Salem in a Day: History, Magic and Coffee Stops You’ll Love

Visiting Salem, Massachusetts is on everyone’s bucket list, right? I finally checked it off my list in October 2024, and it was everything I wanted and more! Originally, we wanted to stay in Salem, but those lodging prices just were not in our budget. We ended up staying in Boston at The Boxer, which is a hotel 5-minutes from the train station.

Salem is the perfect day trip idea from Boston. The train ride is only approximately 30 minutes and the Salem station is walking distance from Downtown Salem. We took the first train out of Boston and started bright and early in Salem.

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The first item on the itinerary was breakfast at The Ugly Mug. The Ugly Mug is a breakfast spot that I was reading RAVE reviews about and I just knew we had to go. Unfortunately, they do not take reservations. It is a waitlist only place. Our train arrived in Salem just around 8AM, which is conveniently when The Ugly Mug opens. When we got there, there was already a line, and we waited about 40 minutes until we were seated at their counter. I was going to order a mimosa to really get the day started, but apparently you cannot order alcohol that early on a Sunday, who knew? I settled with a pumpkin chai latte and had absolutely zero regrets. To accompany my latte, I ordered the pancakes and they were divine! I quickly understood all of the incredible reviews online!

After breakfast, we had planned to do some shopping, but again did not plan it out well. It was a Sunday and most of the shops did not open for a couple more hours. We decided to quickly shift gears and do some sightseeing.

First up was a photo with the iconic Bewitched statue! If you walk from the train station to The Ugly Mug you will pass the statue on the way, but I didn’t want to waste a single second in getting in that breakfast line, so we just grabbed the photo after! I was surprised at how much of a line was already formed at the statue so early. I am not a huge Bewitched fan, so I was happy with a photo off to the side. I highly recommend doing this and saving yourself some time unless you are a huge fan and MUST take a photo with the statue.

The next thing we did was take a walk up Essex Street, which is one of the main streets in Salem. There is so much to see along this street alone! There are street performers everywhere, contributing to the magical, spooky vibe of the town. We had a few stops mapped out along the street that we knew we couldn’t skip:

Old Town Hall, which is a spot made popular by the Disney movie, Hocus Pocus.
The Witch House, the most iconic home in Salem! You can take tours here to learn about Salem’s history and the Salem Witch Trials.
Ropes Mansion, which is another spot you may recognize from Hocus Pocus, since this was the home used to film Allison’s House.

Unfortunately for us, it was rainy and a bit cold during our visit. We needed to warm up and knew exactly what would help. Coffee. We ended up at Front Street Coffeehouse and instantly fell in love with the fun, seasonal menu! It was the perfect pick-me-up.

We continued walking down Essex until we reached Salem Common. We walked this way so we could see the Salem Witch Museum, which was sadly sold out for the day. We got lucky and happened to wander upon a giant market being hosted in the Common! It was nice to walk around to see all the vendors and their crafts. While hanging out in Salem Common you also can take a look at the school that was used as the film location as Max and Allison’s school in Hocus Pocus!

At this point, we realized we had seen most of the Hocus Pocus film shoot spots, so we might as well finish the list! It is pretty easy to do a self-guided Hocus Pocus tour in Salem, and this is something I definitely recommend doing to keep this trip more budget-friendly. The last two stops on our list are located outside of Downtown Salem, but the walk is only 1 mile down Lafayette Street (approx. 20 minutes). The first stop we made was at Max & Dani’s House. As we approached the street, we noticed it was closed off to vehicles and there was a funny sign that called out New Yorker’s for not wanting to follow the rules. I couldn’t resist the photo!

The house is right on the water and the current homeowners are generous enough to let all of the tourists take however many photos they please without interruption! While we were there, we saw a proposal happen, which was super cute, except for one thing: they used confetti to celebrate, and as I said before, it was raining so it stuck to the street everywhere. After the proposal celebration they just left and didn’t bother cleaning up their confetti. Let me just say: DO NOT BE THIS PERSON. The homeowners are nice enough as it is to let the fan’s take their pictures, as tourists we need to be extra respectful of that or it will be ruined for everyone. Ok, rant over.

Around the corner from Max & Dani’s house is Pioneer Village. This is the filming location for the opening scene of Hocus Pocus where we meet Thackery Binx! Pioneer Village gives you a glimpse into 1630 Salem. It is a wonderful replica village from the time period. Admission to explore Pioneer Village is $5 per person, and it is worth every penny! You can explore the homes and the area. There is even a special photo spot in front of Thackery Binx’s house!

We left 1603 and came back to 2024, walked back up to Downtown Salem and decided it was time to do some shopping along Essex Street. This was probably the most disappointing part of the day. Being it was a Sunday and now mid-afternoon, Salem was CROWDED. Every single store had a massive line and it was difficult to move around in some areas. This didn’t deter us though. We still made it into some awesome shops and did a little shopping.

One of the things we booked in advance was a Salem History Tour. This was a fun walking tour that brought us all around Downtown Salem. The tour guide told us all of the history of Salem, including the infamous Salem Witch Trials, pointed out a few spots we didn’t know about and really topped off our day there.

After the tour we were getting tired and hungry. Lunch never happened since the city was overrun with tourists and it was impossible to get in anywhere. We had dinner reservations at The Ledger later that evening, but decided to risk it and go early, right as they opened for dinner service, and lucky for us, we got in!

The Ledger was a unique place to dine. The restaurant sits in a 19th Century bank, which explains the name. We ordered some Massachusetts local beers and were happy to sit down and give our feet a rest while we enjoyed them. We both got pasta dishes and couldn’t have enjoyed them more! It’s a wonderful spot to go after a long day of exploring!

We decided we had a little bit more exploring in us before heading back to Boston. We walked along Essex Street again until the Halloween Museum of Salem caught our eye. It cost $10 per person and was a wonderful ending to our witchy day. The museum has all things spooky on display. We had too much fun taking photos with all of the props and really enjoyed the thought and creativity of the curators of this museum.

It was finally time to take our train back to Boston. The train station was almost as chaotic as the Downtown but the employees really had everything down to a science to make it a relatively easy experience in getting back to Boston. We boarded our train and let the exhaustion sink in. Even with the rain, sold out museums, and skipping lunch, we couldn’t have had a better time!

So, is one day in Salem enough? Personally, I think so. If your goal is to hit all of the tourist spots and just enjoy the vibe of the town, then it is totally possible. There were some things that we just couldn’t do or didn’t know about, so we cannot wait to explore Salem again in the future, maybe even in the off-season!