Massachusetts

Massachusetts is small enough to base yourself in Boston and still reach the ocean, the mountains, and a handful of towns older than the country itself.

Boston's Freedom Trail covers most of the Revolutionary War sites in a single walkable route, and Cambridge across the river adds Harvard and MIT to the mix. Head east and the state turns into beach towns and whale watching boats around Cape Cod.

Salem, north of the city, leans hard into its witch trial history, for better or worse.