Flying the Broomstick
This classic hotel is a 2-minute walk from the Pickering Wharf Marina, 0.2 miles from the Peabody Essex Museum and 0.3 miles from the 17th-century House of the Seven Gables. The traditionally furnished rooms have coffeemakers, flat-screen TVs, Wi-Fi access and iPod docks. Suites also have minifridges and microwaves. Free perks include parking, and golf cart rides to the shops and restaurants at Pickering Wharf Marina. There's also an indoor heated pool, a fitness center, a 24-hour business center, and a pub offering casual American dining. Check-in time: 3:00 PM Check-out time: 11:00 AM
Set downtown, this casual hotel is a 9-minute walk from Salem train station, 11 minutes' walk from the Salem Witch Museum and a 14-minute walk from guided tours of the House of Seven Gables. Low-key rooms with colorful accents provide Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs, plus microwaves, minifridges, and tea and coffeemakers. Some rooms sleep up to 4 people. Amenities include a gym and an indoor pool. Breakfast and valet parking are available. Check-in time: 3:00 PM Check-out time: 11:00 AM
[ Google Review ] From the seamless online ticketing process to the well-structured tour, everything was well organized and hassle-free. The museum's setup is unique and interactive. Upon arrival, everyone gathers in the first room, where you're seated and immersed in a captivating 360-degree show about the history of Salem. The visuals and narration transport you back in time, allowing you to experience the events firsthand. It's a remarkable 10-minute journey that sets the stage for the rest of the tour. After the show, the group is divided in half, with one group proceeding to the second part of the tour while the other explores the gift shop. I found this division to be a great way to manage the flow of visitors, ensuring everyone has a comfortable experience. The second part of the tour delves deeper into the Salem witch trials, providing additional insights and historical context. It was fascinating to learn about the individuals involved and the impact these events had on the community. What impressed me most was how efficiently the entire experience was conducted. Despite covering a significant amount of information, the tour was completed in less than an hour, making it perfect for those with limited time. This concise format allows you to absorb the key aspects of Salem's history without feeling rushed or overwhelmed. Regarding the gift shop, I found it to be decent, but I would recommend checking out the Witch City Mall for a wider selection of souvenirs and mementos. However, the museum's gift shop does offer a good range of items related to the Salem witch trials, ensuring you can take a piece of history home with you.
[ Google Review ] A must go in Salem! Althought this memorial is not big, it's very interesting to see the stories of some of the alleged witches and wizards killed in Salem. The cemetery is also beautiful to walk through. Have a wonder around and get caught but some magic feelings
[ Google Review ] I'm a Salem resident and I am on a mission to tour all the local attractions. I visited the Witch History Museum in November right after all the October frenzy. What this is: The Witch History Museum is located directly on Essex Street (the main pedestrian street in downtown Salem) and it is basically a guided tour through some life-size depictions of scenes from the Salem Witch Trials. Tours run every half hour (as in 10am, 10.30, 11 etc) and, as far as I know, tickets are only sold at the door before tours start. You can buy at the door also a combo ticket that includes other 2 museums (Witch Dungeon and The NE Pirate Museum). First you'll sit in a small, colonial style auditorium, where you can read some facts about the trials on the wall while waiting for the tour to start. The auditorium can host maybe.. 60 people? Probably more. When I toured it in November we were only 3 people in the tour. Your guide will give you a short introduction about the trials, and then walk you through the second part of the exhibition, downstairs, where you'll find - you can guess... - dioramas and mannequins. Yes, this is yet ANOTHER dioramas-and-mannequines Salem's attraction! This attraction is a direct competitor of the Witch Museum, as they have almost the same name and they are similar in intents and purposes. So, which one is better? I'll start by saying that it took me a minute to decide if rating this attraction 3 or 4 stars. The display downstairs is, in all honesty, dusty and outdated and it makes, in my personal opinion, no more than a 3 stars display. However, this attraction features a guided tour, so the quality of the experience is also based on the ability of your tour guide. Our guide was great, not as much as a "Salem-Witch-Trials connoisseur" 😊, but as a person able to tell a story to a group in an entertaining and fun way. So, I did enjoy the experience and I thought 3 stars were unfair, especially as it is better, in my opinion, than other attractions that I rated 3 stars (for example, the Wax Museum). Was the information given a generalization of the actual facts? Yes, it understandably was, given the small amount of time available. Were there mistakes in the information given? To the risk of sounding like an obnoxious know-it-all who tells others how to do their jobs... Yes, there were some mistakes in what was said during the presentation. So, is it better of worse than the Witch Museum? The Witch Museum (the other attraction) has a better structured presentation, a longer show, more information around witch trials in general, a bigger and fuller gift shop, and together with their website and their programs, a general feeling of being "more than just an attraction" - while the Witch History Museum is indeed just an attraction - so the Witch Museum is objectively better (in my opinion. This is my personal opinion, objective to me 😊 I am not affiliated with the Witch Museum or any of the Salem's attractions) However, the Witch History Museum (the attraction of this review) could be offering you things that might be more valuable to you depending on what you are looking for. The Witch History Museum has the "human touch" of an actual person guiding you through the display (instead of recordings as at the Witch Museum), pictures are allowed, you don't have to buy tickets in advance to secure your spot, you'll probably have shorter waiting times here to get in, and it is a quicker, "easier" experience to do that doesn't require any planning ahead. PROs Informative, enjoyable. It can be interactive (if you have questions for your guide!). You can take pictures. CONs The display itself is old, and dark, and dusty. Because of the presence of a tour guide, the experience can go either way. And I can imagine that in a large crowd, it would not be easy to hear your guide talking. Whichever you can/want to visit, I don't recommend to visit both as the second one you visit will probably feel just like a repetition of what you learned from the first one.
