February isn’t known as the tourist season in Boston. This is even more true in Salem. Salem will probably be dead that time of year. Stick to Boston. Should be no trouble finding a cheap place to stay. You can take the train and go to the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem for a day if you want. Make sure to double-check they’re open, though.

Stay in Boston. You can take public transportation right to Salem. Salem is great and fun for bar hopping this time of year but there is way more to do in Boston in the winter.

I agree. See what is going on in Boston compared with Salam. There is way more to do in Boston. I really like the Peabody-Essex Museum, but I love the MFA.

Thanks for the advice!

Thank you!

I think I'm leaning towards Boston then. Thanks!

Boston is your best bet, You can still find witchy attractions in Salem this time of year, but only on the weekends, and it’s not the same experience as summer or fall. But still worth the day/night trip if you have always wanted to go.

I’ll disagree with everyone here so far. Stay at the harthorne in Salem. Every time I have guests here there’s plenty of things to do for three days to keep yourself entertained. You won’t have to deal with waiting on the train on the weekends and walking across Salem in the freezing cold. Plenty of good restaurants and coffee shops to check out. If you get bored go to Beverly right across the bridge.

I’m agreeing with you as well!

Going to throw the hat of our fair city Cambridge into the ring here. If you want cute streets, coffee shops, and museums we’re hard to beat. Much quieter than Boston but plenty to do at a slower pace. We’re also on the red line of the T (the subway here) so getting into Boston proper only takes 20 minutes and $2.40. Enjoy the wedding and don’t forget Boston’s overeducated little brother across the Charles

If you’re going to a wedding, go to the wedding- I definitely do not recommend visiting Boston and trying to travel to Salem for more than one single event over the course of three days. Just a wedding might be fine if you have a car and the weather cooperates, but you’ll spend a miserable amount of your trip driving if there are also rehearsal events or post-wedding lunches or quick visits with family at their hotels or anything like that.

I think salem being dead adds to the reasons to stay in salem lol. You get to experience all the charm of the town and see all the tourist things without the tourists/crowds. Great place, lots to do. Beverly 1 town over also has a ton of good bars and restaurants if you want out if salem for a night. Plus you can still hop over into Boston to visit for a day or 2

Boston by a mile. Salem is cool, go have a nice lunch.

But stay in (and explore) Boston.

Or Marblehead right next door. Very historical, all those things OP mentioned.

You can see this at Abbott Hall.

Salem! Stayed at the Merchant for my last birthday. Amazing coffee shops, little boutiques and pubs. You won’t be disappointed.

Stay in Salem. You’ll get to experience it without the tourists

If you get bored:

Or Gloucester, Plum Island, Bearskin Neck, Newburyport.

It is easy enough getting back and forth between Salem and Boston via the commuter rail. Boston obviously has exponentially more to do, but based off your description, it sounds like Salem would be very much up your alley.

Salem .

boston is lame, and if you end up in the wrong part, dangerous .

Salem has all kinds of cool stuff , check out the salem visitors center, for where to go, and what to do .

You never know with the weather here in February. Incase it snows you should stay in Salem closer to the wedding. Boston is a nightmare to travel through during a storm. Not to mention the trains can be a headache.

Tourists aren't going to randomly end up in Roxbury or Mattapan 🙄. Even if they do, the most dangerous parts of Boston are incredibly tame relative to dangerous neighborhoods in other major cities.

Agreed. Loads to do in both places. Schedule a separate Boston trip for another 3 days off later.

I also recommend the Hawthorne.

Neither both places are miserable tourist traps.

If you stay in Boston get a hotel near North Station so you can easily catch the train to Salem. Don't drive. It'll cost more money and the train is quicker.

I think anyone in any of the murder towns would disagree .

Follow the red line to alewife, lemme know what you find there .

I have actually! I visited a friend in a neighborhood nearby about a month ago. Took the train to Alewife and walked from there, and geez has that entire neighborhood changed. Brand new luxury apartments and trendy retail spots (this was at night too!).

If Dorchester is what we have to compare to the high crime neighborhoods in cities like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Maryland, DC, ect, then Boston is in pretty good shape.

Salem has a ton to do that is all walking distance. Plus as others have said the surrounding towns also have a lot. You can take the train into Boston for a day trip and not have to panic when trains are delayed to get to the wedding if you stayed in Boston the whole time.

Lot of kitsch in Salem. Choose wisely. The witch stuff is overdone. Peabody Essex Museum is fantastic though. The Witch Museum....well, it is stuck in 1970 and that is also when it was last dusted.