The Witch City sees tourists from all over the world. Especially around Halloween, visitors flock into Salem by the thousands, making it an incredibly popular travel destination. More than one million tourists annually bring in at least $100 million in tourism spending each year and in 2016 Salem saw over 250,000 visitors over Halloween. [Source]

That…is a lot. Visitors come in by train, bus, ferry, car and plane. So if you’re one of the folks who has a long haul into Salem and you’re looking for some activities to keep the Salem vibes up, this blog post is for you. The following are five things you can do on a long trip into Salem.

First (and my favorite!) is binge watch some Hocus Pocus. I have seen this movie enough times to pretty much recite 90% of the film along with it and I love seeing Salem in the background. A handful of locations around the witch city were used in the movie so why not play a game while you watch?? See how many times you can spot Salem in the movie. Need a little help? Check out my blog post covering the Hocus Pocus filming locations here.

Next is everyone’s beloved time vampire…Pinterest. If you’re coming into Salem for Halloween, I’d suggest browsing Halloween costumes, Halloween makeup, images of Salem around Halloween and general fall imagery. I have boards for every one of those categories, so feel free to browse all of that for some spooky inspo while you’re en route.

Coming into Salem with a plan will help you get the most out of your trip, so if you’re on an aircraft for a few hours (or more) why not get all of that worked out? Go over any guides you have gathered, plan out your route for my photo challenge, browse the resources you have saved on your tablets and phones and get your trip all planned out. Trust me, it’s better to go in with an idea of what you’re doing. Especially if you’re visiting in the fall or over Halloween, that goes 100x over.

If you are more of a book worm and want a good read to pass the time, check out The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne to prep yourself for visiting the actual House of the Seven Gables in Salem. You could also browse the suggestions in the book list I created with Wicked Good Books. The titles are either spooky or Salem based, so it’s perfect for the trip into the city.

The last suggestion I have for you is to browse Salem based Instagram accounts. I did a Friday Favorites post in March covering my top picks, so all of those can be seen here. However, if you want a quick run down of who I suggested, it would look like this: @thesalemtakeover @igerssalem @salemweather @hellosalem @hauntdhappnigs @destsalem and @salemmainstreets.

What are your favorite ways to pass time while traveling into Salem? Feel free to drop your ideas in the comments below. Enjoy!! <3