Small museum with a big heart. Our guide was knowledgeable. The museum has some Tewksbury Hospital…read morehistory and some public health history...I learned things I never knew. We took a timed, socially distanced tour - it worked! We hope to visit in the spring to take the outdoor tour next time.

The museum is fine. It's nothing fancy and oddly enough, completely inaccessible to people with…read moredisabilities, and I had to search for a staff member to answer my question about an unlabeled item. But for $5 and a half hour, if you're in the area, fine. Public health is important. Anti vaxxers would hate it but that's their problem. What I am actually sad about is the tour of the hospital grounds, led by an older white woman who seemed informed enough but whose knowledge of history and psychiatric care, etc, was easily outmatched by the children and adults in our group (because the people taking a 90 minute walking tour of a state hospital are not just curious tourists, we all had a specific interest in the history of health.) She simply did not seem to have any real sympathy or empathy for the poor souls held there against their will, and her cheerful demeanor as she led us around would probably be appropriate at another historic site, but not one where people were locked up for life for the crimes of being poor or disabled. She showed us a picture of a row of fat babies in a crib, admitted it was probably staged as most of the kids would be thinner, but didn't mention the well known fact that the majority of infant inmates there died before their first birthday and that their bodies were sold to be dissected. (http://homenewshere.com/tewksbury_town_crier/article_fade0809-5eb1-5269-a6f3-9fbfcb056845.html https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/issues/tewksbury-almshouse-investigation/) To me, a disabled woman, the hospital grounds are a sacred space, a space where thousands upon thousands lived and died and suffered due to the fact that society at the time did not want to deal with them. These attitudes persist today when businesses do not want to make their stores accessible or when schools deny a disabled child needed accommodations. At the time of its opening, Tewksbury hospital was a model for the nation, and today, it has offices for Mass health, the direct model for Obamacare and one of the best public insurance programs in the nation. There is a direct link between yesterday and today, and today, our guide did not even attempt to make it. A small amount of online research makes the place come alive as it did not during the tour, because you are able to find out the actual names and stories of people - very few stories, unfortunately, but many names. This tour had no stories whatsoever, simply random facts about how at that end of that building, the more 'dangerously violent insane' were kept, and how wonderful the farm worked, and how hard people worked, (until their workshops were forced to shut down because there was a law made saying that people had to be paid. This is said as if it were a bad thing......) It is largely just the pointing out of what population was held in this building that is now used for (some program) or, in about half the case, in this building that no longer exists. (Why in heavens name is there a daycare in the building formerly used as the main asylum for mentally ill men?) It is stories that make people come alive. These people are dead, many not very long ago, and their stories are all gone with them. The tour is completely inaccessible to people with sensory disabilities. There are many sections of rotting asphalt road, many stops and starts, few near a place you can sit down, also with one exception you don't get close enough to touch the buildings and not many visual descriptions are given even with a blind person in our group. And although the museum uses up to date language - saying, for example, 'people with mental illness' as has been the standard for years - the guide doesn't bother to, because, she ever-cheerfully explains, they just said 'the insane' then, so that's what she does. It's a poor choice of language and it's a poor tour in general. I do hope that other tour guides are better than ours was. Do go down the road a bit to the cemetery and pay your respects, over 10,000 people are buried there with metal markers that peep up through the leaves. Do think about the lives they led, and the choices that were taken from them as they were locked inside those cells and crowded rooms. Do think about their death and what they mean today to you as a person who maybe benefits from the great public health system of Massachusetts.

We recently booked our dream vacation to England with Maryanne. We knew we wanted to visit…read moreLiverpool and London but had no idea of where to stay and what to book for attractions. She was amazing at providing us with choices and recommending which were must sees. She sent us an itinerary which included many places that we had not even thought to visit. We were particularly impressed at her level of knowledge and attentiveness. She even set her alarm to get up in the middle of the night to book and send us our boarding passes for our flight home. So if you are looking to book a vacation and take all the worry out, definitely reach out to Odyssey Express Travel. Maryanne is incredible.

