Olde Mystick Village or Old Sturbridge Village in MA.

We will be traveling the New England States for fall folage the first of October. Has anyone been to Olde Mystic Village and Old Sturbridge Village in MA. and have an unbiased opinion of which is the best?

We will be going to one or the other place from Newport, RI on our way to Woodstock, VT.

Thanks, Cindy

Olde Mystick Village or Old Sturbridge Village in MA.

We%26#39;ve also heard of Plymouth Plantation. One living museum is enough for us. Any suggestions about these or maybe another?

Thanks, Cindy

Olde Mystick Village or Old Sturbridge Village in MA.

Hi Eaton,

I visited Old Mystic Seaport (which is what I assume you%26#39;re referring to as it is the ';living history museum';) just last month and it was wonderful. However, of the three you mention (Mystic, Old Sturbridge, Plimouth Plantation), I think that Plimouth is really the best. It is amazingly authentic and the ';actors'; portraying people living in the village are super. It makes very clear the real hardships these early settlers faced as the place isn%26#39;t ';tidied up'; - that is, no air conditioning, etc. The kitchens have real flies when they%26#39;re cooking (and even when they%26#39;re not). This, I know, bothers some people . . . but my feeling is, if you%26#39;re not interested in trying to see what life was really like, why bother to go?

midwesternerOhio

We thoroughly enjoyed Old Mystic Seaport when we were there. It is just different-focusing on boating/shipping, of course. If you have been to other ';colonial'; type amusements/towns before, I would suggest the seaport. You will enjoy Newport, be sure to tour one of the old summer mansions. And do the ocean walk in front of the mansions! Have fun!

Olde Mystick Village is a shopping mall.

Mytic Seaport isn%26#39;t really a living history museum. There are some costumed interpreters but they don%26#39;t pretend to be living in the 19th century. The focus is definitely on shipping and whaling and such. It is truly excellent but its focus is very specific. They have a lot of more museum-type exhibits, a planetarium, and rotating exhibitions as well as the ships and period buildings.

I visited Old Sturbridge Village as a child in the 1960s and haven%26#39;t been since even though we live only a little more than an hour away. Articles in the travel sections of local papers indicate it%26#39;s kind of fallen on hard times lately so I don%26#39;t know if it is a great choice.

I second the suggestion of Plimoth Plantation. We visited last year and it was fascinating. It is an authentic recreation of the Plymouth Colony of the 1630%26#39;s. The re-enactors play the role of specific figures from the colony such as the governor, the minister and so on. They only use authentic technology of the period and have no knowledge of subsequent events, so for example they have never heard of New York (though they know the Dutch have settled New Amsterdam) and they don%26#39;t know about telephones or cars. It%26#39;s well worth a visit, I think. As is Mystic Seaport, but they are really apples and oranges. Visiting one doesn%26#39;t render visiting the other redundant in any way, though of course if you have limited interest in history in general I suppose one or the other might be enough.