Hortisculpture tour of art and the landscape? Check. Climb 199 steps to the top of the lighthouse? Check. A night’s stay in a room with a surfer’s vibe? Check. Find inspiration and education in these top New Jersey cultural and historical hotspots.
1. Check out the weapon systems of Camden’s Battleship New Jersey, the nation’s most decorated and largest battleship, and experience how life was aboard this floating city.
Stay Nearby: In Historic Haddonfield, the streets are lined with Victorian-style homes. Relax at Haddonfield Inn, a luxurious B&B, each room with a customized theme reflecting its unique character.
2. From Thomas Edison’s laboratories came such inventions as the improved phonograph, motion pictures and the storage battery. So he’d love to know that you can take a cell phone tour of his laboratory and Glenmont Estate at West Orange’s Thomas Edison National Historical Park.
Stay Nearby: The Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange is an award-winning luxury hotel with exquisite gardens, fit for any occasion. Enjoy the complimentary European-style breakfast buffet.
3. Art and nature intertwine on a stroll through 42 landscaped acres at Hamilton’s Grounds for Sculpture, where the evolving collection of contemporary outdoor sculptures ranges from dynamic steel creatures
to cantilevered stone.
Stay Nearby: The Inn at Glencairn in Princeton is a 1736 Georgian manor that was confiscated and used as British quarters during the Revolutionary War. Completely renovated, enjoy the 3 acres and historic attributes.
4. Rare exhibitions centered around written instruction as art and constructing identity complement the permanent collections of American and Native American art at the Montclair Art Museum, a testament to the town’s history as an art colony.
Stay Nearby: Les Saisons in Maplewood is a charming B&B in a Second Empire French Victorian, circa 1840. Each room is decorated by season, which is how it derived its French name.
5. The American Songbook series, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and a speaker series with many notables like Jay Leno to Jeb Bush, take center stage in 2019 at Newark’s New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).
Stay Nearby: Built in 1912, Hotel Indigo in Newark was the former National State Bank. Dine in the restaurant that used to be the bank's vault.
Find even more arts and culture to experience when you visit New Jersey.
