What to See & Do in Fall River MA

Battleship Cove
Most people speed through Fall River on their way from Providence to Cape Cod or from Boston to Newport RI, and when they do, the sight they stop to see is Battleship Cove, permanent berth of a number of impressive craft.

Battleship Cove is right next to Fall River Heritage State Park, good for a picnic, and just north of the Marine Museum at Fall River (see below), also worth a look. More...

Marine Museum at Fall River
The Marine Museum at Fall River, 70 Water Street (map; Tel: 508-674-3533), just southwest of Battleship Cove, under the highway, has a number of fascinating shipping exhibits, including lots of Titanic lore.

Certainly the most popular is the one-ton, 28-foot (8.5-meter)-long scale model of the SS Titanic, created in 1952 for Twentieth-Century-Fox's movie about the Titanic tragedy.

Other beautiful ship models and maritime artifacts detail the history of the Fall River Line, which ran luxury steamboats between Fall River and New York City from 1847 to 1937.

Yet another exhibit follows the history of steam power at sea.

Nautical buffs from around the world, many of them famous collectors, have donated exhibits to the museum.

Shopping
Fall River is a mecca for those who love factory-outlet shopping, because the revival of apparel manufacture here has led to the opening of dozens of huge factory-outlet stores.

Billboards on I-195 trumpet that it is the "largest factory-outlet center in New England!"

Signs lead you off the highway to the "Heart of Fall River's Factory-Outlet District," with over 90 outlet stores. If you follow the signs, will you really save money? Yes, a definitive yes!

I'm a skeptical shopper, and not a particularly enthusiastic one, but when I went to check out this factory-outlet district, even I was impressed. I ended up buying shirts, underwear, belts, and other items at very, very good prices.

Quality can be either tops, or just under, or factory seconds, or worse. But in the store where I bought, quality was clearly marked, and prices were excellent on all of the different grades.

What can you find here? When it comes to clothing, everything! Shoes, sweaters, raincoats, accessories, designer labels, coats, handbags, jewelry, children's clothing, cosmetics, luggage.

Branch out a bit and you'll find kitchenware, gifts, furniture, braided rugs, curtains, crystal, candy and nuts, greeting cards and giftwrap, toys, towels, linens, baskets, brass--even wallpaper.

This is definitely a town in which you can shop till you drop.

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