’s author. Just outside Boston, kids can embark on a “treasure hunt” for things like animals and sailing ships amid the vast collection of Salem’s Peabody Essex Museum, or scamper around fantastical, oversize works of art that dot the landscape at The Trustees’ deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln.

City Adventures

Last but not least, in terms of the sheer number of things to see and do for multigenerational travelers, rely on Massachusetts’s cities to inspire a to-do list stretching over many return visits. Attracting more than 22 million visitors a year, Boston keeps the family fun going with Duck Boat tours, the Museum of Science, the newly renovated Boston Children’s Museum, Franklin Park Zoo, and the New England Aquarium, the largest facility of its kind in New England.

But other cities have countless don’t-miss gems of their own, including Springfield, with its activity-filled Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Worcester, which boasts the EcoTarium science and nature museum and Polar Park, home to the Triple-A farm team for none other than the mighty Red Sox.