The anchor of any visit is MASS MoCA, the sprawling contemporary art museum set in a 19th-century factory complex and reachable on a two-minute walk from The Porches Inn — its galleries, concerts, and festivals run year-round. Above town rises Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts, with a summit road and war-memorial tower that open up hundreds of miles of view on a clear day. Art lovers should make the short drive to the Clark Art Institute in neighboring Williamstown, one of the country's finest small museums, and time a summer visit to the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Drivers come for the Mohawk Trail (Route 2), the scenic byway whose hairpin turn is a classic Berkshire photo stop, and for Natural Bridge State Park, where a white-marble arch spans a glacial gorge just north of town. Hikers can pick up the Appalachian Trail, which crosses the northern Berkshires, while downtown North Adams rewards an afternoon of gallery-hopping, brewery stops, and independent restaurants. The setting works in every season — gallery weekends and foliage drives in fall, festivals and mountain hikes in summer, and quiet snowy stretches when the outdoor hot tub at the inn is at its best after a brisk day out.
There is more within easy reach: The Clark Art Institute in nearby Williamstown; The Mohawk Trail; The Appalachian Trail and the northern Berkshire hiking; The Berkshire arts season at Tanglewood and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Seasonal highlights include MASS MoCA exhibitions, concerts, and festivals year-round, The Williamstown Theatre Festival in nearby Williamstown (summer), Northern Berkshire foliage season along the Mohawk Trail (late September–October).