Salem, MA

I was so excited for this trip, and it definitely did not disappoint. I brought my best friend along with me – here’s what our time in Salem looked like!

WHERE WE STAYED:

We stayed at an adorable airbnb in Beverly – less than 10 minutes away from Salem. There is, of course, the Hawthorne Hotel and the Salem Inn right in town. There were several options of places to stay in the area, but I would suggest finding a place on airbnb because its generally cheaper to do so. We also decided to go in September instead of the very very popular month of October, making it slightly less expensive.

Our airbnb was called The Hideaway, and we were OBSESSED with it! Our hosts were so nice and there were just so many little details about their place to make their guests feel so comfortable. They literally thought of everything, it was just amazing. I definitely recommend staying here!

WHERE WE ATE:

During our weekend in Salem, we visited three coffee shops for coffee and breakfast in the morning and liked all three : Wolf Next Door, Brew Box, & Crave.

Out of the restaurants that we went to, my top two favorites were Fibber McGee’s in Beverly and The Tavern in the Hawthorne Hotel. The food and the atmosphere at both places were just so sooo good. We got to try a pumpkin martini at Fibber’s too – 10/10 recommend that. We also ate at Rockafellas, which I wanted to go to because I had remembered hearing a little bit about the building’s history before and how it is said to be haunted by “a lady in blue”. So, when I saw a drink called lady in blue, I had to order it. We also had drinks on our last night at Opus and loved the vibe there. There were so many options for restaurants, coffee shops, and bars and not enough time to try them all! Some other places we wanted to try, but didn’t have time for was The Roof and Settler.

WHAT TO DO:

1. Hocus Pocus Filming Locations
   • yeah, this is just a must when in Salem and needed a separate post of it’s own, which you can read here.

1. Salem Witch Museum
   • We really liked our visit to this museum, where you see two presentations on witches and the trials that took place in Salem. They do not allow videos and photos to be taken inside the museum.

• The Witch House
  • This is the only building left in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials. It was the home of Judge Corwin. You can buy tickets to tour The Witch House and gift shop! No pictures or videos were allowed inside!

• Tarot Reading
  • When you’re in Salem, it only makes sense to go get a tarot reading done, right?! We decided to get ours at ASCEND Get Lifted – a really cute shop in downtown Salem. I won’t go into too much detail here, but we got separate readings and both of us cried during them because of how amazing it was. Things were said that were just so accurate and spot on, which really validated it for me and it was just incredible.

• Shop
  • Speaking of shops, there are soooo many amazing places to shop in Salem! I already mentioned ASCEND where we got our readings done, and they also sell incense, crystals, jewelry, etc. and we loved it there!
  • Also right next door was The Coven’s Cottage which was so cool. They only allow a certain number of people in at one time to protect the energy in the room, so there’s most likely going to be a line to get in – but I would say that it is definitely worth it! You also are not allowed to take pictures or videos in the store as well. They have allll kinds of herbs, stones, books, tarot/oracle cards, and more!
  • Twilight House of Salem has so many cool t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and whatever kind of souvenir you can think of!
  • Artemisia Botanicals, Haus Witch Home & Healing, Hive & Forge, Village Silversmith and Witch City Wicks are other great places to check out! It’s fun to walk around in downtown Salem – you never know who or what you’ll see!

• Witch Pix
  • We just happened to walk by this costume studio early in the morning, and we knew we had to go in! You choose a set, get dressed up like a witch, and have a little photoshoot. It was so fun and we were glad we did it!

• Old Burying Point/Charter Street Cemetery
  • Right before we left for home, we went to Charter Street Cemetery where several judges and residents from the Salem witch trials, as well as Revolutionary War victims, are buried – lots of history here, as it is the oldest cemetery in Salem(and, I believe, the second oldest cemetery in the country). There is also a memorial here for the victims of the witch trials. It’s a simple, but really beautiful, wall with granite benches and the name, date, and way that they were executed on each one. Before we left town, we stopped by to just take a moment and pay our respects to each of the twenty victims. We all go to Salem because we love Hocus Pocus and Halloween and all the history there – but we felt it was important to really take in and acknowledge what happened to these people because it was so horrific.

We did so much during our weekend in Salem, but I can’t wait to go back because I feel like there’s still so much more we didn’t get to do! Next time, I definitely want to do a candlelit ghost tour at night, visit The House of the Seven Gables, Winter Island Park, Salem Halloween Museum, Witch Dungeon Museum, and try more restaurants and coffee shops out! Until next time, Salem!