Madison & Kevin
Things To Do
TOURISTS
We're biased, but we think TOURISTS is the most fun place to explore, eat, and drink in the area. Not that we're trying to trap all of you in our favorite place to hang with us (...) but we recommend starting here! There is an indoor lodge with couches, a fireplace, board games, a bar, and an outdoor deck. Check out the TOURISTS website for activities - outdoor yoga, in-room massages, foraging expeditions, art classes, and guided hikes. Even if you're not staying at TOURISTS, all activities and common spaces are open to you! Our advice: - Here's what we do at TOURISTS: order breakfast to our room, head to the lodge, read a book, get more coffee, go outside and over the bridge to take a coffee walk (look for dogs), order lunch on the deck, back to the room for outdoor shower and nap, dinner and make smores at a firepit - Our favorite orders: cold brew, onion dip, grilled cheese, Caesar salad, and chocolate chip cookies
MASS MoCA
Description: MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) is a contemporary art museum, located in converted industrial mills, known for large-scale, immersive installations. The museum is huge, with multiple galleries both indoors and outdoors in 250,000 square feet of open, naturally lit space. Our advice: - You can book tickets ahead of time or at the door. Check out their website for current exhibitions. - Some of the immersive exhibitions need to be reserved ahead of time which you can do online. We highly recommend the James Turrell "Perfectly Clear" installation! - Experience the room where we got engaged: "The Cosmic Latte" in the Spencer Finch Gallery. - The museum has great food and drink options accessible without buying a ticket if you just want to stop for a beer and bite
Williamstown
Description: The downtown of Williamstown, only a 5-10 min drive from TOURISTS, is a picturesque New England town! Surrounded by the beautiful Williams College, the downtown street is a row of red-bricked buildings with cafes, bookstores, and little shops. Our advice: - A great place if you want to get out, walk around, grab a bite, or just embrace your inner Gilmore girl
Clark Art Institute
Description: The Clark Art Institute holds some of the world’s great paintings and decorative arts within a thoroughly pastoral setting in the Berkshire Hills. The collection features European and American paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, and decorative arts from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century, especially rich in French Impressionist paintings, British oil sketches, and the work of American artists. Our advice: - If you want to experience art, food, and nature all at once, the Clark is the place to be! - Check out their current exhibitions online or look at their extensive permanent collection. Buy tickets online or at the door - They have a really good food court! And outdoor seating where you can see the rolling hills, beautiful architecture, and a water feature while you eat - There are walking trails and hikes on the property, too
Go for a hike!
Description: TOURISTS has a few loops of flat, easy-to-walk trails. Walk across the suspension bridge and explore! Some trails run along the river and some are sprinkled with outdoor art installations. If you're feeling like more of a challenge, there are loads of hikes to take off property in the Northern Berkshires including Greylock Glen, Hoosac Range, Cascade Falls, Tannery Falls and Dunbar Brook Trail. Our advice: - We're not going to lie, when we're at TOURISTS, we never want to leave, so we have only explored the trails at TOURISTS which are beautiful - If you do walk around TOURISTS, we highly recommend grabbing a coffee, tea, or lemonade from the lodge before you go (our favorite activity is a coffee walk) - But for our outdoorsy friends - we encourage you to go find a hike! TOURISTS sometimes leads hikes and will also have good recs on their website. We've heard Mt. Greylock and the Appalachian trail are close. Please let us know what you find :)
Ashuwillticook Rail Trail
Description: A rail-to-trail running 11.2 miles from Adams to Lanesborough. Outstanding views of scenery and wildlife. Our advice: - We haven't done it yet, but you should! - Google says Village Bike Rental is an easy way to rent bikes near the trail :)
Red Apple Farm
Especially for friends coming from Eastern MA, this farm is a really fun stopping point! It's pretty much on the route home about halfway from North Adams to Boston. It is the perfect fall stop with sunflower fields, flower-cutting gardens, apple orchards, apple cider donuts, an ice cream stand, a band, outdoor fire pits, pizzas, goats, giant bunnies, hayrides... this place has everything (Stefon voice)! Our advice: - Get the sweet potato fries! Best sweet potato fries we ever did have - We also really liked the mac and cheese/pulled pork, but we did regret not getting a pizza - The sunflowers were on their last legs when we went but they had other flowers to cut and apples, pumpkins, etc!
The Montague Bookmill
Description: The Montague Bookmill is a former mill from 1834 that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Bookmill houses two restaurants, a world-famous book store, the Sawmill River Art Gallery, and a music shop in a stunning complex on the Sawmill River in the picture-perfect New England village of Montague, MA. With plenty of outdoor seating overlooking the waterfall, it has become the ideal location to visit and get away to the hills of Western Massachusetts Our advice: - Another great stop on the way to TOURISTS or heading home - A magical place with books and a waterfall that's pretty well known in New England and definitely worth a stop! - Book lovers be warned, buying a book (or three) is unavoidable