New England’s museum collections span history, time, and even space. Within these cultural treasure chests you’ll find famous art and artifacts, but also under-the-radar gems you didn’t know you needed to see … until now.   

24 Crowd Favorites and Hidden Gems in New England Museums

Vermont Museums

Shelburne Museum | Shelburne, VT

The Crowd-Pleaser: Board the 220-foot steamship Ticonderoga in its landlocked berth, and explore the four decks, pilothouse, and crew’s quarters. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the ship’s arrival at the Shelburne Museum—a feat of maritime preservation.

The Cool Surprise: Created as part of a 1960s national ad campaign to promote Vermont’s granite industry, Norman Rockwell’s The Craftsman sketch is one of three works by the legendary illustrator newly acquired by the Shelburne Museum from the Rock of Ages quarry. (The name “Norwell” engraved on the headstone is a playful self-reference.)

Bonus Pick: St. Johnsbury Athenaeum | St. Johnsbury, VT

The Crowd-Pleaser: Benefactor Horace Fairbanks added a room specifically for The Domes of the Yosemite oil painting, featuring it prominently in what today is the oldest unaltered gallery in the country. The giant 10×15-foot landscape depicts the grandeur of the Yosemite Valley and is based on artist Albert Bierstadt’s visits to the West Coast in the mid-1860s.

The Cool Surprise: Within the masterpiece of this building (a National Historic Landmark), look for the library’s two spiral staircases (no longer in use). The risers feature delicate scrollwork, and walnut balusters support a sheening banister curving to a second-floor balcony. It’s a good reminder that architecture is as much an art as the framed pieces that hang on the walls.

Massachusetts Museums

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston | Boston, MA

The Crowd-Pleaser: Paul Revere himself made the celebrated Sons of Liberty Bowl in 1768 at his Boston workshop, likely by melting down old silver coins. The secret society of Revolutionaries who commissioned the bowl used it for serving rum punch at their meetings.

The Cool Surprise: For another perspective on U.S. history, look for the large stoneware storage jar crafted in 1857 by an enslaved South Carolina man named David Drake. Adding a line of verse and his name, “Dave,” to his work was a daring move for someone who had to learn to read and write outside the law.

Bonus Pick: Norman Rockwell Museum | Stockbridge, MA

The Crowd-Pleaser: Freedom From Want, Freedom From Fear, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Worship: These iconic images were inspired by a 1941 address to Congress by President Roosevelt. Today, the Four Freedoms oil paintings by Norman Rockwell are a cornerstone in the museum’s permanent collection, and just as relevant as when they were first conceived.

The Cool Surprise: On the floor next to the painting easel in Rockwell’s studio, a brass bucket held paint rags and dumped pipe ashes. But sometimes that combination created small fires; the bucket would quickly get thrown outside and took some dings and dents to show for it.

New Hampshire Museums

Currier Museum of Art | Manchester, NH

The Crowd-Pleaser: Think the Currier is a small-town museum? Think again. One of many well-known pieces in its collection is Monet’s The Bridge at Bougival, an 1869 oil painting of a tranquil scene outside Paris. You’ll also find works by Calder, di Suvero, Matisse, Picasso, Sargent, Andrew Wyeth, and more.

The Cool Surprise: Installed just this year, Judy Pfaff’s Glazed and Confused: Rockin’ Lobster Majolica wall sculpture gives a modern nod to Victorian-era pottery with its jumble of cardboard, wire, and fake flowers in an organic shape and its mix of bold colors.

Bonus Pick: Canterbury Shaker Village | Canterbury, NH

The Crowd-Pleaser: In 1834, Elder Micajah Tucker used pine and birch from the village to create a low-back Windsor-style Shaker dining chair. It fits neatly beneath the table, and allowed the Sisters to more easily clean up after their meals for 150 people. You can view two on display: one in the furniture exhibit in the Carriage House (visitor’s center) and another in the Dwelling House.

The Cool Surprise: The Canterbury Shakers did not invent built-in cabinetry, but they excelled in designing and constructing such convenient storage solutions. Built-ins opened floor space in the community’s many shared rooms and required less dusting. The impressive example of built-in cabinetry in the Deaconess Retiring Room forms one wall in the 1793 Dwelling House.

Maine Museums

Maine Mineral & Gem Museum | Bethel, ME

The Crowd-Pleaser: Known as NWA 12760, the largest piece of the moon on display anywhere in the world is the highlight here. The meteorite weighs 128 pounds! (Although this specimen is strictly no-touch for visitors, you can hold a sizable piece of moon rock elsewhere at the museum.)

