Boutique hotels
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Blantyre
- Style
- Old-fashioned opulence
- Setting
- Burnt orange woodland
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Wheatleigh
- Style
- Refined Florentine palazzo
- Setting
- Bucolic Berkshires hilltop
Berkshires Overview
Massachusetts
- Countryside
- Great estates
- Country life
- Artists and artisans, symphonies and skis
Known for wooded hills, arty little hamlets and colonial charm, New England's Berkshires offer a promise of peaceful escape as well as some superb ski slopes.
These forest-clad hills in western Massachusetts are Boston and New York’s very own back-to-nature bolthole. City-dwellers flock to the area, not only to ogle its natural beauty and stretch their legs in its great outdoors, but also to tap into New England’s rich creative seam – the place is crawling with artists, and, in the summer, its little colonial towns are alive with theatrical and musical events. It’s impossible to visit the Berkshires without stumbling upon fine art museums and galleries, world-renowned dance companies, celebrated symphony orchestras, cutting-edge drama troupes, landscaped gardens, and marvellous historic homes and museums. In the autumn, the foliage comes into its own, and the turning leaves paint smudgy streaks of russet and gold across the undulating landscape.
Beautifully Berkshires
A large proportion of the southern Berkshires has established its own currency to keep its economy afloat: Berkshares. Accepted at hundreds of businesses and a large number of banks, the notes, which feature local luminaries, have been in circulation for several years and a number of other parts of the world are now following suit: www.berkshares.org.
Local Knowledge
- Taxis
- Cabs are neither much user nor widely available on the country roads of the Berkshires, but Abbott’s Limousine and Livery Service (+1 413 243 1645; www.abbottslimo.com) will take you anywhere your heart desires 24 hours a day – and will happily ferry you off you a guided tour of Berkshire County.
- Tipping culture
- When in doubt, tip. 15–20 per cent is standard in the majority of establishments.
- Siesta and fiesta
- When in doubt, tip. 15–20 per cent is standard in the majority of establishments.
- Packing tips
- The high terrain ensures even midsummer evenings can cool down to jumper-worthy temperatures, so come prepared. An umbrella will protect you from any brief but energetic thundershowers that may strike. And, if you're an outdoorsy type, be sure to bring your outdoorsy gear for tramping the Appalachian and Mohawk Trails.
- Recommended reads
- Herman Melville penned sprawling whale-tale Moby Dick in pretty Pittsfield. Edith Wharton’s haunting Ethan Frome is based on an incident she witnessed in Lenox and is set in the fictional New England town of Starkfield. Equally haunting (what is it with New Englanders?), The House of the Seven Gables by local author Nathaniel Hawthorne touches on witchcraft in the Berkshires in the mid-19th century.
- Cuisine
- Traditionally, New England dishes have placed a strong emphasis on seafood and dairy produce, but the Modern North American cuisine served throughout the Berkshires caters to every palette, from gastro-pubs and bistro fare to Thai, Indian and Italian. Farm-fresh vegetables from roadside stands are abundantly available in the Berkshires, many chefs focus on locally grown organic produce. The Slow- Food movement has a strong hold on the region’s restaurants. Seasonal wines and beers are bountiful.
- Currency
- US dollar ($)
- Time zone
- Eastern time: GMT -5.
- Dialling codes
- US: +1; the Berkshires spans two area codes: 418 and 518.
- Do go/don't go
- The Berkshires is a four-season destination. Summer brings in the theatre fans and nature lovers; autumn draws the daytrippers who come for the spectacular fall foliage; and winter marks the arrival of skiers and snowboarders. The mild (and potentially wet) spring may be the quietest time to go – but even in the busiest of seasons rural roads of the Berkshires can feel sleepy.
Don't go home without...
…a stash of locally made honey, jellies, jams, and maple syrup. You can pick up treats at farm shops and roadside stalls around the region. Alternatively, if you’re feeling adventurous, grab a can of New England molasses dessert Indian Pudding at the irresistibly traditional Williams & Sons Country Store on Stockbridge’s Main Street.
