Scene of the first battle of the American Revolution and home to four of the greatest writers in American literature, Concord carries more history per square mile than almost anywhere in the United States. The town is a wonderful day trip from Boston — roughly 45 minutes by commuter rail or car — and a full day can be spent here without running short of things to do.
The Old North Bridge, where the "shot heard round the world" was fired on April 19, 1775, is the main Revolutionary draw. But the literary history runs equally deep: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott all lived here, and their houses are preserved and open to visitors. Walden Pond, where Thoreau conducted his experiment in simple living from 1845 to 1847, is two miles south of the centre — still beautiful, still swimmable in summer. Orchard House is where Alcott wrote Little Women; Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is where Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Alcott all lie buried, a few metres apart on Author's Ridge.
The Concord Museum is the best starting point — it holds Emerson's original study, Thoreau's Walden cabin furniture, and one of the two lanterns hung in the Old North Church steeple on the night Paul Revere rode. From there, the Revolutionary and literary sites are all within a half-mile radius, or a short drive to Walden Pond. The town centre itself is pleasant — a New England common, white-spired churches, and independent shops.