Travel

Everything you need to know about visiting Salem in October, including park information, the best restaurants, Salem Witch Trials activities, and a complete guide to Halloween festivities.

If you’re looking for a festive, seasonal day trip this month, you’ll be hard pressed to find a New England destination that celebrates Halloween as extensively as Salem.

Located 16 miles north of Boston, Salem welcomes 1 million tourists for its month-long haunted events in October. The festival, which began in 1982, is considered the largest Halloween celebration in the world.

Salem was named one of the best Halloween events in the U.S. and one of the best travel destinations worldwide in October by TripsToDiscover.com Condé Nast Traveler.

This map of downtown Salem and the recommendations below will help you plan your Witch City adventure. Visitors can also download the free Destination Salem app with information about parking, transportation, attraction tickets and more.

Driving and parking information for Salem in October

When we asked Salem residents for their top tips for visitors coming to Salem in October, the most popular tip was to take public transportation.

Guests can take the MBTA commuter rail from Boston North Station or stop north of Salem on the Newburyport/Rockport lines.

“The Salem train station is located right in the heart of downtown and provides easy access to the city,” said Ashley Judge, executive director of Destination Salem. “Once you arrive, almost everything is just a short walk away.”

Guests can also arrive via a ferry that runs between Boston’s Long Wharf and Blaney Street in Salem. Visitors can find out more about the train and ferry on the Haunted Happenings website.

For those who prefer not to walk, guests can rent bikes from the BlueBikes program, which has pickup stations across from the commuter rail and Salem Ferry.

The city of Salem provides free satellite parking in three parking lots for drivers. Every weekend in October, including Indigenous Peoples Day, shuttle buses operate between the parking lots and downtown Riley Plaza all day between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. According to the city, the three properties offer more than 1,300 free parking spaces.

The satellite parking spaces are:

— Salem State University O’Keefe Center parking lot, 225 Canal St.
— Salem High School, 77 Willson St.
– 108 Jefferson Ave. behind Salem Hospital

According to the city, there is also an accessible shuttle bus.

Visitors should note that cars parked in hospital parking lots other than the designated lot at 108 Jefferson St. may be towed at the owner’s expense, the city said.

Find out about road closures in Salem this season.

What are the best restaurants in Salem?

Guests can browse a list of Salem restaurants on the Haunted Happenings website, divided into three categories: delis, pizza and sandwiches; restaurants and bars; and sweets and treats.

“For a dining and drinking experience that’s as much about the atmosphere as it is about the food and drinks, I highly recommend Jolie Tea, Witch City Hibachi, Far From the Tree and The Roof,” Judge said. “I could go on because Salem has such an amazing culinary scene!”

The Roof, which features a full bar and an outdoor kitchen serving tacos, rice bowls and oysters, is Salem’s only rooftop dining restaurant.

Other restaurants worth checking out, Judge said, include Flying Saucer for pizza, Bella Verona for “old-school Italian,” Turner’s Seafood for classic seafood, Howling Wolf Taqueria for Mexican food and Sea Level Oyster Bar on the harbor .

​​“The best advice for dining out in Salem in October is to expect a wait for table service,” Judge said. “Given our thriving culinary scene, longer wait times are common. If you are planning a sit-down meal, it is advisable to plan ahead and make reservations if possible.”

What are the best things to do in Salem for a day trip?

A walking tour of Salem is a great way to explore a lot in a single day, experts say.

The city’s Haunted Happenings website features dozens of different tours, including Witches and Sailors, a Candlelight Ghost Walking Tour and Bewitched Tours.

Earlier this year, Witch City Walking Tours’ “Salem’s History & Hauntings of Salem Guided Walking Tour” was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 2 worldwide for the best cultural and historical tours by Needham-based travel website Tripadvisor. The participants meet in the Old Town Hall in Salem for the daily tours.

“What we love about this tour is that it gives a little bit of everything about Salem history and the Salem experience,” Beth Crowley, owner and tour guide, told Boston.com. “A lot of tours focus just on the witch trials or just ghost stories. We combine so that our travelers learn about our maritime history. You’ll also delve deep into the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. We will also introduce you to three centuries of beautiful architecture. And of course we add the spooky ghost stories.”

Guests can learn more about the history of the Charter Street Historic District and cemetery at the Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reservations are required in October. A cemetery map guides guests to important graves and explains the art of tombstones.

Which Salem Witch Trials Destination Should I Visit?

For visitors interested in learning more about the Salem witch trials, there are numerous options throughout the city.

Visitors can tour the Witch’s House, a home purchased in 1675 by Jonathan Corwin, a judge in the Salem Witch Trials who lived there for 40 years.

At the Salem Witch Museum, housed in a renovated historic church building, guests encounter two presentations about the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. In the first, visitors are immersed in the year through 13 life-size stage sets depicting the Salem witch hunt Moved in 1692. In the second exhibition, “Witches: Evolving Perceptions,” guests learn about the European witch trials and the background to the Salem witch trials, as well as the meaning of the word “witch.”

The Witch Dungeon Museum, celebrating its 45th anniversary, features a live reenactment of one of the trials and visitors can tour a recreated dungeon. Visitors can also tour the Salem Wax Museum, Salem’s original wax museum for more than 30 years, depicting Salem’s history from the sailors to the witch trials. At the Witch History Museum, the stories of 1692 are presented in a live presentation and tour with 15 life-size scenes.

It’s also worth checking out a new exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) called “Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums,” Judge said.

“Explore the essential role that art and objects played for mediums and magicians who “communicated” with the dead during the Spiritualism movement of the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States and Europe – a time when people actively debated and wondering, “Can ghosts return?” PEM officials wrote on the museum’s website. “See paintings, posters, photographs, stage equipment, costumes, films, publications and other objects that transport visitors to the era of Harry Houdini, Margery the Medium, Howard Thurston and the Fox Sisters, among others.”

The exhibition, which opened on September 14th, will be on view until February 2nd, 2025.

What are the best things to do in Salem with kids in October?

The Salem Chamber of Commerce’s Grand Haunted Happenings Parade on October 3 officially kicks off Salem’s Halloween season. The city expects 15,000 spectators for “an evening of color, pageantry, music and the enthusiasm of thousands of Salem students from kindergarten through college, as well as many local business owners.” The parade begins in Shetland Park, continues through downtown and ends at Salem Common.

Professor Spindlewink’s World of Magic, a new children’s attraction that debuted last year, is set up like an interactive museum. Children can “travel to magical realms and discover an enchanted forest, a crystal cave, a room full of fantastical beasts and even an ice dragon,” according to the event website.

The New England Pirate Museum offers a guided tour where visitors of all ages learn about New England’s pirates in a replica harbor village and pirate ship.

The Good Witch of Salem is an educator whose October program includes a magical children’s tea party, potion making, broom and hat decorating, a character breakfast and a costume ball.

The city’s annual Kids’ Fun Fest returns October 19, bringing slides, rides, games and more to Salem Common.

Check out more family-friendly events happening in Salem in October.