Discover Massachusetts’ College Towns

Families with high school students thinking about college choices can combine summer family travel with campus visits. College towns — and the schools themselves — are often rich in museums, attractions and activities for the rest of the family to enjoy while the prospective student tours the campus.

With more than 100 (114 to be exact) colleges and universities, including some of the nation’s most prestigious, Massachusetts is often high on the campus-scouting list. While Boston and its suburbs have the highest concentration, several of the state’s highly regarded colleges are in smaller cities and towns that also have attractions and experiences for visiting families.

Northampton, home of Smith College, is known as a center of the arts, with Smith College Museum of Art (works by Renoir, Cezanne and Picasso) and Academy of Music Theater, a beautifully restored historic theater. Botanic Garden of Smith College is open year-round, with seasonal outdoor gardens and a vast conservatory of tropical and subtropical plants.

Shop and browse at multilevel Thorne’s Marketplace in a historic downtown building filled with clothing and gift boutiques, an Indy bookstore and a specialty grocery store.

Amherst College, in nearby Amherst, has its own share of museums, including the small Mead Art Museum (Monet and others) and Beneski Museum of Natural History, whose exhibits include dinosaur skeletons and a dazzling gem collection of more than 800 mineral varieties. Poetry fans will want to visit the home of Emily Dickinson, and everyone will enjoy the light-hearted art and creative inspiration in Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Handy to both colleges, historic Inn on Boltwood in Amherst offers a Campus Tour package, and after your student is enrolled as a student, parents can book the Visiting Parents package, complete with  welcoming wine and cheese and a $50 dining credit.

On the western side of Massachusetts, in Williamstown, Williams College is one of the oldest private liberal arts colleges in the United States. Located in the Berkshires, Williamstown is surrounded by outdoor experiences year-round, with nearby skiing in winter and hiking trails in Mount Greylock State Reservation, which includes the state’s highest elevation.

More natural wonders await at Natural Bridge State Park, and for art lovers, there’s Clark Art Institute, known for its collections of French Impressionist paintings and works of American artists Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent. Stroll through the Williams campus to find the works of modern sculptors and artists in its Public Art Collection. In July and August, the campus is the venue for the Williamstown Theater Festival.