Day Trip to Newburyport, MA

The beauty of Rye Beach is that you are an hour or less away from so many amazing beach towns. You can day trip it to Maine and Massachusetts and see a good chunk of New England’s coastline - from Boston to Portland. Recently, we set a goal to explore a new area of New Hampshire (and the surrounding area) every Saturday. These trips are easy, inexpensive and family-friendly. First up was Newburyport, MA. 

Downtown Shopping

The car ride from Rye to Newburyport was roughly 45 minutes. When we got there, we headed downtown to its historic shopping district. Most of the shops are housed in 3-story, red-brick buildings, giving the town a charming, colonial feel. The shopping district was sizeable and offered an array of shopping: clothing, home goods, art, spa & wellness. One of our favorite shops to go to was Best of British. It was nice to find unique products from the UK that are not found in big chain supermarkets. We also found this funny shirt there:

We loved the soaps at Soak & Shoreline. These make for a fun, personalized gift:

photo cred: @soakshoreline

There were also tons of shops that featured art and handmade goods by local artists. From jewelry to candles to pottery, it was fun to explore these unique pieces of art and learn about the artist. 

Waterfront & Marketplaces

We walked the boardwalk along the waterfront and enjoyed a picturesque view of the harbor and Merrimack River. Along the way, we checked out the Oldies Marketplace, a large antiques shop, and The Tannery, an old mill that was converted to a shopping center. From there, we meandered back to the center of town, grabbed lunch outside and enjoyed some yummy pretzels sticks at The Port Tavern.

Plum Island

Everyone was tired after a late lunch so we skipped our planned hike and drove over to Plum Island to explore the area a little more. It was an easy drive and only 15-minutes from Newburyport. Plum Island looks and feels like a beach vacation. People who come to this island are clearly there for a sandy, laid-back beach getaway (leave your cell phones behind!). We stopped at the main entrance to Plum Island Beach and were floored at how different the beach on Plum Island looked from the beaches in Rye. The sand was a beautiful beige color and not as compact as the sand on Sawyers Beach in Rye. The beach is small in width but the waves left behind a wide pool of foam that created a majestic picture on this cloudless day. Such a treasure!

Plum Island Beach

Click here for more New England Day Trip ideas, including a day trip to Woodstock, VT.