10 Best Antique Towns in New England
New England is rich with treasure-filled shops and barns. Love the thrill of the hunt? Add these top New England antique towns to your list for future adventures.
New England is rich with shops, barns, and yards filled with valuable objects and curiosities, just waiting to be discovered by serious and casual antique hunters. Remember: One person’s trash is another’s treasure, so your next fabulous find may be just around the bend. Here’s our list of the best antique towns in New England. Add them to your list for your next antiquing adventure.
Photo Credit : Butch Lombardi
10 Best Antique Towns in New England | Where to Go Antiquing
North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Near the picturesque shores of Narragansett Bay, small shops and galleries along Routes 1 and 1A offer a variety of furniture, sterling, glass, old toys, paintings, clocks, watches, photos and assorted memorabilia that is sure to satisfy most antique hunters.
Wells, Maine
This quaint coastal town along Route 1 in southern Maine boasts over 25 antique shops selling everything from fine period furniture, quilts, glass and jewelry to hooked rugs and memorabilia. Some places host multiple dealers in one enormous space.
Woodbury, Connecticut
This traditional town in the lush foothills of Litchfield County is one of the best-known antiquing areas in New England. On Main Street and its surrounding roads, more than 40 distinctive dealers specialize in quality furniture, decorative arts, rugs, porcelain, paintings, textiles, ceramics, and other historic artifacts.
Antique Alley, New Hampshire
You’ll find everything from period furniture, fine china and collectible pottery to vintage jewelry and memorabilia along Route 4 — often referred to as Antique Alley — where more than 500 dealers have set up shop in towns including Northwood, Lee, Epsom, and Chichester.
Stamford, Connecticut
South of highway I-95, old warehouses on and around Canal Street have been converted to multi-dealer consortiums. In spaces up to 40,000 square feet, hundreds — perhaps thousands — of dealers offer all-things-antique, vintage and decorative. To see it all, comfortable shoes are recommended.
Bennington, Vermont
Nestled in the picture-perfect rolling hills of southern Vermont, the Shops at Camelot Village offer a trove of treasures for antique enthusiasts visiting this lively college town. Sprawled throughout two 18th-century barns, the 25,000-square-foot Antique Center showcases the wares of more than 200 dealers.
SEE MORE: Bennington, Vermont | Could You Live Here?
New Bedford, Massachusetts
You may be surprised to learn that this former whaling town — made famous in Melville’s Moby Dick — is home to more than 400 antique dealers. Individual shops and warehouses with multi-dealer co-ops collectively offer 150,000 square feet of quality antiques and collectibles.
Putnam, Connecticut
Located in Connecticut’s northeast corner, this charming town might be small but it’s home to more than a dozen antique shops. The Antique Marketplace, a four-story emporium showcasing more than 350 dealers, sells an eye-popping array of merchandise.
Chester, Vermont
In this tiny town in central Vermont — population 3,144 — you can leisurely stroll through vintage barns and shops selling country furniture, hooked rugs, woodenware, textiles, collectibles, jewelry, and coins. The Stone House Antique Center features more than 90 dealers in nearly 20,000 square-feet of space.
Essex, Massachusetts
More than 30 antique shops, each with their own distinctive style, are located within one mile of each other, making this former shipbuilding town north of Boston a popular shopping destination for serious collectors, dealers, and casual Sunday browsers.
Do you have a favorite New England town for antiquing? What tops your list of the best antique towns in New England? Let us know!
This post was first published in 2015 and has been updated.
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Necee Regis
Necee writes about travel with a focus on food, art, culture, luxury travel, and quirky, off-beat locations. She's a frequent contributor to the travel and food sections of The Boston Globe, and is a lifestyle and travel correspondent covering Europe and the Americas for ShowBoats International. Her writing has also been featured in the The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, American Way Magazine, The Robb Report, Modern Farmer, The Globe and Mail, The Huffington Post, and the literary magazine, Tin House. Her special interest—some might say obsession—is the world of oysters and shucking competitions.
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