Amherst Coffee or Share Coffee—which will be your favorite? We like both, for different reasons.
There’s a saying you’ll see on t-shirts and bumper stickers in Amherst that offers both a pronunciation lesson and an insight: “Amherst—where only the ‘h’ is silent.” That captures Amherst—vibrant, opinionated and proud of it.
Life here is also smart, fun, dynamic and somehow laid back all at the same time. Here are two facts backing that up:
- More than 40% of the local population has a graduate degree.
- Surveyed visitors say Amherst makes them feel more like themselves than anywhere else.
The town of Amherst is home to 35,000 politically engaged, culturally aware people, and more than 30,000 college students live in Amherst during the academic year. Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst are the College’s neighbors, and Smith and Mount Holyoke Colleges are a short bus ride away (more on that below). Along with Amherst, these schools form the Five Colleges Consortium (events at each school are posted here).
The small sampling below will give you an idea of how much there is to enjoy here. And most of this is within walking distance of the College.
Town Life
Arts and Museums
The influx of students (and faculty, staff and their families) means plenty of concerts, festivals, lectures, conferences, exhibitions and museums (including our own Emily Dickinson Museum, Beneski Museum of Natural History and Mead Art Museum). Galleries can be found in both Amherst and Northampton and families will love the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Check out The Museums 10 website for up-to-date information on area exhibitions.
Concerts
There’s music for every taste, from classical to funk, from orchestras to chamber music. The Pioneer Valley is a major stop on the concert trail. Venues such as The Drake in Amherst and the Academy of Music, Iron Horse Music Hall and Calvin Theater in Northampton mean that you can watch live music pretty much every night (recent examples at Amherst College alone: Macklemore, The Decemberists and The Roots, as well as the Music at Amherst concert series, which features chamber music and leading vocalists).
Cinema
Located downtown, Amherst Cinema Arts Center not only shows the latest art-house features, classic films and documentaries, but also offers live discussions with film artists, education programs, and broadcasts of productions from around the world, including Britain’s National Theatre. South Hadley’s Tower Theaters, close to the Mount Holyoke College campus, offers a mix of mainstream and independent features, and if you’re looking for the latest Hollywood blockbusters, Cinemark is located in nearby Hadley at the Hampshire Mall.
Food & Coffee Shops
Sure, every college town has pizza places. But Antonio’s in Amherst is one of the best in the country, and there’s so much more, from French to Mexican to Italian to delicious deli. Check out the amazing variety.
Our town is full of some of the friendliest, warmest and most intellectually engaged people you’ll ever meet. Many such folks can be found at Share Coffee, or Amherst Coffee (of course, Frost Library’s café is not too shabby either). As one student put it, Share Coffee "attracts the kind of people you see in romantic comedy movies but secretly hope to meet in real life.”
Brew Pubs (and More)
Small batch beer flows at the Amherst Brewing Company’s Hangar Pub & Grill on the edge of UMass. Locals love The Moan and Dove just a mile outside town, for its serious selection of casks and bottles. The Northampton Brewery beckons to the west, the Tree House Brewing Company is a short drive north in Deerfield, and though it doesn’t have a brew pub, Berkshire Brewing Company offers some of the tastiest beer in the region.
