3 Eventful Days in Salem MA

You can spend many days in Salem MA.

If you are planning on visiting Salem in October, you will definitely need to plan ahead.

Check out this guide to Salem MA.

I luckily live within an hour’s drive to Salem so I was able to space out my visits.

Hopefully, this will help you out if you are visiting this historic town during the busy months.

Massachusetts has countless historic sites so make sure you plan your trip so you can take all (or most) of it in!!

I went to school at Salem State University and worked downtown so it was always fun during the fall. It is, of course, packed on Halloween Day/Night. It is actually pretty touristy from spring to fall.

I had never realized how much of a good time Salem MA can be. I spent a few nights downtown during my college days, but never fully appreciated the historic town.

I ended up going to Salem MA recently and discovered how charming this touristy area is.

Salem MA has many historic activities and landmarks that include: Salem State University, the House of the Seven Gables, Pioneer Village, Salem Willows Park, the Peabody Essex Museum, and many others.. Including some of the filming spots from the Halloween classic: Hocus Pocus!!

There are also countless haunted houses and psychic readings that suck you in. If you are from out of town, they have hotels as well.

Not to mention the tasty restaurants that are in the area.

Here are some popular spots from Hocus Pocus:

Max & Dani’s House:

Max & Allison’s School:

Salem Common:

Town Halloween Party:

Allison’s House:

The Graveyard:

There’s one scene where Max is next to the three whitest gravestones to the right with the one that’s leaning a bit. This is actually in Marblehead MA.

You can find more info on the filming locations here.

I also made a Google Spreadsheet that helped Jill and me on our mission. As you can see on the spreadsheet, there are some other popular locations in Salem MA that should be on your itinerary.

3 Days in Salem MA: Day 1

On the first day in Salem MA, my friend Jill and I, along with her adorable son, parked on Central St and walked along Essex Street taking in the spooky views. It wasn’t too busy on a Wednesday in the fall, which was nice.

After punching in Max and Dani’s address from Hocus Pocus in my GPS, we were on the way. Little did we know it was a half-hour walk from downtown Salem. LOL. It was a sunny day so by the time we got to their house, we were both sweating. The house was worth the sweat and tears.

After walking the half-hour back, we decided to grab some food.

I had seen this restaurant on Facebook and had to try it. It is called Sea Level Restaurant. It is right near Pickering Wharf Marina.

They have enjoyable views and delicious food. We ordered 2 of each oyster and then chowder fries. The chowder fries were okay. If they didn’t have cheese on them and more chowder they would’ve been amaaaazing.

Then, I got a crab cake sandwich with homemade chips and coleslaw. The coleslaw had pickles in it which I thought was a bit odd. I ordered an apple cinnamon sangria to try. Jill got a BLT and a caramel espresso martini. We split the bill and it came out to about USD 50 each. Which really isn’t too bad in a touristy area.

After we stuffed our faces, we had some time to kill before the meter ran out.

We walked along Essex Street and came across the Bewitched Sculpture:

Before leaving Salem MA, we had already decided that we were going to go back because one day just was not enough.

3 Days in Salem MA: Day 2

We lucked out the second time going to Salem MA. It was a Monday and it was less busy than we thought. Driving through Salem during this time of year is horrible though; walking, not so bad.

We parked at a nearby parking lot and walked to our first destination: Howling Wolf. This Mexican restaurant is oh so delish. Their queso is mouth-watering. I also got a grilled shrimp and grilled fish taco and a few Palomas to drink. Jill got a margarita and a quesadilla and a taco for her oldest, Ella. We ended up only spending about USD 60 each.

After filling ourselves up, we had a little time to kill. We went to Phillip’s Elementary School, also known as Max and Allison’s School.

It was the farthest location in Salem so we decided to start there. We walked through the Salem Common and took pictures with the school in the background. From Howling Wolf, it took about 15 minutes to walk to the Common.

Since we had to put more money in the meter, (we later found out that it does use the Passport App, it just didn’t say it on the front of the meter *eye roll*) we decided to make our way back.

We walked through the Salem Witch Village and took some more fun photos.

We ended up stopping at the Salem Wax Museum. Tickets were only USD 12 each and the two little ones were free. It only took about ten minutes to go through the whole thing.

After exiting the museum, we were able to enter the Burying Point. The Burying Point holds judges that were involved in the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s. That was pretty interesting.

From there, we walked less than 5 minutes to Old Town Hall. This is where the town Halloween Party was in Hocus Pocus.

The next stop on the Hocus Pocus filming locations was Allison’s house. This is also called Ropes Mansion and it is part of the Peabody Essex Museum. It was only about a 6-minute walk from Old Town Hall to the Mansion.

You can walk through the beautiful backyard garden of Allison’s House.

Once we finished our Hocus Pocus tour, we decided to call it a day.

We walked by the Witch House yet again and found our way through the crowds.

3 Days in Salem MA: Day 3

On the last and final day I spent in (or near) Salem MA, I went alone. I ended up going on a weekend to the Old Burial Hill.

Pioneer Village is actually only open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-4 so it was pretty difficult to plan LOL. Make sure you call first!!! I wasn’t able to make it before they closed for the season but I did stop by and saw the outside which was pretty cool. If I had known that they would be closed in November, I would have gone sooner. If I am still in Massachusetts in the spring, I will definitely go back and update this!!

Pioneer Village is shown at the beginning where Binx is looking for his sister.

The Old Burial Hill is a bit out of the way since it’s actually in Marblehead. It’s where Jay and Ice take Max’s shoes.

To get to Old Burial Hill, you have to drive down narrow roads. Marblehead is an adorable small town. There are a bunch of shops and cute little boutiques along the road heading to the Hill. I actually thought that I was going the wrong way and was going to turn around but then I was like eh let’s see what happens. I eventually found it.

To get to one of the filming spots, you go on this path and take a left before the rock. Then, you’ll find the three white gravestones that are in the scene (pictured above under The Graveyard). I have to say that Salem MA has more to offer than I thought. I think spending 3 days in Salem MA is perfect. Of course, those three days will have to be fully packed and well planned but hey, it’s worth it.

Like many others, I loved watching Hocus Pocus growing up (and even now). And now that I have seen some of the filming locations, it was even better to watch!