New Bedford offers several ways to explore the city’s history: whaling, fishing, seafaring, art and waterfront trails each represent their own focus. This can also help you plan where to stay. If you’re looking for hotels in New Bedford, you can first decide whether museums and maritime history, art or the HarborWalk should shape your stay.
Whaling, Fishing and Seafaring
A gallery at the New Bedford Whaling Museum traces the city’s journey from a small coastal village to a prosperous city. It shows the role whaling played in this transformation and how it connected New Bedford to the world. The museum also houses the world’s largest collection of scrimshaw. Its permanent exhibits include The Lagoda, a half-size scale model of a whaling ship. The city’s development, the collection and the ship model offer different perspectives on maritime history.
The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center focuses on fishing in the past, present and future. Exhibitions, programs and archives help preserve and share its history. The exhibition More than a Job: Work and Community in New Bedford’s Fishing Industry includes a recreated work deck, a clam dredge, a kitchen table and bunks. It also features historical images, film footage and more than 60 audio segments with voices from the fishing community. Exhibition details may change in the future.
Seafarers, City History and Art
Founded in 1822, Seamen’s Bethel served generations of seafarers as a spiritual refuge. Its visible connection to literary history is the pew where Herman Melville sat, which is marked for visitors.
The house and gardens at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum document 150 years of the city’s economic and social history, from 1834 to 1981. This history is reflected in the lives and stories of the people who lived and worked on the property. The museum also includes an extensive rose garden.
The New Bedford Art Museum displays works by local artists and community partners. It also presents selections from the city’s historic art collection in collaboration with the New Bedford Free Public Library, as well as large-scale international solo and group exhibitions of innovative contemporary art. Public programs complement the exhibitions: the Enchanted Evenings series connects thematically with current exhibitions and features film, dance, poetry and music. Exhibition content, program formats and dates may change.
Walking Tours and Waterfront Trails
The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park offers free guided walking tours of the historic downtown. Schedules may change, so check the current dates if you’re planning a tour.
If you’re arriving on the Fall River/New Bedford MBTA Commuter Rail, directions to the museum are also available: the walk from the station to the New Bedford Whaling Museum takes about 20 minutes. It follows Purchase Street (Pleasant Street) and William Street. Route information may change, so it’s worth checking the latest details before setting out on foot.
Opened in 2015, the HarborWalk is 3,880 feet long and runs along the New Bedford side of the hurricane barrier. It connects with a bike path along the waterfront that continues to the tip of the peninsula and historic Fort Taber Park. At Fort Taber Park on the southern tip of New Bedford, the Fort Taber-Fort Rodman Military Museum and Veterans’ Memorial preserves and shares the city’s military history. Waterfront conditions may also change, so check current trail information if you’re planning to use the HarborWalk or bike path.
A Different Focus: Wildlife
The Buttonwood Park Zoo offers a different focus. Founded in 1894, it is home to more than 240 animal species, including Asian elephants, red pandas, cougars, eagles, seals, otters, South American primates and numerous species of waterfowl. So, alongside maritime history and art, New Bedford also puts its animal species in the spotlight.
Discover More Destinations
Discover more destinations: Norton, Dighton, Fall River, Swansea, Dartmouth, Raynham, Westport, North Attleboro
For the broader travel overview: Bristol.