Maryanne is not only a pleasure to work with but I feel like I can call her a friend! I have used…read moreher for both my Greece and Brazil trips and she has been amazing with getting back to me and answering my questions. I think the best part about traveling and booking with Maryanne is you can travel with ease knowing she can help with anything before, during or even after your trip. Thank you so much Maryanne! You are the best in the business!

As 1 of 3 of historical homes in a package deal for $15, this house is different from the others in…read morethat it tells both the story of an colonial family but also tells the story of the British. It really puts a lens on their experience, which you don't often hear. It was humbling to remember that they're people too and to imagine they didn't want this to happen either, was a very interesting perspective. The guide that shows you through this house was informative, enthusiastic, and great all in all. You start with a 5 minute video about the redcoat experience and then you're taken through the rest of the house. They tell you about the colonials that owned it, who ran out of the house to hide in the woods knowing that the redcoats would likely come back, how the redcoats broke into the house to use it as a temporary hospital or break as reinforcements met up with the original group and led them back to Boston. Such a great tour. Such a great house. Definitely worth the time!

A beautiful combination of art, garden, and urban storm water educational piece. Enter the wrought…read moreiron sculpture entrance on Salem St and take a stroll through the alley for various art works and gardens along with info panels about the storm water project features.

An urban green public art gallery! Love! A collaboration…read morewith the Acre neighborhood group, city, and university with contributions of art by local Public Schools and poetry too! Don't forget to get Cote's famous beans on Salem St (and throw in a whoopie pie)!

Been stopping here on any trip west on rt 2 for decades now!…read more The gift shop has lots of nice local products from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It has snacks and drinks to buy, most of those are local too. The fudge, cookies, coffee cakes and chocolate dipped Oreos are fantastic. There are no full meals or sandwiches though. Just goodies and cheese. They have all the visitor center brochures too. In the fall they will give you apples from their apple trees. When they are open you can use their composting toilets. The bathrooms are always clean and looked after. They have a special shorter commode for children and there are cute paintings on the wall. The bathrooms used to be open 24 hours unattended but I think the of epidemic and insurance liability probably put an end to that. When the main building is closed there are portapotties and a kiosk with vending machines. There is a fenced in pet exercise area and seating outside and some covered areas to sit. It's a solid highway stop. It would be great if it were open past 5, but it's a nice place to stop when it's open and at least has necessary things available when it's not.

A very cute and informative Visitor's Center in central Massachusetts as we travelled from Cape Cod…read moreto I-91 to go north to Brattleboro VT. It was also a rest stop which we needed also. We did not realize we were in the hear of apple country until we got here. There are many farms nearby that have apple stands. If you have the time, get the brochure and visit some. They had a basket of freshly pick macintosh apples to take and eat as a giveaway from a random farm. It was so fresh and delicious. We have lived in Colorado for nearly 50 years and we never get Macs out there. But I grew up in New England and Macs were my favorite. They just don't travel well so are not grown fro cross country shipping. Take one if you are here at the right season. Along with all the Johnny Appleseed lore, it make a great highway stop.

Informative exhibits on the start of the revolutionary war, with an interesting, short video as…read morewell. Adjacent to where the first skirmish began at Concord near the famous bridge.

With the 250th anniversary of the American Revolutionary War, we wanted to pay tribute to the…read moreglorious patriots who made sacrifices for this country! It is about 20 to 30 miles northwest of Boston, the drive is scenic especially when you start driving through all of the little towns leading to Lexington and Concord. The main attraction for our visit was to visit the north bridge memorial site where the first shots of the war began at 5am on Apr 19,1775 dubbed the "shot heard around the world" There is also a marker for the two British soldiers killed here. The site is spread out and will require some hiking if you would like to see the entire trail. I believe it was 5 to 7 miles on foot to see everything. The visit was amazing and awe inspiring! I highly recommend any history buff to visit.

Ira was a fantastic guide. Highly recommend his tour when visiting Boston! Would do it again.read more

We had some out of town visitors, and even though I thought I knew Boston well, ("that's the…read morelibrary, that's the State House, that's Dunkin Donuts,...") I knew I didn't know enough to give a proper tour, so we enlisted 1ifbyland. Great move. Our guide was a real history buff, with more little known facts than Cliff Clavin. He was funny too and really made the afternoon for us. Great tour.

