Itinerary Concord, Massachusetts 2026
itinerary
Regenerating the Transcendentalist Flame
Concord, Massachusetts
October 17–24, 2026
(Itinerary is subject to change for the highest good)
Day 1 Saturday, October 17 –Arrival, Orientation Meeting and Welcome Dinner
Arrival day, welcome!
If interested please see “Getting to Concord” for suggestions for transportation from Boston Logan International airport.
3:00 Accommodation check-in. If interested, in advance of arrival, ask the staff at your accommodation for an earlier check-intime. It is also an option to have the staff hold your luggage for you, if you so choose.
4:00–6:00 PM – Orientation Meeting
Presentation: Please note, all the Transendentalists in this itinerary are suggested. The actual Transendentalists presented and the day of presentation TBD.
Lydia Maria Child –Abolitionist, women's rights advocate, journalist, and author of "An Appeal in Favor of That Class of Americans Called Africans" (1833). Close friend of the Transcendentalists. She wrote the Thanksgiving Day poem-“Over the river and through the wood”
6:30 PM – Welcome Dinner
Day 2 Sunday, October 18–(Breakfast and lunch are included today).
Concord Walking Tour- Early Voices.
Amount of Walking Today: All sites are within 10 minutes of each other beginning at The Colonial Inn. Please note, it is likely you will be on your feet for 2 to 3 hours.
9:00 AM–12:00 PM – Guided Walking Tour of Concord.
On our guided walking tour, we will learn about the most important historical sites in Concord. Concord is rich in Revolutionary War, The Abolitionist Movement, Underground Railroad and Transcendentalists histories. Ou tour includes:
Mason’s Lodge https://concordmasons.org/ Paul Rever was the Lodge’s first “Grand Master”, he signed the first Charter, Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott and her sister taught here when it was a one-room school house. We have special permission to enter the Mason’s lodge.
Town Hall (outside visit) https://concordma.gov/ where the Revolutionaries meet, important laws were made, and the first woman of Concord voted…Louisa May Alcott! Also, there is a beautiful painting by one of America’s first Impressionist painters, Elizabeth Wentworth Roberts.
The Wrights Tavern https://www.wrighttavern.org/ marybeth@wrighttavern.org a key secret meeting place for Revolutionaries. After our tour inside the Wright Tavern we will have a…
12:00–Boxed lunch at the Wright Tavern with Group Meeting to follow.
Presentations:
Caroline Sturgis Tappan – Poet, close friend of Fuller and Emerson, contributor to "The Dial."
Orestes Brownson – Religious thinker and early Transcendentalist turned critic.
Theodore Parker – Abolitionist minister, radical reformer, and key Transcendentalist preacher.
James Freeman Clarke – Minister, reformer, and early supporter of women’s education.
4:00 The rest of the afternoon and evening are free.
Please note: Free time and eatery suggestions will be shared.
Day 3 Monday, October 19 (Breakfast included today)– Early Transcendentalists.
Amount of Walking Today: Approx. 20 min. to/from the Old Manse, beginning at The Colonial Inn.
9:00 Meet at the Colonial Inn to walk together to The Old Manse for a guided tour and presentations.
Built by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Grandfather Reverand William Emerson and grandmother Phebe Ripley Emerson, who was the aunt of Rev. William Ellery Channing, a Unitarian minister whose ideas most directly seeded Transcendentalism. Channing is said to be the “Transcendentalism’s Intellectual Father”. Channing spent time at the Manse, where many early Unitarian ideas were circulated.
Ralph Waldo Emerson and The Old Manse https://www.nps.gov/places/the-old-manse.htm
As a five-year old boy Emerson heard and saw the “shot heard ‘round the world”.
Wrote Nature in 1836 here, one of the foundational texts of Transcendentalism.
Developed his philosophy of the Oversoul, solitude, and the primacy of the individual spirit.
Friend of Emerson-Nathanial Hawthorne and his wife Sophia Peabody lived here as well.
Presentations:
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Mary Moody Emerson – Brilliant, fiercely independent aunt of R.W. Emerson. Her notebooks deeply shaped his thought. Mary Emerson was born at Concord’s Old Manse in 1774
Sophia and George Ripley – Founders of Brook Farm, the utopian Transcendentalist community (1841–1847).
Sophia Amelia Peabody – Artist, writer, Transcendentalist thinker, and wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Known for her journals and artistic contributions. Sophia and Nathanial lived here.
1:30 We will walk together to The Colonial Inn where the rest of the afternoon and evening are free.
Day 4 Tuesday, October 20 (Breakfast and dinner are included today) Emerson Circle-
Amount of Walking Today: Approx.15 minutes to and from The Colonial Inn to the Emerson House-Home of R.W. Emerson (1835–1882).
9:00 We will walk together (approx. 15 min.) from the Colonial Inn to the Emerson House for a Guided Tour and Group Meeting with presentations.
Presentations:
Ralph Waldo Emerson – Philosopher, essayist, and central figure of Transcendentalism. Author of "Nature," "Self-Reliance," and host to many thinkers in Concord.
Margaret Fuller – Pioneer of feminism, literary critic, and author of "Woman in the Nineteenth Century." Key Transcendentalist editor and intellectual. Frequent guest in Emerson’s home.
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody – Founder of the first English-language kindergarten in the U.S., publisher, educator, and host of a famous Boston Transcendentalist salon.
1:00 We will walk back to the Colonial Inn for free time.
6:00 Meet at the Colonial Inn to walk approximately 15 minutes together for a Group Dinner.
