Colonial-era villages of the southern Berkshires attest to the rich soils of the Housatonic Valley, while former brick mill towns of the north hint at 19th-century industrialization. Today, though, the region’s identity revolves around the summer arts scene: music, dance, theater. The natural world, too, is always alluring. Mountain laurel explodes into bloom in June, and deer browse in abandoned apple orchards. Mountaintop trails lead to sweeping views, or you can hike into deep woods where a waterfall plunges into a still pool.
NEED TO KNOW
Berkshires Visitors Bureau • 66 Allen St, Pittsfield • 413 499 1600
• open Mon–Fri
Norman Rockwell Museum • 9 Rte 183, Stockbridge • 413 298 4100
• open daily year-round • adm
Mount Greylock State Reservation Visitor Center • 30 Rockwell Rd, Lanesborough • 413 499 4262
• open daily year-round
- If you’re looking for an easy climb, try modest Monument Mountain on Rte 7 a few miles south of Stockbridge. The roundtrip hike to the summit takes about 90 minutes.
- Head to the deli behind Rubiner’s Cheesemongers (264 Main St, Great Barrington; 413 528 0488) for gourmet sandwiches, many with exotic cheeses.
1. Williamstown
Williams College lends a young spirit to this historic village at the edge of Mount Greylock. The Clark holds several unmissable treasures (for further details see The Clark, Williamstown, MA ).
Williamstown College
2. Norman Rockwell Museum
The museum focuses on the popular illustrator whose works celebrate small-town American life in the mid-20th century. Changing exhibitions explore the illustration work of his edgier contemporaries.
Norman Rockwell Museum
3. Mount Greylock
American authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau climbed Greylock and sang its praises. You can reach the summit, too, either via several scenic hiking trails or by car.
4. Stockbridge
American illustrator Norman Rockwell (1894–1978) modeled his nostalgic treatments of rural American life on the people and buildings of this slow-paced village, dominated by the Red Lion Inn.
Stockbridge village
5. Lenox
A quaint village surrounded by grand houses and vast estates largely built as summer “cottages” between 1880 and 1910, Lenox is the epicenter of luxury shopping and the summer performing arts scene.
6. Great Barrington
A vibrant mix of artists, artisans, savvy business folk, and New Age visionaries makes Great Barrington easily the hippest town in the Berkshires, as well as a gateway to antiques shopping on Route 7 south of town.
7. Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
This woodsy mountaintop retreat in Becket is the venue for performances by top-flight dance companies from around the world, as well as workshop productions of edgy new choreography (for further details see Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival ).
8. North Adams
This erstwhile factory town at the west end of the Mohawk Trail has embraced the art world and vice versa. It is best known for Mass MoCA , where provocative contemporary art fills a former factory.
9. Hancock Shaker Village
Now converted to a museum that brings the Shaker story to life, Hancock was among the most influential of 19th-century Shaker communities. Its Round Barn is considered to be a masterpiece of vernacular architecture (for further details see Hancock Shaker Village, MA ).
10. Tanglewood Music Center
The summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1940, Tanglewood Music Center also hosts jazz, chamber music, and popular music concerts, and in summer operates an important music education program.
Boston Symphony Orchestra
