Fall Weekend in Amherst, Massachusetts

By Katharine Whittemore

Amherst, Massachusetts, is a wonderfully wordy sort of place. Peppered with professors giving lectures and students furiously writing papers, this small city of about 38,000 (you pronounce it without the “h”: Am-urst) is home to three of the schools in the “Five College Area”: UMass Amherst, Amherst College, and Hampshire College. And if you mill around Amherst’s eclectic, brick-and-maple-tree-lined downtown or cross the various campuses, you’ll likely overhear conversations stippled with words like particle physics and Kafka and gender studies—or, for that matter, TikTok.

Plenty of famous wordsmiths have lived in Amherst, too, most notably the em dash–admiring poet Emily Dickinson, but also Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth, and Noah Webster, of Webster’s Dictionary fame, who helped found Amherst College. (A faded verdigris statue of the lexicographer, pompously arrayed in Roman senatorial garb, sits on its North Campus. Students like to adorn it with beanies and event fliers; during the pandemic, Noah wore a mask.)

This is a town, then, of academics and authors—but also activists. They regularly gather at Amherst’s busiest intersection, holding signs next to one of the electrical boxes painted by local artists. I’m partial to the turquoise-and-red box showing Emily Dickinson, with a line from one of her letters: “Pardon my sanity in a world insane.” These days, protesters sometimes march on Amherst Common when they, too, deem the world insane, and the results can go beyond words: Amherst is the second U.S. city, for instance, to start a reparations fund for Black residents. Still, verbosity is the town’s hallmark: Its 240-representative town meetings grew so notorious for their endless opining that, in 2018, the governing structure was streamlined to a 13-member board.

So now you get the joke stamped on coffee mugs sold in town: “Amherst, MA: Where only the ‘h’ is silent.”

My office looks right onto Amherst Common, and when I tire of banging out my own words, I like to stroll the Amherst Writers Walk, which spirits pedestrians to the lovely, mostly clapboard homes of 12 writers, including Robert Frost, who taught at Amherst College for a spell. The tour’s apogee is the Emily Dickinson Museum, and this fall is a prime time to take in its two properties: The Homestead, where the poet dwelled in possibility, was restored in 2021, and The Evergreens reopened just this year—it’s the impressive Italianate home of Emily’s brother, Austin, and his wife, Susan, who was Emily’s great love.

While Amherst is a fine place for rambling (both the walking and talking varieties), it’s a fine place for eating, too. One thing that sets it apart from other Pioneer Valley towns is the large number of international students who live here, which has translated into a longer-than-average roster of cuisines, including eclectic pan-Asian (try Fresh Side for its terrific tea rolls), Vietnamese (there’s fetching pho at Miss Saigon), and Tibetan (as in MoMo Tibetan Restaurant, with its tasty MoMo dumplings with chili sauce).

But wait—“Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?” I see the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art looking back at me. This light-filled modern venue, located right by Hampshire College, displays work by not only Carle but also fellow children’s book authors and illustrators, such as Mo Willems (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!), who lives in nearby Northampton. It is part of Museums10, a collaboration started by the Five College Consortium to highlight area museums on campuses and off. Two are at Amherst College, both free to the public: The Beneski Museum of Natural History has the skeleton of a Columbian mammoth, plus eerie casts of hundreds of dinosaur footprints from the banks of the Connecticut, while the Mead Art Museum displays 5,000 years of artworks and boasts an entire 1611 manor room (stained glass, walnut, lots of crests) brought here from England.

It’s surprising that a town this owlish (Amherst Books, by the way, is an excellent indie bookstore) can also work for night owls. You’ll find live music, dance, comedy, story slams, and more at The Drake, a recently debuted performance venue named for a long-gone local hotel. Just around the corner is Amherst Cinema, one of the best independent movie theaters in New England. And the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center hosts top live acts such as the Peking Acrobats, the Mingus Dynasty jazz band, and, coming this October, Dropkick Murphys.