Day 5 Wednesday, October 21 (Breakfast is included today) Later Transcendentalists-
Amount of Walking Today: 10 minutes from The Colonial Inn.
9:00 AM–1:00 PM – Meet at The Wright Tavern for a Group Meeting.
Presentations:
Amos Bronson Alcott – Educational reformer, philosopher, and founder of the utopian "Fruitlands."
Louisa May Alcott – Author of "Little Women," reformer, and lifelong Transcendentalist.
Nathaniel Hawthorne – Author of "The Scarlet Letter." Part of Transcendentalist circles and lived at both the Old Manse and The Wayside.
1:00–2:30 Free time
2:30 Meet at The Colonial Inn to walk for approx. 5 minutes to the…
Concord Library 129 Main Street Concord, (open 10:00-8pm).
The Concord Public Library is one of the most important Transcendentalist-related institutions in Concord. Found here, are items important to the Transcendentalists:
Emerson’s Library and Papers
The library houses Ralph Waldo Emerson’s personal books, manuscripts, journals, and letters.
Transcendentalist’s Writings
Letters and writings connected to Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and other Transcendentalists are preserved or referenced here.
3:30 Visit concluded. You may stay in the library as long as you wish.
The rest of the afternoon and evening are free.
Day 6 Thursday, October 22 (Breakfast is included today)–Tours of The Orchard House and The Wayside.
Amount of Walking Today: Not much walking to the sites however you may be on your feet for approximately 45 minutes during the tours of the houses.
9:00 Meet in front of the Colonial Inn where we will be picked up by a private Trolley!
Trolley ride is approx. 15 min. to arrive at The Orchard House and The Wayside for guided tours.
Orchard House – https://louisamayalcott.org/ The Alcott home, where Louisa May Alcott wrote "Little Women". Frequent visitors: Emerson, Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller.
Louisa’s writing desk is here.
Much of the house’s original furniture, artwork, and décor remain intact. Walk to…
The Wayside – https://visitconcord.org/listings/the-wayside/ Which was part of The Underground Railroad, and home of the Alcott, and Hawthorne families. The house is featured in "Little Women". Other Transcendentalists connected to the Wayside-Emerson, Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller.
12:00 Trolley ride to the North Bridge for a visit to the Old North Bridge and Visitor Center https://www.nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/north-bridge-visitor-center.htm
1:00 Back to town. The rest of the day and evening are free
Day 7 Friday, October 23 (Breakfast and dinner are included today)-Walden Pond and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery visits, presentations and our Farewell Dinner.
Amount of Walking Today: 20 to 40 minutes. We will have the option to walk to Thoreau’s original cabin site. At Sleepy Hallow Cemetery the terrain is hilly at times.
9:00 Meet in front of the Colonial Inn where we will be picked up by our private Trolley. We will drive for approximately 20 minutes to arrive at Walden Pond walden.pond@mass.gov
Here we will have a guided tour, a presentation(s).
At Walden Park we will see Thoreau’s cabin site, a replica of the cabin and the pond he wrote about in "Walden". Transcendentalists connected to Walden Pond- Thoreau, Emerson, Louisa and Bronson Alcott, Caroline Tappan and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Presentation(s):
Henry David Thoreau – Author of "Walden" and "Civil Disobedience," naturalist and teacher.
12:00 Our Trolley will take us to our final stop, Sleepy Hallow Cemetery. We will walk together to “Author’s Ridge”.
Continued-
Day 7 Friday, October 23
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and the Transcendentalists https://visitconcord.org/visit/cemeteries/
Sleepy Hollow contains “Authors’ Ridge”, where the most important Concord Transcendentalists are buried within steps of one another. Here you will find the following Transcendentalists and their families:
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Henry David Thoreau
Amos and Louisa May Alcott
Nathaniel Hawthorne
All were neighbors, collaborators, teachers, and friends in life.
1:00 We will walk back to the center of town (approximately a 15 minute walk) or you are welcome to stay as long as you like at Sleepy Hollow.
The rest of the afternoon is free.
4:00-Meet at The Colonial Inn to walk together to our final Group Meeting and Farewell Dinner.
6:30 PM – Farewell Dinner
Once again please dress as the Transcendentalist you studied.
Be prepared to answer the Question: What lesson(s) have you learned from your Transcendentalist that you intend to apply to your life?
Day 8 Saturday, October 24 (Breakfast is included) – Departure Day
Check out time 11:00.
Personal departures.
For suggestions on how to get to Boston Logan Airport see “Getting to Concord”.
We are currently working on an optional 2-day tour in Boston.
More soon!
Included on the 7-day program:
Your hosts and teachers- Karey Thorne and Robert Waterman.
Rosemary Swade will be our tour guide.
Guided tours by local historical and Transcendentalist, experts.
All entrances to historical sites.
All breakfasts.
Lunch (1).
Dinners (3) including Welcome Dinner, mid program group dinner and a Farewell Dinner.
Daily meetings.
Ground transportation in Concord (2 days).
A special event (To be announced).
Not included in the program:
Air or ground transportation to and from Concord Massachusetts.
Transfers to and from the airport (approx. cost of a driver from Boston Logan International airport $65) or train station.
Accommodations at the Colonial Inn or North Bridge Inn (7 nights between $145 to $345 per person per night including tax).
If you would like to Register, click here to go back to the Class page to fill out your Intake Form and make your Deposit.
Once you are in the Class page scroll down to Register and fill out your Intake Form.