Area Attractions

See also the page Getting to Boston

Selected nearby places to visit in Carlisle and surrounding towns:

Great Brook Farm State Park, 247 North Rd., Carlisle
We especially recommend the weekly milking tours, at 6:15 pm on Sundays. (Cows are milked daily at 6:15 am and pm). The tour is lead by a park ranger, beginning at the barnyard gate next to the ice cream stand. There are also tours of the cow barns (without milking) at 12:30, 1:30,. and 4:30 on Sundays. $2.00 Parking fee.
Concord Museum, 200 Lexington Road, Concord. Exhibits of all periods of Concord's history and an overview of the famous people from Concord.
Orchard House, 399 Lexington Road, Concord. The house of Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women. Period-costumed guides explain the house and the Alcott family.
National Heritage Museum 33 Marrett Road, Lexington. Free museum on colonial history and a changing exhibit on some later period of American cultural history.
Minute Man National Historical Park, Concord and Lexington. North Bridge Visitor Center is between Monument Street and Liberty Street in Concord. The main Minute Man Visitor Center is on route 2A in Lexington. Includes historic sites and buildings from the start of the American Revolution (1775).
Lowell National Historical Park Textile mills that were the start of the Industrial Revolution in America in the 18th century. Includes both a museum and demonstrations of working machinery.
American Textile History Museum, 491 Dutton Street Lowell. A history of textile crafts and manufacturing in the United States, and a changing exhibit of clothing.
Science Discovery Museums, 177 Main Street, Acton. There are two museums here: a children's museum for children 5 and under, and a science museum for children 5 and older. All the exhibits are interactive for the children to explore scientific concepts.
Drumlin Farm, 208 South Great Road, Littleton. A working farm with wildlife exhibits, demonstrations, hayrides, and educational activities for children.
Decordova Museum, 51 Sandy Pond Rd., Lincoln. Museum of modern art and an outdoor sculpture park. Also has art classes and special programs.
Fruitlands Museum 102 Prospect Hill Rd., Harvard. (1/2 hour drive west). The site of the 1843 Fruitlands experiment led by Bronson Alcott, a Shaker museum, a Native American museum, and an art gallery of Hudson River landscapes and 19th century portraits. There are also trails through woodlands and meadows.

Further away, for ½-day trips, we recommend:

Saugus Iron Works National Historical Site (free) Tel. 781-233-0050 Call first to find out their schedule of guided tours. Even though the tours are in English, it is only during the tours that the giant water wheels are operated which drive the large bellows and other machinery. It is fun for the children to watch. We went in the May.
M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Museum, Cambridge
Harvard Museum of Natural History, (Harvard University) 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge. Comprises three public natural history institutions: the Harvard University Herbaria, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Mineralogical and Geological Museum
New England Aquarium, Boston (also includes a trained seal lion show)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It contains art of all the world, and all historical periods, including ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, but still has more American art than one would find in a museum in Europe. It is likely to be more of more interest to adults, than children.
Museum of Science, Boston
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Boston
Canobie Lake Park 85 N. Policy Street, Salem, New Hampshire. A traditional amusement park including water slides.

Further away, for a full day trip:

Plimouth Plantation recreated village of the plimouth village pilgrims of 1627 with costumed role players engaged in daily chores. Also a Wampanoag Indian village and a little further away the replica of the Mayflower.
Old Sturbridge Village recreated rural New England town of the 1830s with costumed role players engaged in daily chores.