Other Neat Things to Do in the Amherst Area

Except as noted, all museums, etc., are free. Check their web sites for hours, special exhibits, group tours, etc. Distances are approximate

At UMass

• Campus Tours Daily at 1:30 
• UMass Sunwheel A SUNWHEEL is a SOLAR CALENDAR and OBSERVATORY; perhaps the best known example of a Sunwheel is Stonehenge. A Sunwheel is an outdoor stone circle whose standing stones line up with the locations on the horizon of the rising and setting Sun at the times of the solstices and equinoxes.

At Hampshire College (5 miles south of UMass on West Street/Route 116)

• National Yiddish Book Center
  The Yiddish Book center is the world's only museum and book center devoted solely to Yiddish literature.
• The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
  The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art features the art of Eric Carle, author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and many other nationally and internationally acclaimed picture book artists. (Admission charge)

At Amherst College (1 mile south of UMass on South Pleasant Street/Route 116)

• Mead Art Museum
  The Mead Art Museum is located on the campus of Amherst College and has a collection of more than 14,000 pieces of art.

At Smith College (10 miles west on route 9)

• Smith College Museum of Art Recently reopened after major renovations. Outstanding collections. 
• Botanic Garden and Lyman Conservatory Extensive greenhouse and outdoor collections. 

At Mount Holyoke College (15 miles south of UMass on route 116)

• Mount Holyoke College Art Museum The collection comprises more than 11,000 objects from antiquity to the present day, with concentrations in Asian art, Renaissance painting, American and European sculpture and painting, decorative arts, and works on paper.

Other Interesting Places

• Yankee Candle World's largest candle store. Candle making museum, Bavarian village, ....  Ten miles north of UMass on route 116 in South Deerfield
• Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens  North of Yankee Candle on routes 5 and 10. Admission fee.
• Historic Deerfield  Historic Deerfield is a museum of New England history and art within the carefully preserved 330 year old western Massachusetts village of Deerfield. Grounds are free; fees for entering the buildings.