Top Family Outings in Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Historic Family Outing in Sturbridge
Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) is a living history museum which re-creates rural New England town of the 1830s. Each day people dressed in period costumes take on the roles of the villagers. Meet the banker, or the farmer’s wife, the school teacher or the glass blower. Watch history come alive as you see traditional meals being cooked over an open hearth, or watch the potter transform clay into usable cups and mugs.
This top family outing is set on more than 200 acres of historical landscape, complete with a village center, a mill, expansive countryside and heirloom gardening. Old Sturbridge Village houses more than 60,000 artifacts made or used by rural New Englanders between 1790 and 1840. There are more than 40 buildings including a schoolhouse, a bank, farmhouses, a blacksmith and a potter. Old Sturbridge Village is comprised of restored buildings from across New England.
This top family outing in Sturbridge is educational as well as recreational. In addition to exploring the village, touring fully-furnished historic houses and observing every day people of the 1830s, there are also daily events. Event schedules vary.
Plan to spend between three-and-a-half to four hours to competely explore the village, tour the buildings and listen to the stories of the characters in each house. If you cannot see everything in one day, OSV in Sturbridge allows a second visit within ten days of the first visit.
If You Go:
OSV is located at the intersection of I-90 (Mass. Pike) and I-84 just about an hour west of Boston.
Old Sturbridge Village Road
Sturbridge, Massachusetts 01566
Telephone: (508) 347-3362
www.osv.org
Spooky Family Outing in Sturbridge
Another fun family outing in Sturbridge is the month-long Annual Scarecrow Festival on the front lawan of the historic Publick House. For more than fifteen years, local people, artists and businesses have been creating outlandish, comical and sometimes scary “scarecrows.” These scarecrows that inhabit Sturbridge for about a month are more than just scarecrows. The creativity is endless, and the scarecrows are intended for family viewing, so they are neither offensive or gory.
Visit the Publick House in Sturbridge to see the scarecrows while on display. While there, walk to the nearby cemetery to check out flat, old tombstones. The culmination of the Annual Scarecrow Festival is the Harvest Festival. While at the Publick House in Sturbridge, visit their famous bakeshop or have a tradtional New England dinner in the restaurant.
Animals, Microbrew and Apples, Oh My
This family outing in Sturbridge is sure to please parents as well as kids. The Hyland Orchard & Brewery in Sturbridge offers year-round family fun. Dads will enjoy the hand-crafted beer, access to talk to the local brewers and watch the Patriots or Red Sox on the flat-screen television.
In Sturbirdge, the Hyland Orchard & Brewery features a family-owned and operated 150-acre orchard abounds with a variety of apples. Depending on the season, fruit-picking could include apples, peaches, berries, or pumpkins from our giant pumpkin patch. In the fall press your own apple cider and and go home with a jug complete with a customized label. Kids will enjoy the live petting zoo and wagon rides.
If You Go:
Open from noon to 7 p.m. Closed Mondays. Call for current hours as they are subject to change depending on the season.
Hyland Orchard & Brewery is located off Route 20, just west of Old Sturbridge Village. Take Arnold Road north 2 miles.
Hyland Orchard & Brewery
199 Arnold Road
Sturbridge, MA 01566
(508)347-7500 or Toll-free at (877) HYLANDS