The Cool Surprise: Named for its unusual pink or red core and green exterior, watermelon tourmaline was first identified in 1910 at a quarry in Maine. This example of Maine’s state mineral—and its most popular gemstone—has been cut to show off that stunning color.

Bonus Pick: Maine Maritime Museum | Bath, ME

The Crowd-Pleaser: This original Fresnel lens, from the east tower at Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, once shone its light 20 miles out to sea. Now see up close how the light reflects and refracts thanks to the hundreds of pieces of glass artfully constructed in a beehive shape.

The Cool Surprise: This clipper ship didn’t return to its home port, Portland. But, lucky for us, a section of its bow was uncovered in the 1980s and brought back to Maine. The Snow Squall shipwreck is the sole remaining example of these mid-nineteenth-century, American-built trade ships known for their speed.

Connecticut Museums

Yale Peabody Museum | New Haven, CT

The Crowd-Pleaser: Sprawling 16 feet high and 110 feet long, Rudolph F. Zallinger’s The Age of Reptiles mural dominates the newly renovated Burke Hall of Dinosaurs—and proves that while our understanding of these creatures may have changed, their powerful hold on our imagination has not.

The Cool Surprise: By expanding the range of expertise showcased in its galleries, the Yale Peabody aspires to create a more welcoming, engaging, and relevant museum. Case in point: Eternal Cities, a mesmerizing sculptural art piece created in 2023 by local Syrian American artist Mohamad Hafez.

Bonus Pick: Wadsworth Athenaeum | Hartford, CT

The Crowd-Pleaser: The St. Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy oil painting, on display at the oldest continuously operating public art museum in the United States, is the first-known religious composition by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Note the strong contrasts between the shaft of light at the center and the dark shadows. His technique was groundbreaking for the time, and became a “defining characteristic of Baroque art.”

The Cool Surprise: This gilt shell with a figure riding a top it, patiently making its way, sits in the Cabinet of Art and Curiosity gallery. The Nautilus snail collectible, donated by J. Pierpont Morgan, dates to the 1630s when personal displays of “universal learning,” featuring a mix of art and nature, were popular.

Rhode Island Museums

RISD Museum | Providence, RI

The Crowd-Pleaser: A stellar example of the museum’s wide-ranging collection, this 12th-century Buddha statue—the largest Japanese wooden statue in the United States—stands 10 feet tall and commands its own gallery. Legend has it that the statue was stored for centuries in a farmhouse after its original temple burned.

The Cool Surprise: Made of honeybee wings sourced humanely from RISD’s campus hives, artist Luci Jockel’s Bee Wing Lace Neckpiece honors the natural world and highlights the importance of pollinators. The design was inspired by lace in the museum’s collection.

Bonus Pick: Newport Car Museum | Portsmouth, RI

The Crowd-Pleaser: In a word: performance. The centerpiece of the museum’s American collection, the 1965 Ford Shelby 427 SC Cobra sports car is only 1 of 31 ever sold through dealerships—at a price of $9,600, which that year was twice the average U.S. household income. Feast your eyes on the side pipes, riveted hood scoop, and flared fenders.

The Cool Surprise: Meanwhile, your eyes might bug out at the 2006 Bugatti Veyron, a French luxury sports car. The Veyron has a top speed of 250 mph and is priced at $1,250,000. As the auto designer Ettore Bugatti once said, “Nothing is too beautiful and nothing is too expensive.” Or is it?

Let us know your favorite hidden gems in New England museums!

Parts of this article were originally published as “Double Feature” in the May/June 2025 issue of Yankee Magazine.

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AUDIO: Jodi Picoult discusses her March 2007 book Nineteen Minutes

Jodi Picoult’s newest book,”Change of Heart,” deals with the death penalty, organ donation, and organized religion. Jodi lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with her husband and three children. Her novels tackle subjects such as sexual abuse, abortion, suicide, and bullying.

“We’ve been taught to show our kids that the world is black and white, and that there’s a right way and a wrong way. I think the way you teach critical thinking is by illustrating all the shades of gray.

“My personal feeling as a mom is that when we as parents pretend something doesn’t exist, we do far more damage than if we allow ourselves to open up a conversation about it, maybe even before anything happens. I would rather discuss something unpleasant, controversial, maybe unpalatable, with my kids, because then I think they’ll know they can come to me if they need to.

“Start asking questions in a way that’s not prying, but really genuine. Instead of lecturing or laying down the law, you’re inviting. It’s saying, Here’s my spiel; you make up your mind. A kid can feel the difference. I’m not a parenting expert. I just know it’s worked in my house.

“When we come down to the dinner table and we talk about what we did all day, I talk about the research I did. I talk about what I’m writing about. I ask for their opinions. My daughter is 12 now, and she knew what rape was when she was 8 or 9. We explained it to her in a way that was not scary and that was age-appropriate.