[ Google Review ] I am a big fan of Enterprise. Specifically the Salem, Ma. location. The crew at that location, went so far above and beyond in customer service, that I felt like family. They don’t know me apart from any other customer, but they made sure I understood everything I needed to know, they upgraded me appropriately, but I felt spoiled. I felt like the only customer they had all day. They were kind and friendly and didn’t rush me. They really impressed me. Two employees stood out and I want to honor them by name. Miette and Anthony. Great people. Great customer service. I will go back there. And I will send others there. In fact, I already have. I hope you all enjoyed the McDonald’s. I wish I could do that for you more often!
[ Google Review ] I went with my son, daughter-in-law, her mother and my two granboys (can't forget them, 0ne is 9 and the other is 6). It was truly a lot of fun. Of course we went during the day and it was still a lot of fun. He had lunch at a picnic table, then the boys went inside a bouncy house for awhile, then after it was time to pick pumkins 🎃. We couldn't pick the apples (no apple picking this year) but they were already in bags that you can buy, many different kinds. There's also a booth where you can buy snacks. Some live animals. Can't wait for next year.
[ Google Review ] I'm a Salem resident and I am on a mission to tour all the local attractions. About this one: I must admit that I am biased as I live near to this place, I walk in front of it every day and I am emotionally attached to it 😊 What it is: This is the oldest living history museum in America. Which is cool, but also makes this place very dated. It is a reproduction of some colonial buildings from 1630, only a few years after Salem was founded. It's in the woods by the ocean. It has about 6/7 little houses, including a reproduction of Endicott's home, and only a few you can visit them inside. One of the building was used as the set for the first scenes of the original Hocus Pocus movie. Most of the time, the place is closed. It is open only on weekends at very specific times (check their website). When I visited, I got the guided tour and it was awesome. Other times you might find only the self-guided tour as an option. There has been talk for a while to move the Pioneer Village to a different location where it won't anymore be in a very high risk flooding area, and in the meantime it hasn't forgo any visible restoration, so it looks a bit decadent. At the time of this review the Village still seats on its original location. PROs If you get the guided tour, it will be extremely informative and educational. The structures are old but you can tell they were built with the genuine intent to look like the originals and to educate about colonial settlements. Pictures are allowed. The Village is located adjacent to a beautiful park overlooking the bay, and just a 3 minutes walk to the "Hocus Pocus" house, a private residence which exterior posed as the house of Max and Dani in the movie. During the fall, the place hosts some local festivals. If you have a chance to visit the SALEM NIGHT FAIRE by THE BLACK VEIL hosted inside the Pioneer Village in October, DO NOT MISS IT. You won't be disappointed. The atmosphere in the Village at night is fantastic. I've attached some pictures of that below - please be aware that the rest of the time the Village doesn't look like that at all! CONs Chances are you are going to find it closed. It is opened only during some specific months and at specific times. It doesn't depict at all Native American settlements - I mean, there is a decrepit Wig-wam on the premises but it is barely standing. I believe there is a plan to change/improve this aspect when the Village will be moved in few years to the new location. I can't stress this enough, this place is old and not kept in a good shape, but being this old it is a piece of history itself, and you can tell it was built with genuine educative purposes.
