Yahtzee

Of those towns, I'd go with Andover.

Yorkshire Traveller

Thanks Yahtzee.

Cloudship

Westborough and Milford are way out - even if you drive into the end of one of the subway lines you will have quite a trip. Leominster is a good two hours during the week, so I would not even consider that unless you are going to be spending most of your time in central mass. And it is not in the greatest location. The Danvers/North Shore one may not be bad - close to Manchester by the Sea and Gloucester.

Yorkshire Traveller

Thanks Cloudship - appreciate your extra feedback.

The location of Doubletree North Shore looks good to use as a base. We like the Hilton chain as we use the points for cheap week-end breaks here in the UK.

Looking at where to stop from the ferry en route to Boston prices in Providence RI are also expensive or sold out for this period so we've decided that we'll head over to Plymouth and have a couple of nights there to explore the area.

Hopefully that's sorted.

Thanks again to everyone for their help.

mareh

I agree that the one in the Danvers area would be your best location.

Yorkshire Traveller

Thanks mareh - we've booked in to the Manvers Doubletree and also a lovely traditional motel (Blue Spruce Motel) in Plymouth.

Really looking forward to our visit!

VidaNaPraia

What nobody seems to have mentioned is the rush hour traffic. From Danvers, for example, there is heavy traffic, often stopped entirely, between 6 and 10 in the morning coming in to Boston, and 2:30 and 7:30 or so at night going back out. South of Boston is worse IMO.

Btw $300/month wouldn't get a mortgage on a dog house anywhere within 2 hours of Boston. A single family that needs work, in my town next to Boston, goes for $750K to over 1million. Parking spaces in Boston have sold for 1 million.

Yorkshire Traveller

We'll definitely be avoiding the rush hours - thanks for the heads up!

mareh

If you want to go into Boston on a weekday, from Danvers, you can take commuter rail in from Salem or Beverly, but you'll have to arrive very early because the lots do fill up. You can also drive part way, and take the subway from one of the stations along Route 1. Many of those lots are bigger and you probably won't be an issue finding a spot any time of day. Someone else can probably tell you which station would be best for that. Note, weekend train lots don't usually fill up, but the commuter rail runs very sporadically then. Just check the schedule ahead of time. The subway (the "T") will still run more often.

From Danvers, if you want to see the North Shore, you'll be about a 25 minute ride to Cape Ann. (Rockport, Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea and Gloucester.) Ipswich is another nice North Shore town. Cape Ann has a mixture of rocky coast and some sandy beaches.

Yorkshire Traveller

Many thanks for the additional information. We're planning on one day in Boston and the rest of the time exploring parts further north.

mareh

A correction to my previous post: my husband says Beverly's new commuter rail garage doesn't fill up. North Beverly's parking lot does. So Beverly may be your best bet on a weekday if you're going into Boston.

Hope you have a great trip!

Yorkshire Traveller

Many thanks - everyone's help and advice is truly appreciated.

lhl12

If you're going to be in Providence for a day or two you should not miss Newport, RI. You could easily spend a full day (or two) walking around the Cliff Walk and visiting the various mansions. Providence itself has some nice things as well.

drewguy

Also a better bet because it's before the split of the lines, so not half the trains.

Depending on what you plan to see in Boston, you may be just as well off eating the high cost of parking and saving the time you would burn using an unfamiliar commuter rail system.

Yorkshire Traveller

Thanks for the updated information.

Nigel