Amid all its culture, Amherst also has a high nature GPA. There are lots of easy walking options and hiking destinations, including Hadley’s Skinner State Park, where the Summit House on Mount Holyoke features the most beautiful panoramic view of the area. In Amherst, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment offers looping paths through the woods and a great educational visitors center. Then there’s the Amherst College Wildlife Sanctuary, with trails through 500 acres filled with forest, wetlands, and nearly 100 student-monitored nesting boxes occupied by wrens, bluebirds, and more. On one trail, you’ll stumble across a mailbox, as oddly marvelous a sight as, well, a phantom tollbooth. The box is marked “Free Poetry.” Read the words inside, then leave some of your own. That’s the Amherst way. 

In & Around Amherst, Massachusetts

Dining in Amherst, Massachusetts

The Archives: Amherst’s best-kept secret is a modern speakeasy that opened in 2022 with a faux-studious vibe (among the cocktail options: the Study Abroad). The address is 30 Boltwood Walk, but it’s intentionally tricky to find—dare yourself to try. Facebook

Atkins Farms Country Market: Here’s where to satisfy that seasonal hankering for fresh cider doughnuts—not to mention pumpkin whoopie pies and caramel apples. Plus: Look for the monthly tastings of wines, beers, and ciders. atkinsfarms.com

Blue Heron Restaurant: The longtime owners of Blue Heron, set in the 1867 Old Town Hall in Sunderland, were 2022 James Beard Award semifinalists for Best Restaurateurs. The culinary results of their expertise (such as the irresistible truffled mushroom risotto) speak for themselves. blueherondining.com

Fresh Side: This Asian fusion cuisine—Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, and more—is innovative and healthy. Try the signature tea rolls or Five Spicy Beef Noodle Soup. There’s sidewalk dining in good weather. freshsideamherstma.com

Protocol: Opened in 2023, Protocol puts a cosmopolitan spin on farm-to-table, with a gleaming bar and copious greenery. Seasonal fare and great bar-food staples fill a menu that the chef calls “high-end and low-brow.”protocol-amherst.com

Lodging in Amherst, Massachusetts

Inn on Boltwood: Stay in the heart of it all at this 1926 Colonial Revival hotel, where each of the 49 rooms has a view of either Amherst College or the town center. Its eco-friendly initiatives have earned Silver LEED status, a rare honor for a historic inn. innonboltwood.com

Activities in Amherst, Massachusetts

Amherst Cinema: Offering classics, indies, and National Theatre Live films, this movie house urges you to “See Something Different!”—which could mean belly-laughing at 1959’s Some Like It Hot or quietly weeping at Wim Wenders’s 2023 Perfect Days. Oh, and they serve wine and beer at the high-end snack bar, too. amherstcinema.org

The Drake: Partly funded by the town, this music venue opened in 2022 and quickly drew crowds with such acts as Dinosaur Jr., Regina Carter, and Roomful of Blues. thedrakeamherst.org

Emily Dickinson Museum: Apart from tours, the museum also hosts engaging events such as September’s “Tell It Slant” poetry festival, which features a group reading of all 1,789 of Dickinson’s poems. Bonus: The creators of the TV series Dickinson recently gave the museum a number of the show’s costumes. emilydickinsonmuseum.org

Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art: Carle’s beautiful illustrations from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other childhood classics share the spotlight with rotating exhibits (this fall, look for the work of Brazilian illustrator Roger Mello), as well as kid-friendly art projects and storytelling sessions. carlemuseum.org

Mike’s Maze: Wagon rides, pedal carts, potato cannons, a playground, a petting zoo, and a wildly inventive eight-acre corn maze are this Sunderland attraction’s ingredients for cooking up a perfect autumn play day. mikesmaze.com

Skinner State Park: Hike or drive to the top of Mount Holyoke, crowned by a former 19th-century hotel, and soak up the summit views of jewel-toned foliage and the Connecticut River Valley. mass.gov/locations/skinner-state-park