The Literary Trail

This itinerary is the starting point for your tour, but it’s not set in stone. If there are days you would like to change, or specific places you’d like to go, we can work with you to create a personalized program that fits the needs of you and your students.

Day 1: Boston

Welcome to Boston! Meet your tour manager at Quincy Market. People have been gathering here to buy food from individual sellers since the 1800s and this tradition holds strong with food options for every taste. Enjoy time to have lunch on your own and explore some of the many shops all around the North and South Market. After lunch, depart on a walking tour of the Freedom Trail that will include historically significant sites from the American Revolution onwards like Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere's House, the Old North Church and more. Continue exploring on foot over to the beautiful Boston Public Library for a guided visit inside. Tonight, enjoy dinner on Boylston Street before going back to the hotel. Alternatively, after dinner walk to the Charles Playhouse theatre to see the Blue Man group combine drumming with paint to create a rhythmic explosion of vibrant color. Transfer back to your hotel in the Lexington area with overnight security provided.

Day 2: Boston

Your day will start with a scenic walk in the Walden Pond State Reservation. The reservation was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 for its association with the writer Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), whose two years living in a cabin on its shore provided the foundation for his most famous work, Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Next you will take a guided tour of Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House where she wrote and set her beloved classic, Little Women, in 1868. Continue to the Old Manse, where Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau spawned a revolution in American philosophy. Learn how they all called the Manse home for a time and found inspiration there—from Emerson drafting his famous essay “Nature” from an upstairs room, to Hawthorne writing a tribute to the homestead called Mosses from an Old Manse. After lunch on your own, take an interactive tour at the Concord Museum with a focus on Concord authors. Discover how the town and its history influenced the authors and their writing, from Thoreau’s interest in Native Americans and archaeology to Emerson’s connections to the Revolution. After dinner, enjoy a Ghost Tour and learn the stories behind some of the region's literary greats.

Day 3: Departure

This morning's literary adventure takes the group to the coastal North Shore town of Salem. Here you will dive into the historical events behind a number of famed literary works with a walking tour of the town viewing the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, local cemeteries and more, plus a visit to the Salem Witch Museum. Your Salem experience will end with a guided tour of the House of Seven Gables, best known today as the setting of world-renowned American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 novel by the same name. Have an included lunch at Brothers Taverna before meeting your bus and departing for home.