The picturesque classic New England towns of Lexington and Concord are within an hour drive from Boston.  Revolutionary historical sites include North Bridge (first official battle of the Revolution), Buckman Tavern (where the Minute Men waited for Paul Revere’s alarm), the Hancock-Clark House (where John Hancock and Sam Adams “slept” - April 18, 1775) and Monroe Tavern (British headquarters and later a field hospital).

Other sites of interest are Minute Man National Park, Thoreau’s beloved Walden Pond and former homes of Transcendentalists Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau -  all of whom are buried on Author’s Ridge at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. 

The Concord Museum houses an inspiring collection of American treasures, among them the famed 1775 Revere lantern, Emerson’s study and Thoreau’s Walden desk. The 30-acre indoor/outdoor deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum displays works of contemporary and modern American artists.

Keep traveling west to visit Old Sturbridge Village, where costumed historians carry out the daily activities of a 1830s New England town and working farm.