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Northampton / Amherst
The cosmopolitan valley
By Christopher Muther
NORTHAMPTON:
Ice cream mogul Steve Herrell works the counter at his downtown shop.
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 hile Northampton is as cosmopolitan as Boston and as liberal as Cambridge, the city of 30,000 is far more relaxed than its Eastern cousins. Thanks to a high concentration of both arty and academic types drawn to the five colleges in the Pioneer Valley, Northampton and nearby Amherst are bursting with galleries, specialty shops, and excellent restaurants.
Start your trip in Northampton with a walk around the Smith College Botanic Garden (College Lane, 413-585-2740). The garden is actually 10 distinctive outdoor displays, ranging from a delicate wildflower garden to a Japanese tea hut and garden. Another highlight is the Lyman Plant House, a mammoth turn-of-the-century greenhouse. Among its rooms is the Palm House, filled with exotic tropical plants such as those that produce coffee beans, white chocolate, and cinnamon. The garden is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and guided tours are available by appointment. Admission is free.
A short walk away is the Words and Pictures Museum (140 Main St., 413-586-8545). This private, nonprofit museum bills itself as an exhibitor of ''fine sequential art''; the rest of us call it a comic book museum. Sprawling over four floors, the museum has a permanent collection of about 14,000 original pieces from artists such as Batman creator Bob Kane and Godzilla comics' Bob Eggleton. It's open daily except Monday and admission is $3 for adults, $2 for students and seniors, and $1 for kids under 18.
The nearby Thornes Marketplace (150 Main St., 413-584-5582), a former department store, is home to 30 shops, restaurants, and a gym. Check out the kitsch-filled House, which sells ancient board games, lunch boxes, and Pez dispensers.
To better understand the lay of the land, take a spin on the 10-mile bike path that runs from Look Park in Northampton to Lincoln Avenue in Amherst. Called the Norwottuck Rail Trail, the path covers tracks of the Boston and Maine Railroad and climaxes with a 1,400-foot bridge over the Connecticut River. Bicycles and in line-skate rentals are available at Valley Bicycle in Amherst (413-256-0880) and Bicycle World in Northampton (413-585-9100).
Getting there:
Follow the Mass. Pike west to Exit 4 in Chicopee. Take Interstate 91 north to Exit 18 for Northampton and follow the signs to Smith College and downtown. Peter Pan Trailways bus service offers a Boston to Amherst express bus daily. For schedule information and fares, call 800-343-9999. Pioneer Valley Transit Authority offers bus service between Amherst and Northampton, 413-586-5806.
Resources:
Northampton Chamber of Commerce at 413-584-1900 or on the web at chamber.northampton.ma/us. More Northampton information can be found at wmid.crocker.com/towns/northampton, www.gazettenet.com and www.thunderweb.com/guides/noho/list.htm.
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Fans of reclusive poet Emily Dickinson can visit the historic Amherst house at 280 Main St. where she wrote 1,800 poems. The Dickinson Homestead, where Emily was born in 1830 and died in 1886, still contains some furniture and pictures from Dickinson's time. Tours are given every hour on the hour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Days open vary seasonally and reservations are strongly recommended; call 413-542-8161. Tours are $4 for adults, $3 for students, $2 for children ages 6-11, and free for children under 6; access to the grounds is free.
Candle lovers should make the 20-minute drive from Amherst to South Deerfield to visit the Yankee Candle flagship store on Route 5 (413-665-2929). Over the years the store has grown into a major tourist attraction that features 80,000-square-feet of retail space, candle making tours, a car museum, and a restaurant. Admission to the car museum is $5 for ages 12 and up, $2 for ages 4 to 11; under 4 free. The store is open daily from 9:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Part of the fun in walking around Amherst and Northampton is checking out all the restaurants. In Northampton, dine on Italian at Spoleto Restaurant (50 Main St., 413-586-6313) or Mexican at La Cazuela (7 Old South St., 413-586-0400). For more casual dining, join the locals at Joe's Cafe (33 Market St., 413-584-3168). In Amherst, try Judie's (51 North Pleasant St., 413-253-3491).
For desserts, there's Bart's Ice Cream (253 Main St., Northampton, and 103 North Pleasant St., Amherst) or Herrell's (8 Old South St., Northampton).
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