Ready, Set, Explore in Massachusetts
Pack your bags for under-the-radar towns to discover what local flavor really means.
By Yankee Custom Editors|Jul 01 2026|
On the first Sunday in October, the Berkshires are the place to be, as the annual Fall Foliage Parade in North Adams invites locals and visitors alike to gather for a small-town celebration of autumn.
Credit: Nick MantelloSponsored by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
Take a leisurely drive to any tucked-away corner of Massachusetts and you’re bound to stumble upon a hidden-gem town—the sort of place that’s flush with culture and charm, yet still keeps a low, laid-back profile. Surprising? Not really: Such discoveries are a natural part of this state’s allure, thanks to its thriving communities and well-preserved histories.
If you’re looking to discover a new-to-you town, here are four to start with. They’re rich in arts and culture (think: galleries, concerts, museums), steeped in history, humming with festivals, and serving the kinds of food and drink worth traveling for.
Credit: Scott Erb & Donna Dufault
Sturbridge
Treasures await in the small Central Massachusetts town of Sturbridge. Notably, it’s home to Old Sturbridge Village, a living museum that depicts rural New England in the 1830s; on any given visit, you can strike up a conversation with a costumed historian, whether that’s a potter, blacksmith, or weaver. Visit the weekend after Indigenous Peoples’ Day and you can enjoy Sturbridge Harvest Fest, when food, games, music, local vendors, and farm animals make the town common the liveliest spot around.
No matter when you arrive, you can’t leave town without trying B.T.’s Smokehouse, widely hailed as the home of the region’s best barbecue. Here, pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked chicken, and pork ribs are complemented by Southern staples like collard greens and black-eyed peas. Nearby Rapscallion Pub, set in an 1800s barn, serves house-brewed craft beer alongside paninis, smoked wings, and other comfort food. If it’s a morning snack you’re after, opt for a muffin top and a banana bread latte on the patio of Sturbridge Coffee House, or head to The Bake Shoppe at The Publick House Historic Inn for pecan sweet rolls, a house specialty.
Credit: NPS
Lowell
Founded in the 1820s as America’s first planned industrial city, Lowell and its textile mills helped put Massachusetts’s Greater Merrimack Valley region at the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Dive into that history at Lowell National Historical Park, which encompasses several museums, mills, and walking tours. Most visitors make a beeline for the Boott Cotton Mills Museum to tour the weave room, lined with historic working looms from the 1920s, but don’t pass up the National Streetcar Museum, where you can step aboard a restored trolley and get a sense of Lowell’s role in America’s transit history, too. For another perspective on the city’s rich textile traditions, stop in at the New England Quilt Museum just a few blocks away.
In between museum visits, make time to try the top-notch eggs Benedict at the vintage diner car Four Sisters Owl Diner. For dinner, grab a table at Simply Khmer for a taste of Cambodian cuisine. And to round things out, pick up something sweet from Pizzelle, which crafts small-batch European baked goods, or Olympos Bakery, founded by Greek immigrants in 1915 and now in its fourth generation of family ownership.
Credit: Barry Winiker/courtesy of 1Berkshire
North Adams
Situated in the far northwestern corner of the state, North Adams is easily one of the state’s most beloved arts and culture towns. That’s due in large part to Mass MoCA, the biggest contemporary art museum in the U.S., with over 250,000 square feet of gallery space. It’s also becoming a food-and-drink destination with offerings like Casita, which bills itself as “a love letter to Mexico” as it serves up queso fundido, tacos, chiles rellenos, and more. Forager Distillery, at the repurposed mill Greylock Works, pours artisanal gins and rums made on-site. Then there’s Public Eat+Drink, a longtime local favorite for gourmet burgers, steak frites, and other gastropub fare in an airy, industrial-chic space.
It makes sense that the North Adams food scene is flourishing: Visitors need fuel for shopping and gallery hopping, as well as for special events like First Fridays, when local businesses stay open late and downtown takes on the feel of a block party, and for the annual Fall Foliage Parade, which marches down Route 8 with floats and drum lines on the first Sunday in October.
Credit: Courtesy of Lighthouse Keeper’s Pantry
Yarmouth
All across Cape Cod, there’s a lot to love—but for your next venture over the bridge to this fabled peninsula, consider parking yourself in the charming Mid-Cape town of Yarmouth to do some local exploring. Start at Lighthouse Keeper’s Pantry, a café and gourmet food shop in Yarmouth Port, for one of their “Fluffy Seagull” lattes (inspired by fluffernutter sandwiches, they’re a bona fide social-media sensation). Then walk over to the Edward Gorey House, a museum dedicated to the delightfully macabre author and illustrator that’s set in his former home. Across the green, there’s the Captain Bangs Hallet House Museum, an 1840 manse brimming with antiques that the captain brought back from his travels to Asia, plus other fascinating remnants of Victorian life.
For a lively jazz jam, look to the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in South Yarmouth. Inside the former bank, you’ll find live music performances as well as art galleries and classes ranging from pottery and drawing to cooking and gardening. And no visit to Yarmouth is complete without a dinner at the stylish Leonessa, which opened in 2023 as a celebration of Italian regional cuisine. Try any of the pastas—you won’t regret it.
For more Massachusetts travel inspiration, go to: VisitMA.com