“I see parents who read my books falling into two camps: the ones who say, ‘This is wildly inappropriate for kids — there’s language in here, there’s sex.’ You can believe that [high school students] are naive and that they haven’t encountered any of this. You are so lying to yourselves. I think they’d surprise you — not only with their knowledge base, but also with their capacity for empathy and their ability to seriously join this conversation.

“We as adults have to be willing to allow [kids] into the discussion instead of thinking we hold all the reins, and that’s scary for a lot of people. The more you do it, the easier it comes to you. I think that fiction is a terrific venue for that. A mom who sees her kid withdrawing, and speaking less and eating less and spending time in his room, may not be able to walk up to her child and say, ‘Are you depressed? Are you suicidal?’ I’ve heard from a lot of parents who have read The Pact, which is about teen suicide, and who have had their kids read it. It becomes this venue: ‘Do you think Emily was right? Do you think Chris was right to do that? Why do you think that?’ I think that very often when you start with the focus on something fictional, you wind up talking about reality.

“I’ve heard from tons of parents who read Nineteen Minutes [which explores issues of bullying and school violence] and who went to their kid’s room, sat down, and said for the first time, ‘What’s it like for you in school?’ I think it’s a matter of not just opening your child’s mind — it’s opening your mind a little bit.

“Maybe you’ve never heard [the other side]. Maybe you’ve just never asked yourself why your opinion is what it is. If you’ve read my book and you’ve at least entertained the other position, and if you’ve looked at your own opinion and figured out why you have it, then I know I’ve done my job. You may not change your mind, but I’m okay with that. I just want people to listen and to be willing to talk.”

For more information on Jodi Picoult and her novels, plus a list of her upcoming tour dates and venues, go to: jodipicoult.com

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Stowe, Vermont, is known for action: skiing in winter and biking, hiking, fishing, and horseback riding in summer and fall. But for simple relaxation in a beautiful place, come here in early spring when the crowds melt away with the snow. When Stowe Mountain Lodge opens this April, this town of just 4,400 or so residents will boast three full-service luxury spas.

With a total 106,000 square feet of spa space, equivalent to almost two football fields, Stowe has more room for pampering than any other New England town. Each spa is a destination in itself, as each offers a different feel.

My husband, Seth, and I checked in first at Topnotch, halfway up Mountain Road. Opposite the spa desk, a full wall of glass looked into a sky-lit solarium and an indoor swimming pool. We were escorted to separate men’s and women’s relaxation rooms, where we slipped into the requisite spa robes and sandals. I began with the Vermont Wildflower Treatment, a sugar scrub, before being bundled in herb-soaked linens, all followed by a deeply relaxing 25-minute massage.

Meanwhile, Seth, a first-time spa-goer, hesitantly tried the hour-long Swedish massage. He loved it, and couldn’t stop talking about the extras: big-screen TV and overstuffed chairs in the men’s waiting room, fresh fruit, steam room with eucalyptus, and towels soaked in cucumber water.

We repaired to the hot tub, where a waterfall cascaded onto our shoulders as we gazed out at Mount Mansfield. We could have lunched in town at any of its 60-plus restaurants, taverns, and pubs; we could have shopped; or we could have walked the famed 5.5-mile Stowe Recreation Path that runs past the West Branch River, swollen with snow melt … But in the end, we put on our spa robes, walked back to our room (decorated with chic country quilts), and made our way to the bistro atmosphere of Norma’s (part of the Vermont Fresh Network), right next door — no crowd, no wait.

Closer to town, the family-owned Stoweflake resort highlights New England with details such as leaf-print wallpaper in the bathrooms, a signature maple sugar scrub on the list of spa treatments (one of more than 120), and a mural of the surrounding mountains by the indoor pool. Here you’ll find the waiting rooms more intimate; the guest rooms, most with gas fireplaces, offer still more local charm. And if you’re in the mood for a boisterous scene après-spa, check out Charlie B’s Pub.

Tucked at the base of Spruce Peak is the brand-new Stowe Mountain Lodge. With its opening set for this April, the resort includes a hotel, a restaurant (also part of Vermont Fresh), and, of course, a spa. As at Topnotch and Stoweflake, locals and visitors are welcome with a day pass. Here, décor and spa offerings embody the ancients’ four elements, with amenities such as “rain” showers, twig screens, ultrasonic oxygen infusion facials, and wood-burning fireplaces.

Yes, the ultimate relaxation may simply be to get away to a place where lodging, dining, and diversions all flow from one source. To the long list of Stowe activities, it’s time to add pure pampering — at any time of the year.

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