Experience the best of Salem

Salem is a seaport on the north shore of Massachusetts, about twenty-five kilometres north-east of Boston. In 1692 it became infamous for the witch trials, in which twenty people were executed after accusations of witchcraft, and the Witch House, the home of a judge, and the Witch Trials Memorial recall the events. The Witch Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum are among its main museums.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Salem was a rich trading port with ships sailing to China and the East Indies, and the Salem Maritime National Historic Site keeps Derby Wharf, a custom house and a replica tall ship. Federal-style mansions line Chestnut Street. The House of the Seven Gables inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was born in the city, and the Peabody Essex Museum holds Asian art and a Chinese merchant's house moved here from Anhui province. Marblehead and Cape Ann lie along the coast.

Seafood is the traditional meal: clam chowder, fried clams, haddock, scallops and lobster rolls, with craft beer and ice cream. October is Salem's busiest month, when Halloween events fill the streets, and summer brings visitors to the harbour. Winters are cold and snowy.