Rockport, fishing village in Massachusetts

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The Pewter Shop

Why We Like Massachusetts

Rockport! I've wanted to introduce you to this fishing village in Massachusetts for a long time. After all, we were often on the road in Boston and environment. We fell in love with New England, with its pretty little towns with white church spiers, but also with their cute Queen Anne-style houses. Then there are the captain's houses on the coast with their roof galleries, from which the captain's wives looked out for the ships of their seafaring husbands.

Shop on Bearskin Neck in Rockport
Shop on Bearskin Neck in Rockport

Massachusetts makes us feel as if a dollhouse world has come to life - no matter in which region of the state we are traveling. That is also what draws us there again and again. It's the Massachusetts we seek when we go exploring this American state. At Cape Ann, northeast of Boston, we finally find it. There are several fishing villages worth a visit. However, we liked Rockport best.

 

Motif No 1 in Rockport
Motif No 1 in Rockport

Rockport in Massachusetts

These little ones Places in Massachusetts tell stories. Of the people who built ships here. With that, they sailed out into the world in search of rum, for trade goods in Asia, yes, and also for slaves in Africa. The schooners were created in these places, with which New England sailors sailed around Cape Horn on the way to California, Japan or Alaska. Here they brought the whale oil from their whaling trips to the Arctic, which lit the lanterns along the cobblestone streets that still line some of the old town lanes of the coastal towns.

For overnight stay we recommend:

Rockport is one of those places. This Massachusetts fishing village is located on the extreme northeast tip of Massachusetts Bay, northeast of Boston. It can be reached by car in less than an hour from Boston. A stone's throw! And also a time travel, one comes from the modern city in this small fishing village on the coast.

 

Motif No 1
Motif No 1
At a shop on Bearskin Neck
At a shop on Bearskin Neck

 

Fishing village and artist village

In any case, Rockport's charm is a mixture of a fishing village and an artist's place. However, great history was never written here. For a long time, the place was only a suburb of neighboring Gloucester, where the shipyards procured wood for shipbuilding. Granite was later mined in the area. Rockport has also always been known for its good fishing grounds. You can feel the proximity of the sea everywhere. That is why the lobster fishermen still go out here today to lay out their baskets in Massachusetts Bay. She is accompanied by the hope of catching the tasty crustaceans. You can also smell the ocean everywhere. Whether that's at the landmark of the place, the fishing shed with the strange name "Motif No. 1 “, is at the mooring of the sailing yachts in the harbor or at the places where lobster traps and lobster buoys are waiting for their next use in the sea.

 

lobster buoys
lobster buoys
Maritime Charm in Rockport
Maritime Charm in Rockport

 

Maritime charm attracts artists

After all, it was this maritime charm of the place that attracted more and more artists here. As we stroll through the village, we can spot painters trying to capture the charm of rockport on canvas. On Bearskin Neck, a quay whose former fishermen's huts now house numerous art galleries, restaurants and shops, you can admire their works and of course buy them.

Rockport is definitely a place we love in New England. With a maritime character, a manageable center that invites you to stroll, cute coffee shops, where we can watch the hustle and bustle in the harbor over a cup of tea. Or boutiques and craft shops where we like to spend hours and rummage in search of the most beautiful souvenir that makes us feel at home this feeling, which also gives us the place. An arrival. A well-being. An inspiration for your own creativity. However, I would like to live in one of these captains' houses overlooking the sea and work at a desk in an alcove, from which my eyes keep wandering over the port of Rockport.

 

Sailboat in the harbor of Rockport
Sailboat in the harbor of Rockport
This buddy is on the look out for the sea
This buddy is on the look out for the sea

Travel Arrangements:

Parking at the airport

Here you can reserve your parking space at the airport.

How to get there

Book yours here Arrival by plane, bus or train*. KLM, Lufthansa, Air France, United and British Airways all fly to Boston. You can definitely rent a car there.

Car Rentals:

Cheap car hire - book quickly and easily!

Hotels and Inns in Rockport:

Hotels and Inns in Rockport * You can also book through our partner booking.com at this link.


 

Do you already know:

 

Source: own research on site. Anyway, we financed this trip ourselves.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline

Rockport, fishing village in Massachusetts

Monika Fuchs

Monika Fuchs and Petar Fuchs are the authors and publishers of the Food and Slow Travel blog  TravelWorldOnline. They have been publishing this blog since 2005. TravelWorldOnline has been online since 2001. Their topics are trips to Savor, wine tourism worldwide and slow travel. During her studies Monika Fuchs spent some time in North America, where she - partly together with Petar Fuchs - traveled to the USA and Canada and spent a research year in British Columbia. This intensified her thirst for knowledge, which she satisfied for 6 years as an adventure guide for Rotel Tours and then for 11 years as a tour guide for Studiosus Reisen around the world. She was constantly expanding her travel regions, but curiosity still gnawed at her: "What's beyond the horizon? What else is there to discover in this city? Which people are interesting here? What do they eat in this region?" As a freelance travel journalist (her articles have appeared in DIE ZEIT, 360° Canada, 360° USA, etc.), she is now looking for answers to these questions as a travel writer and travel blogger in many countries around the world. Petar Fuchs produces the videos on this blog as well as on YouTube. Monika Fuchs from TravelWorldOnline is among Germany's top 50 bloggers in 2021. Find more Information about Monika and Petar Fuchs here.

4 thoughts too "Rockport, fishing village in Massachusetts"

  1. Hello you!

    We were 2013 on a round trip from Boston, through Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, then over to Canada. There we looked at Montréal, Ottawa, Algonquin Provincial Park and Toronto. Then it went past the Niagara Falls through Pennsylvania to Washington DC and then via Philadelphia to New York and finally back to Boston.

    Of course, we also came through Rockport on our tour and loved it! Rockport is exactly how you always imagine New England's coast!

    LG
    Thomas

    1. Hello Thomas,

      Wow! That was a long distance that I had set you there. How long have you been traveling?

      Best regards,
      Monika

  2. In Rockport I came over on my Ostküstenrundreise 2015 also. The entire east coast is a dream and three weeks is far from enough to have seen everything. I would have liked to take one of the lobster buoys with me. But that did not fit in the suitcase. And to be honest, I think on the Lower Rhine that would make as decoration not so good.

    1. Three weeks for the entire east coast? We were on Cape Cod alone for ten days - and still have not seen much :), Heike. We are always crazy about the antique and vintage shops in New England. There are such great things that we would always like to take home, because they are so beautiful. I have always been particularly impressed by the oil paintings of local artists. They are often amazing, and would do very well in our apartment if we had no leaning walls. But soon we move into another apartment with straight walls - then maybe worth the next trip to New England. Who knows?

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