Community Corner

Where Do You Go on Day Trips Near Brookline?

By Sara Jacobi    

Remember when you first heard the term "staycation?  Most likely it was way back in the early years of the 21st century, when gas prices spiked tremendously.

Higher energy costs prompted many of us to curtail airline travel – none of us wanted to pay the exorbitant fuel surcharge fees- and we even reduced the frequency of interesting, but costly, car jaunts.

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But that is all in the past.  Or is it?

It really doesn’t matter.  More often than not, lack of time and conflicting friends’ and family schedules are the contributing factors hampering sociable togetherness. Rather than carve out days or weeks to vacation together - or alone – it just may be time to simply plan a day trip or two.

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For most of us, local excursions or visits to nearby sites can be as equally pleasurable and they sure require less planning and coordination.

So where do you go on day trips nearby?  Almost anywhere. 

Perhaps a long hike –well maybe not that long – with a backpack full of edible treats to enjoy along the way.  Pack up the fun and go. While a staycation may involve amusing activities in the home, let’s face it, those beastly chores and household tasks often get in the way. Enjoying books, board games, or simply some quiet time can be done at nearby parks, beaches or outdoor venues. 

Within the city, you've already got some good green areas to walk in like the Boston Common, the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, Jamaica Pond in JP, Larz Anderson Park or the Back Bay Fens. 

And if you're looking to head a little bit out of the city (i.e. you've got a car) you can head to Walden Pond, Breakheart Reservation in Wakefield, or hop on a ferry to Spectacle Island. For longer trips, there's the North Shore beaches, the South Shore beaches, and the length of Cape Cod to explore. 

Expand your intellectual side.

Museums, art galleries, regional and local theatres, and concert halls rotate their offerings and displays frequently enough that day trips can be planned at a moment’s notice or throughout the year. Plus, after exposure to such cerebral exploits,  you’ll be able to flaunt your new cultivated self to friends and family. 

In the neighborhood here in Brookline, you have access to several world-class museums like the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Or if you're willing to take a bit of a trip, you can check out the Eric Carl Museum in Amherst or journey up north to the Robert Frost Museum in Derry, New Hampshire. 

Not only can local day trips provide individual or group fun, they deliver off-site revelry without the cost and hassle of arranging overnight accommodations, multiple meals per day, and potentially complicated travel logistics.

So hop on a train or bus - or simply start the car and go.

SHARE: Where are your favorite day trips to from Brookline? Upload your comments and pictures below. 


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