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 go a little bit further, giving details about potential sensory issues at popular destinations so that you can steer clear of triggers and focus on having fun.

Every autumn, we plan a weekend away in the Berkshires. This western area of Massachusetts, bordering New York and Vermont, offers spectacular fall foliage, arts and culture, and great outdoor adventures. Peak colors are usually in the first two weeks of October!

It’s close enough to Boston or New York to do as a quick overnight trip, but you’ll get a lot more out of it if you can stay over on either Friday or Sunday. In this next series of posts, you can learn about the best things to do in several Berkshire County towns.

Williamstown, MA is a small town located in the rural northwest corner of Massachusetts, bordering New York State and Vermont. For a small town in the middle of almost nowhere, there’s a lot going on here.

Williamstown is home to Williams College, an elite liberal arts school with about 2000 students from around the globe. The campus is beautiful on a clear autumn day, when the blue skies and green grass contrast perfectly with red brick buildings, white churches, and red, yellow and orange maple trees.

Also in town, the Clark Institute of Art is home to one of the most significant collections of Impressionist art outside of Paris. It’s remote enough that you can visit any time without worrying about loud, crowded, or chaotic. The museum is surrounded by pristine pasture and forest walking trails that are home to an diverse mix of modern sculptures and grazing cows.

Plan to eat lunch in the downtown area on Spring Street, which has unique independent shops, sandwich shops and ethic restaurants, a small community theater, and on Saturdays, a farm market in the municipal parking lot. Regardless of where you choose to eat lunch, make sure to save room for some Purple Cow ice cream at Lickety Split!

In big city art museums, it always seems like you have to pass through a lot of rooms that most people aren’t the least bit interested in to find what you came for. Not at the Clark! It’s a small museum that has just enough space for the very best stuff that everyone wants to see.

After you buy your ticket, you’ll walk down a long corridor with floor to ceiling windows, overlooking the reflecting pool out to the mountains, and immediately enter into a room full of familiar, famous paintings by Winslow Homer and other well known American artists. The Impressionist art starts in right in the next room, and there’s lots of it spread through mulitple rooms. Most of the Clark’s permanent collection spans the Renaissance through the early 20th century. A real art aficionado could easily spend a few hours here, but others might think an hour is enough time to see most of the exhibits.

Outside the museum, there’s a reflecting pool with benches to relax on, and a series of trails that will lead you through the pastures and the woods. Along the trails, you’ll find interesting sculptures that are fun to interact with and explore, and wonderful views of the Berkshire mountains in full fall color.

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM. If you get there early, explore the walking trails or relax by the reflecting pool until you’re ready to go inside. FYI - the museum cafe has excellent food for adults with sophisticated palates. Picky eaters will appreciate the pastries but might prefer to eat lunch elsewhere.

If a morning at The Clark isn’t quite right for you, a trip to the peak of the highest mountain in Massachusetts is a great alternative. For experienced hikers, there are several trails that you can take all the way up and back. For most families with children, the best thing to do is simply drive to the top and choose an adventure from there.

Once you park at the top of the mountain, you will find Bascom Lodge, a 1930’s era stone building where you can purchase food and drinks, a World War II memorial, and several overlooks where you can see fifty miles or more in the distance.

From this point, you can hike the easy Rounds Rock Loop, a little over one mile, or the moderate rated 2.5 mile Mount Greylock Overlook Trail.

Mountain Adventure Park at Jiminy Peak in nearby Hancock is open daily during the summer and weekends only between Labor Day and Columbus Day. The attractions include a mountain coaster, alpine slide, giant swing, bungee trampoline, a ropes course, climbing wall, and a kids playground.

One great thing about visiting any college town is that there are lots of free and low cost activities and events open to the public.

If your family would enjoy watching a football game, a soccer match, or a track meet, click here to see what sporting events are happening while you’re in town. Admission is always free, and you can come and go whenever you want.

Sensory: the football stands are made of aluminum, and when fans get excited, everyone stamps their feet. The home team stands get really loud and vibrate when this happens. The sensory work around is to sit in the smaller visitor stands, which are usually almost empty, or to stand outside the end zone and watch from there.

If you’d like to hear a musical performance, there’s something happening in the evening almost every weekend. Information about classical music, jazz, and acapella concerts can be found here.

Williamstown and nearby North Adams have plenty of lodging options, including 1950’s strip motels where you can park your car right in front of your door, small boutique hotels, time share rentals and full service, luxury hotels. A chance to swim at some point in the day makes almost any trip better for almost any kid - so those are the hotels that our family tries to stay in.

If you’re looking for the best indoor pool in the area, Vacation Villages is the place for you. It’s a time share resort where all rooms have a fireplace, kitchen or kitchenette, and a bedroom separate from the living room.

We often stay at the Marriott Fairfield Inn, which has a very small indoor pool and great mountain views behind the hotel. There’s a wonderful outdoor patio with firepits and outdoor dining tables, so this place is perfect for families with kids who do better with take out than fancy restaurants in the evening. Next door, Olympic Pizza is a great family restaurant that has a full dinner menu with cocktails for adults and pizza for kids.

If you plan to visit Mountain Adventure Park, you might like to stay at The Country Inn at Jiminy Peak. Their outdoor pool stays heated all winter - an exciting choice for kids who like to be in the water.

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