1. Garden Gables Inn
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (413) 637-0193
Address: 135 Main St.
Insider Pick:
Description: Nestled on 5 acres of beautifully wooded grounds in the heart of Lenox, this elegant inn has everything a discerning traveler would expect—from plush rooms to gourmet meals to hospitality so attentive you don’t need to do a single thing other than relax. Its accommodations include 13 guest rooms and 2 suites, all have private bathrooms, and some have a fireplace and/or private deck. The rooms are classic New England luxe: comfy beds with great linens, a sprinkling of formal antiques and rustic painted pieces, designer fabrics, old-school plaids, regional art, leather wing chairs, LCD TVs, and free Wi-Fi. A highlight of a stay here is the included gourmet buffet breakfast, which features cooked-to-order entrees. The innkeeper’s specialty, the apple strudel french toast, is a must-order. During the summer weekends, the inn offers a prix-fixe gourmet dinner, exclusive to guests. A gracious library (with a piano—this is Lenox after all) awaits guests in the main house. The property also boasts an outdoor heated Olympic-size swimming pool—it’s an antique, one of the first to be built in the region—and it’s a beauty.
2. Spoon
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (413) 881-4040
Address: 26 Housatonic St.
Description: The most important meal of the day is served all day long at this adorable breakfast/lunch spot where the menu features Barrington Roaster’s fair-traded coffee, local free-range eggs, and artisan-made breads. Locals and visitors flock here for the house-cured corned beef hash and eggs and the home-style fried chicken and waffles. Lunch offerings skew eclectic; find a hummus plate, a leafy bean and grain salad, and sandwiches like a portobello melt and a turkey and bacon club that feature a side of homemade potato chips. Spoon doesn’t serve dinner, but they do scoop ice cream (New York’s Golden Organics) in the afternoon and into the evening.
3. Haven Cafe And Bakery
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (413) 637-8948
Address: 8 Franklin St.
Insider Pick:
Description: The service may be rushed and it may be elbow-to-elbow crowded, but it’s worth the wait at this buzzing Berkshire breakfast and lunch bakery/cafe for heaven-sent pastries (blueberry muffins, homemade doughnuts, brownies) and perfect cups of coffee all day. Light and casual meals feature sophisticated takes on home cooking like croissant french toast and signature rolled omelets at breakfast to dishes like grilled polenta topped with pesto and goat cheese to an 8-ounce grass-fed burger with hand-cut fries at lunch.
4. Nudel Restaurant
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (413) 551-7183
Address: 37 Church St.
Description: Equally popular with Tanglewood habitués and Birkenstock-clad hippies, Nudel offers a long list of reasonably priced small plates, pastas, entrees, and wine. The menu changes weekly and is filled with serious yet crowd-pleasing possibilities such as linguine with a roasted marrow tomato sauce or fried Vermont quail with peach and fennel salad. Expect inventive dessert choices, too, like the very popular (and shareable) dark chocolate ganache with peanut butter–bacon brownies. The vibe is casual yet upscale, but it’s a no-reservation and dinner-only spot, so come early (before 6 p.m.) or plan to wait for a table.
5. Cafe Lucia
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (413) 637-2640
Address: 01240
Description: Set in an 1840s farmhouse on Lenox’s main restaurant drag, Cafe Lucia is Italian to the core, serving approachable northern Italian cuisine. Start with the wild mushroom medley with soft polenta. Then order the osso buco if only because the dish elicits a dreamy depth of flavor that can be achieved only by an all-day braise. The place is consistently mobbed during the summer season, so make reservations in advance.
6. The Bookstore
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (413) 637-3390
Address: 11 Housatonic St.
Description: For booklovers this eclectic, independent bookstore is a welcome haven from the Tanglewood crowds. The bookshelves are filled with a handpicked selection of works by Berkshire-area writers, the latest national best sellers, and classic children’s literature. The shop also hosts author readings and other free events throughout the year. Feeling social? The Get Lit wine bar offers yet another reason to stop in.
7. Lenox Farmers’ Market
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (413) 528-8950
Address: 70 Kemble St.
Description: Wander among bushel baskets filled to overflowing with peaches, wooden bins of apples, and piles of pumpkins. Taking place every Friday (1 to 5 p.m.) from mid-May through early October on the campus of Shakespeare & Company (abundant parking here), the Lenox Farmers’ Market features not only local produce but also staples such as milk, eggs, bread, and meat plus specialty items that make great foodie souvenirs: honey, maple syrup, jams, and wines.
8. Chocolate Springs Cafe
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (413) 637-9820
Address: 55 Pittsfield Lenox Rd.
