Visiting Massachusetts on a Budget
Massachusetts is one of America's densest free-things-to-do states — a walking-history corridor running from Plymouth Rock through Boston to the Cape, with Worcester and Springfield anchoring central and western Massachusetts inland. Plymouth is where the Pilgrim story begins: the free Plymouth Rock at Pilgrim Memorial State Park, the 81-foot National Monument to the Forefathers (free), the free Burial Hill and Cole's Hill grave sites, plus the $19 Mayflower II and $15 Pilgrim Hall Museum (the oldest continuously operating public museum in the U.S.). Boston's 2.5-mile Freedom Trail is free to walk self-guided past 16 Revolution-era sites, alongside free Boston Common, Public Garden, and the marble interior of the Boston Public Library. Salem combines New England's witch-trial history with a free Maritime National Historic Site (tall-ship boarding when in port) and a free 1.7-mile heritage trail; the Witch House is the under-$15 paid pick. Provincetown's Cape Cod National Seashore adds the free Beech Forest Trail and the Province Lands Bike Loop. Inland, Worcester offers the free 17th-century Worcester Common, the Worcester Art Museum (free for everyone under 18 plus six free days a year), Mechanics Hall's free Brown Bag concerts, and Mass Audubon's 414-acre Broad Meadow Brook for $4. Forty minutes west, Springfield adds the free Springfield Armory National Historic Site, the free Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, and the 735-acre Olmsted-designed Forest Park. Visit September–October for empty trails and full foliage.
Cities in Massachusetts
Pick a city to see free attractions, cheap activities, and budget travel tips.
Boston, Massachusetts
America's walking history city — and one of its best for free attractions. The 2.5-mile Freedom Trail is free to walk self-guided past 16 Revolution-era sites, Boston Common and the Public Garden are free year-round, the USS Constitution Museum is pay-what-you-wish, and the Boston Public Library's marble Bates Hall and McKim courtyard are free to admire. Faneuil Hall Marketplace, the State House, Bunker Hill Monument, Castle Island and Fort Independence, the Charles River Esplanade and Hatch Shell, and the 281-acre Arnold Arboretum all charge nothing. The $10 Old North Church and the $6 Mapparium are the marquee paid picks.
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Plymouth, Massachusetts
Plymouth MA is the home of America's most famous arrival story — where 102 Pilgrims came ashore from the Mayflower in 1620. Plymouth Rock and Pilgrim Memorial State Park (free), the 81-foot National Monument to the Forefathers (free, the largest freestanding solid-granite monument in the U.S.), Burial Hill, Cole's Hill with the Massasoit Statue, and Brewster Gardens are all free walks within a mile of downtown. The $19 Mayflower II at State Pier, the $15 Pilgrim Hall Museum (oldest continuously operating public museum in the U.S.), and the $11 1636 Plimoth Grist Mill complete the historic picks for under $50.
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Salem, Massachusetts
New England's witch-trial history runs alongside one of America's best free maritime national historic sites and a free 1.7-mile heritage trail. The Salem Witch Trials Memorial, Salem Maritime NHS (with tall-ship boarding when in port), Salem Common, the Charter Street Burying Point (oldest cemetery in the city), the Ropes Mansion Garden, Salem Willows Park, and the Punto Urban Art Museum are all free. The Bewitched Samantha Sculpture has stood since 2005 — free to photograph. The Witch House (Jonathan Corwin House) is the $12 paid pick, and Winter Island Park's Fort Pickering Lighthouse charges only $10–15 for parking.
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Provincetown, Massachusetts
The artistic, LGBTQ-historic outermost tip of Cape Cod — where the Pilgrims first landed in 1620 before continuing to Plymouth, and where America's first artist colony took root in the early 1900s. Free Commercial Street, MacMillan Pier, the East End Gallery Stroll Fridays, the Provincetown Public Library (with its half-scale schooner Rose Dorothea), and the Province Lands Visitor Center anchor the downtown experience. Cape Cod National Seashore offers a free Beech Forest Trail and Province Lands Bike Loop, with Race Point Beach at $3 per pedestrian. PAAM is free Fridays 5–8 PM; the $23 Pilgrim Monument climb is the marquee paid splurge.
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Worcester, Massachusetts
Massachusetts's second-largest city sits in central New England, anchored by a free 4.4-acre downtown Common dating to the late 17th century and the world-class Worcester Art Museum ($22, free admission for everyone under 18 plus six free days a year). The Museum of Worcester and Salisbury Mansion ($10 each) tell the city's industrial and antebellum story, Mechanics Hall hosts free Brown Bag concerts in one of the world's great acoustic halls, Mass Audubon's Broad Meadow Brook puts five free miles of trails fifteen minutes from downtown for $4, and Green Hill Park's free animal farm and Bancroft Tower's hilltop view round out the family picks.
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Springfield, Massachusetts
The third-largest city in Massachusetts and birthplace of basketball, Dr. Seuss, and the American firearms industry. The free Springfield Armory National Historic Site preserves the world's largest collection of US military small arms in the original NPS facility, the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden lets families walk among 30 bronze sculptures of the Cat in the Hat, Horton, and the Lorax for free, and the Olmsted-designed Forest Park spans 735 acres with free walking access. Court Square, Connecticut River Walk, and the 1841 Springfield Cemetery round out the free downtown picks, with the $13 Forest Park Zoo as a top family pay-pick.
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More on Massachusetts from TravelCheapUS
In-depth budget travel guides from our companion blog that mention Massachusetts.