We’ve been going to Salem almost every year since October 2020, and honestly, I’d say you really only need about two nights and three days to see it all. For us, we usually get there early on October 30th around 7am and leave late on November 1st. That seems to be the perfect amount of time. You get to do everything without feeling rushed, but you’re not just wandering around trying to find stuff to do either.
Salem’s a small town, and that’s part of what makes it awesome. You can walk pretty much everywhere. Most of the main places and attractions, like the Witch House, Ropes Mansion, the Witch Museum, Count Orlok’s Monster Museum, and Old Burying Point Cemetery are all close together. One full day of sightseeing covers a lot. The next day, you can hit smaller spots like the House of the Seven Gables or Ye Olde Pepper Companie, which is actually the oldest candy company in the country.
If you’re going in October, especially around Halloween, just be ready for crowds. The lines can get super crazy long, and it takes forever to walk through Essex Street because it’s packed with people in costumes, live music, and street vendors. They claim over a million people visit in October, there’s probably about 150k-200k people on Halloween day. You MUST get tickets for things months earlier including dinner reservations if you are planning to go around Halloween time.
One thing I love is how good the food is there. We always do breakfast at Ugly Mug Diner, its kinda like out little tradition, you have to get there first thing in morning (7-:7:15am) or you’ll never get a seat. They have the best coffee and pancakes, and lunch at Red’s Sandwich Shop. Then for dinner, we usually go to Rockafellas or the roof top bar at the Salem Hotel. There’s something about walking out after dinner and seeing everyone dressed up, the lights glowing on the old buildings, and hearing all the street performers, it’s such a cool atmosphere.
If you go outside of October, you can get away with doing everything in two days since it’s less crowded and you can move faster. But if you want that full Halloween feeling, go the last weekend of October and stay through the first of November.
So yeah, for me, two nights and three days is perfect. You see it all, eat great food, take a million pictures, and still have time to just walk around and take it all in.
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