Salem Trolley Tour

Is it recommended to do this tour so as to give us an overview of the area and then be able to visit what interests us most. What is the best place to visit to tell us the most about the history of Salem.

Selbeep.

Salem Trolley Tour

The tour by the Trolley Depot is definitely a great way to get an overview of the city. You can hop on and off all day from different points of interest. The tour guides who run it are very well informed and entertaining.

As for the best place to get the history of Salem, that%26#39;s a little trickier. Salem has a varied history and there is no one place that will give you all of it. I recommend the Peabody Essex museum, the House of Seven Gables and The Witch House. If you like some of the more touristy types of places, there%26#39;s the New England Pirate Museum, The Haunted Witch Village and the Dungeon. Those will give you history as well as the usual mockups and displays associated with tourist centred attractions. But, don%26#39;t let my description as ';touristy'; put you off, they%26#39;re still good places to visit.

Salem Trolley Tour

Selpeep,

The Peabody Essex Museum including the Yin Yu Tang Chinese House is worth a visit.

Here is review of Salem from last year that you might find helpful.

Enjoy!

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60954-i1100-k2650…

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60745-i48-k204797…

Thanks all for your replies. We%26#39;re most interested in learning about the witch trials so perhaps the best place for us would be the Witch House. I%26#39;ve also noticed the Salem Heritage Trail Tour. Maybe we%26#39;d be better to do something like this instead of the Trolley Tour as it involves walking with a guide and perhaps we%26#39;d see more. Any help with this please?

Selbeep.

Oddly enough, the Witch House doesn%26#39;t delve too deeply into the trials.

Although I cringe at recommending it, the place that has the whole story would be the Witch Museum. The reason I don%26#39;t like telling people to go there is because, for what you pay, you don%26#39;t get a whole lot. Basically, you stand in the middle of a darkened room while a taped voice tells the story of the trials and different displays light up one after the other. Not exactly a high calibre attraction, but it will give you what you want to know about the trials.

Forgot to add to your question about the walking tour. That is a good way to go, but I still recommend the trolley, you%26#39;ll still get loads of info as you drive around and they stop by all the major attractions. But, the choice is ultimately yours. Salem is a very walkable town, so no worries about overextending yourself physically.

Raven 7,

Do you mean the Salem Witch Museum or the Witch Dungeon Museum?

Selbeep.

The Salem Witch Museum is the one that has the whole trial story.

The Dungeon has a short play where they reanact a portion of one of the accused women%26#39;s trial, taken straight from court documents. After the play they take you downstairs into a life size replica of what the cells were like that the accused were held in. The Dungeon is very interesting and puts some perspective on what it must have been like back then to go through the physical and mental agony of being an accused witch.

To confuse things even more, there is a place called the Witch History Museum. It%26#39;s also one that has mannequins in various setups. Although, it does actually require you to walk through various rooms rather than standing in one spot. It%26#39;s rather low budget in its presentation, which is why I didn%26#39;t mention it at first.

The Witch House is a house that belonged to one of the judges that presided over the trials. It%26#39;s interesting in its architectural history as well as its infamous connections. I highly recommend it.

Hope I haven%26#39;t confused you with too much information. Enjoy your trip to Salem.