Communication before the actual river cruise was excellent, thorough…read more Boat was inn excellent condition, clean, comfrotable Staff on board was cheerful, courteous, experienced, helpful Food was amazing, gourmet quality. Portions were just right. Tour guides were each assigned to 35 people. They were knowledgeable, friendly, and just great to be with. Activities on board the ship in the evenings were fun.

My husband and I recently went on a last-minute cruise called "Holland and Belgium in the…read moreSpringtime". We found the cruise via Travelzoo at a greatly discounted rate as Grand Circle was trying to fill up the last few cabins of its first cruise of the 3/2026 season. The cruise was for 10 nights, starting in Antwerp and ending in Huizen outside of Amsterdam. We booked our own airfare and stayed in various hotels that we booked on our own before and after the trip. We also took numerous train trips during and after the trip on our own (Delft, Bruges, Haarlam, Leiden, and the Hague). Pros: 1. Initial customer service via phone and Internet 2. Service staff although don't expect cute little towel animals in your room at night. 3. Food was good and at times imaginative. (Caveat was the dining room coffee was not to our taste so we made use of the 24-hour coffee machine in the lounge). Wine and soft drinks were provided at no extra charge in the lounge and dining room. 4. Usually there was a walking tour every morning and the afternoons free for independent exploration. If you wanted to stay onboard, there were several activities such as talks, cocktail hours, hot tub, sauna, and massages. Some had additional fees. Cookies were usually available in the lounge. (Caveat: It would have been nice to know that the sauna and hot tub were available in advance of booking so that we could have brought a swimsuit. 5. Some bikes were available but we did not know about them before booking. Large groups would often book them well in advance so we never had the opportunity to use them. 6. The ship/boat sometimes docked next to the city or the windmills. This allowed us to get up early or stay out later doing independent photography or visiting the towns. 7. Outstanding visit in a local host's home in Enkhuizen. 8. We loved many of the small towns. 9. All the tulips and daffodils in bloom. So beautiful. 10. Program directors for every 40 people were helpful although sometimes the walks were extremely slow. The headsets were nice as we could wander off during the slow times and still hear what was going on. 11. Ice, sparkling water, and water were available at all times. 12. The tulip farm tour was fabulous as was the tulip garden visit. 13. Plenty of storage locations in the room 14. Being able to run some of our proposed logistics for independent visits by the program director 15. The local accordion and musician night, as well as the "orange" night were awesome and filled with laughter and smiles. Cons 1. The group skewed to an older crowd, and in some cases, a much older crowd. Some were more active than others. The oldest tended to predominantly stay on the boat. As active travelers in our 60s, we probably were some of the youngest onboard. 2. There were not a lot of travelers that chose to do extra things on their own as many enjoyed staying on the boat. 3. There was a lot of bragging about taking 47 Grand Circle trips, cliques, and larger groups hanging out together or monopolizing amenities. Although we are friendly and can talk with most anyone, we sometimes wondered if we were a bit more active than most. We tried to sit with different people at meals so that we could meet more people. Others chose to sit with the same people over and over, limiting the availability of alternate dining partners. 4. Some of the local guides were good and others were a bit dry. 5. Beds were very hard. Staying on the second deck, we sometimes heard the engines but for the most part, it was okay. 6. Dining room coffee just was not good. 7. Publishing the group list of names in advance. Because my last name is hyphenated and my last name different from my husband's, I had a woman questioning me about whether we were married. Really??? Perhaps this is a petty peeve but still, this made me feel very uncomfortable. 8. I was not interested in the topics for the talks. Others were. Still, it gave me time to do other things so that is perfectly acceptable. 9. Huizen docking spot in place of Amsterdam which is limiting riverboats: although beautiful and reminding me of a Norway town, the logistics for independent travelers were not good. There is no train and the bus stop was too far away to walk with luggage. Ubers were approximately 83 Euros. Still, Randy (program director) did work on getting 2 minivans which allowed us to get to the Amsterdam Centraal at a reasonable rate. Overall impression: For the most part, we truly enjoyed the trip as it gave us time to rest, meet others, see small and large towns, and fit in independent excursions. If another trip with O.A.T. or Grand Circle catches our eye, we will probably use them again.