My husband and I are older parents of a teen girl with autism. We love to travel as a family, creating trips that are that are both sensory-friendly and fun for our daughter G. Our posts are relevant for any family traveling with children, but take the extra step to give details about potential sensory issues at popular destinations so that you can steer clear of triggers and focus on having fun.
We love New England Coastal towns, and often head to “the other Cape” on Boston’s North Shore. If you’re traveling to New England from another part of the country, Cape Ann is absolutely worth a few days of your time. If you’re local to the Boston area, any of the towns featured in this series is a good day trip on a sunny Saturday or Sunday!
In This Post
A Perfect Day in Rockport
The Quarry at Halibut State Park
Rockport, a quintessential New England fishing village, is about an hour north of Boston. The town is a feast for the eyes. You’ll see quaint little beach homes decorated with colorful buoys and surrounded by flower gardens, epic ocean views, and a charming shopping area. Its best known landmark is Motif #1, a red fishing shack that is the number one most painted building in America.
Bearskin Neck is the touristy heart of Rockport. Dozens of former fishing shacks on a narrow spit of land have been transformed into art galleries, gift shops, restaurants, and ice cream shops. On a sunny summer weekend, the Neck is packed with tourists seeking souvenirs and jockeying for the perfect selfie shots. The peak hours of the day, from 11-3, are challenging for kids who need a predictable and calm environment to stay regulated. Fortunately the rest of Rockport is generally quiet, calm and peaceful.
A Sweet Morning
The best strategy for a sensory friendly day in Rockport is to start early at Bearskin Neck. Parking is very limited in this area, so try to arrive by 9:30.
Most shops open at 10, so you’ll have time to get a few great pictures without the crowds, grab a coffee, then take a walk out to the jetty at the end of town and enjoy the harbor view. There are some nice stone benches to sit on and take a little break if actually walking out onto the jetty is too challenging.
The Jetty at the end of Bearskin Neck
When you walk back into town, you’ll be glad to know that amongst all of the great little shops, there are three candy stores competing for your next sugar fix!
The Bearskin Neck Country Store has both an old fashioned player piano and large selection of old fashioned penny candy.
At the Fudgery, you can watch the fudge makers at work and sample their product to make sure you’re choosing the absolute best flavor to bring home.
Tuck’s Candy Factory makes and sells 69 different flavors of Salt Water Taffy, along with hand-crafted chocolates, caramels, and other various specialty candy.
It’s tempting to fill up on candy and call that lunch, but if you want to set a good example of healthy eating, save room for some New England Clam Chowder and lobster.
Roy Moore Lobster Company is a classic New England seafood shack right on the dock. The atmosphere is exactly what you would expect - paper plates and plastic forks at rustic picnic tables, with sea gulls begging for bites of food on the back patio. It’s really great for most people, but potentially overwhelming for children with autism. The physical space is tight, very loud and very crowded at peak times. The most sensory friendly time to dine here is before 11 AM or after 4:30 PM.
For a quieter and more relaxed lunch, hop in your car and head to the Lobster Pool just outside of town, where you can either eat inside, or at one of many picnic tables spread out over a large waterfront area.
An Easy Afternoon in the Great Outdoors
You can add to the rock sculptures at Halibut Point State Park
After lunch, drive to Halibut Point State Park, the site of an abandoned granite quarry right at the edge of the ocean. The park has a little over 2 miles of easy walking trails that bring you around the quarry, and a path down to ocean tide pools. On a clear day, you can see up the coast all the way to Maine.
Halibut Point State Park is very sensory friendly. The paths are wide and smooth, mostly made from finely crushed gravel, nice and quiet. The consistent background noise of the ocean waves is always in the background but never too loud. The quarry doesn’t echo if you yell into it – but feel free to try.
There is NO swimming in either the quarry or at the shore here.
Front Beach is a small town beach with soft sand and minimal waves
End the day at Front Beach, about 2 miles away, back towards Bearskin Neck. The beach is relatively small, with soft sand, minimal surf, and public restrooms. There are a few metered parking spots. If you can’t get a metered spot, there’s a private paid lot across the street, or you can park in the free parking lot just outside of town and use the shuttle to get to the beach.
The playground at Millbrook Meadow Conservancy
Another good late afternoon choice is the Millbrook Meadow Conservancy, a quiet four acre park bursting with nature. Look for ducks, turtles and frogs at the pond, enjoy the flowers in the meadow, and burn off some excess energy at the playground.
Rocking It in Rockport
The Shalin Liu Music Center is spectacular concert venue that seats over 300 people, and features a 30 foot tall floor to ceiling glass wall behind the stage, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
There are concerts almost every day or evening in summer, and most weekend nights all year long. Performances include a full range of genres from rock to jazz to chamber music. Click here for their calendar, which includes both paid and free performances.
Getting to Rockport on Public Transport
The MBTA commuter rail has regular daily service between North Station in Boston and Rockport. The train ride takes 1 hour 15 minutes, see here for the schedule. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the commuter rail station to Bearskin Neck. In summer, a shuttle service runs roughly every 20 minutes between the commuter rail station, Bearskin Neck, and Front Beach.
To visit Halibut Point State Park, you would need either a taxi or Uber.
The MBTA offers a weekend commuter rail pass for only $10 for adults, free of charge for children 11 and under. The pass allows unlimited travel on all commuter rail trains in the Greater Boston area, but not on the regular subway or bus lines. If you’re downtown, and your child enjoys train rides – this is the Adventure for you!
Where to Stay in Rockport
Most kids judge the quality of any vacation, any time of year, to any place, by how much time they get to spend swimming.
If you’re looking for a hotel with an indoor pool, the best (and only) choice right in Rockport is the Rockport Inn and Suites. It’s a comfortable hotel with a resort like indoor pool and a fire pit on the outdoor patio. The Yankee Clipper Inn and the Emerson Inn both have outdoor pools. A basic hotel room in Rockport will run about $350 on a summer weekend, but only half that off-season.
If you’re also planning to visit Salem on this trip, consider staying in Danvers or Beverly, halfway between Rockport and Salem. This is more of a business community than tourist area, so you’ll easily find your favorite chain restaurants, stores and extended stay hotels. Your room will be about half the price of staying directly in Rockport. The Doubletree Hilton has a nice indoor pool, and the Marriott Residence Inn has a good outdoor pool. Our family loves the Residence Inn – it’s easy to keep G on her usual routines in an apartment like setting.
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