Touching down at Worcester Regional Airport in Worcester places you close to cities like Boston, Providence, and Springfield, all easily reachable. Worcester is the second-largest city in New England, a hilly college town with mill-era brick, a dozen campuses, and a food scene that punches above its size. The feel is unpretentious and proudly local, with diners on every other corner and a downtown that has come back to life around the ballpark.

Standout experiences around Worcester: - See the Higgins arms and armor collection at the Worcester Art Museum - Catch the WooSox, Boston's Triple-A team, at Polar Park in the Canal District - Eat your way down Shrewsbury Street, the city's restaurant row - Order breakfast at the Miss Worcester, a classic lunch car diner - Hear a show in Mechanics Hall or the restored Hanover Theatre - Walk the gardens at New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston - Take the kids to the EcoTarium science museum and its planetarium - Ski or ride Wachusett Mountain, 30 minutes north

Worcester works as a base for a loop through central New England. Boston is about an hour east, Providence an hour south, and Springfield and the Basketball Hall of Fame an hour west. Old Sturbridge Village, a living museum of 1830s farm life, is a half hour down the Pike, and the Brimfield antique flea market fills the fields nearby in May, July, and September. Worcester claims both the smiley face and the diner as local inventions, and the Coney Island hot dog sign on Southbridge Street has glowed since 1918. Grab a Table Talk pie for the road and give Worcester the weekend it deserves.