Insider Pick:
Description: Worth the short drive outside Lenox center, this European-style chocolate shop emits aromas that will seduce any chocolate lover. Cozy up on one of the couches with a decadent cup of hot sipping chocolate. Or stop for a pick-me-up coffee and a slice of passion fruit mousse cake. Prefer to nibble? Individual chocolates—particularly the champagne cognac truffle—are some of the best confections around. And for that ice cream fix, they make their own sorbets and gelato, too.
9. Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (413) 637-0166
Address: 92 Hawthorne St.
Description: Suzy and George were not your ordinary Lenox couple. Suzy Frelinghuysen and her husband, George L. K. Morris, were both talented abstract artists in their time. They also had a good eye and collected the work of their contemporaries, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Fernand Leger. On a guided tour of their furnished, modernist home you’ll see the couple’s art and that of their very famous friends. It’s a refreshing change from the area’s other historic home tours. Guided tours are available June through Oct; call ahead to confirm.
10. The Mount
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (413) 551-5104
Address: 2 Plunkett St.
Insider Pick:
Description: A visit to the Mount, the stately summer home of novelist Edith Wharton, is a twofold treat, providing historical insight into the life and times of the Gilded Age, while exploring interior and garden design. Although best known for her novels The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and The Age of Innocence (which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize), Wharton also wrote several interior- and garden-design books. Built in 1902, this stately 3 1⁄2-story white stucco villa mansion and its landscaped gardens were designed by Wharton. She lived here for just 10 years, but it was from this home that she established herself as a writer. The house is open from May through Oct, and although you can tour the home on your own, go for the tour—the docents are both knowledgeable and passionate about Wharton’s legacy. Wharton devoted as much attention to her gardens as she did her home. The elaborate Italianate walled garden, with its series of “garden rooms” and fountains, will blow you away. The Terrace Cafe overlooks the formal gardens and is the perfect choice for a light lunch of sandwiches and salads.
11. Ventfort Hall Mansion & Gilded Age Museum
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (413) 637-3206
Address: 104 Walker St.
Description: Built between1893 and 1895, this imposing redbrick Jacobean revival mansion is one of the most impressive of the Berkshires’s many estates. It was the home of heiress Sarah Morgan, sister of financier J. P. Morgan, and among its marvels are an elaborate wood-paneled 3-story great hall and staircase and a music salon with extraordinary plasterwork ceilings and stained-glass windows. Shuttered for many years, the mansion is presented as a work in progress. Admission includes a guided tour of the 1st floor (self-guided on winter weekdays) and access to the “Les Petites Dames de Mode” (The Little Ladies of Fashion), sixty 29-inch gorgeously costumed dolls that portray fashion from 1855 to 1914.
12. Shakespeare & Company
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (413) 637-1199
Address: 70 Kemble St.
Insider Pick:
Description: The Berkshire Hills are an appropriate setting for this year-round repertory company dedicated to all things Shakespeare. Established in 1978, and now under the leadership of director Tony Simotes, the troupe balances familiar Shakespeare repertoire with unorthodox Shakespeare stagings, such as The Tempest with Olympia Dukakis playing a female Prospero. The company also presents works “of social and political significance” by up-and-coming playwrights, along with spirited Shakespeare educational programming for children.
13. Tanglewood
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (888) 266-1200
Address: 297 West St.
Insider Pick:
Description: Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, beckons classical music lovers year after year to its summer outdoor concerts. From early July to late August, the BSO typically performs 3 concerts a week at its open-sided outdoor concert hall, the “Shed.” The symphony’s Tanglewood schedule features regular visits from internationally known guest artists including Joshua Bell, Itzhak Perlman, and Lang Lang. But the essential Tanglewood experience is to buy lawn tickets, arrive early with a blanket and a picnic, and listen to the concert under the stars. The Tanglewood Music Center is also an integral part of the BSO’s Tanglewood season. Young professional musicians from around the world audition a year in advance to have the opportunity for intensive music study as a Tanglewood Fellow for the summer. The Fellows perform as part of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and their performances are also ticketed events and open to the public.
14. Lenox Fitness Center
City: Lenox, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (413) 637-9893
Address: 90 Pittsfield Rd.
Description: Very used to out-of-towners and visitors, Lenox Fitness Center offers 1-day, 1-week, and 1-month pass plans, along with a 6-month punch-card option. Lenox Fitness Center has dozens of cardio and weight machines, 2 strength-training areas, and a full slate of fitness classes. The spa offers a roster of indulgences and whether you stop in for a deep hydration facial or a quickie weekend manicure, the staff will leave you looking and feeling your best.