Emily Dickinson Museum

The Emily Dickinson Museum is a wonderful place to visit in Amherst, Massachusetts. The museum offers both guided tours and self-guided tours. On the self-guided tours after visiting the first room, where basic information about Emily Dickinson is provided, you can go from room to room as you please. There are guides in each room who provide information about the room and how it was used by the Dickinson family. The guides are knowledgeable about all aspects of Emily's life from where she lived in the house, her relationship with her family, her life, and her poetry. The guided tours last about an hour and on them you can get more information than on the self-guided tours. The house has both historical furniture and restored from the Dickinson family. The decorating inside of the house is unique and has been restored from photographs. In a few rooms in the house there are interactive displays about Emily's poetry. There is a nice gift shop inside the house as well. It is best to park on the streets near the house. There are a few handicapped parking spaces near the house as well. It is definitely best to purchase tickets online ahead of time. Tickets are also sold at the museum. If you have an interest in Emily Dickinson or just like seeing historic houses this museum is for you.

I came as an impromptu visit on a weekday in November as we were passing through Amherst, and unfortunately, they were sold out of tickets for the day. While I couldn't explore the inside of the home beyond the gift shop rooms (which were still pretty cool, I'll say!) I did enjoy walking the idyllic grounds on a cool autumn morning. Emily Dickinson has been my favorite poet since I was a little girl - walking the paths she walked was a beautiful experience. It was beautiful, but don't be like me and think you can purchase tickets at the door: get your tickets in advance!

I was blown away by this museum,mostly by the staff. Franklin speaking, I am not a museum person & I was there to kill time between conference break. But all the sections have different story tellers, they made Emily's history vividly jump in front of me in my brain and I enjoyed all the seconds inside the museum, I never had such fun in a history museum like this one. No wonder it scored 4.8 before I visited. Highly recommend it, both Emily Dickinson Museum, it takes around 1 to 2 hours( if you ask a lot of questions ) to tour both museums.

A lovely well restored museum. Our guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her subject which made our visit really enjoyable. I could really imagine Emily Dickinson in this house and her sister Vinnie and her cats, it felt like they had just stepped out while we had a look around. A visit to The Evergreens next door was also interesting. We had time to look around the gift shop then our guide took us next door to enjoy a tour of Emilys’ brothers’ beautifully preserved home.

First time visiting, and we were not disappointed! My husband and I were looking for something to do while visiting family the day before Thanksgiving, and the Emily Dickinson museum came highly recommended. Street parking was fairly easy but have a feeling it could be slightly challenging during the peak times of the year. Highly recommend buying tickets in advance, and getting there early to give yourself plenty of time to park. The tour was wonderful! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, humorous, and approachable. It did feel about 10 minutes too long, even though our guide spoke very quickly. In all honesty, my husband and I do not consider ourselves well informed of the poet or her works, but we still thoroughly enjoyed it! The museum went through some major renovations during the pandemic and it now reflects the Dickinson home with great accuracy. We were told that when Apple filmed the show “Dickinson”, they gifted many props to the museum which makes the home and the time period come to life. We were told that each tour guide presents the tour a little differently as their opinions/studies/knowledge varies so you’re never getting the same tour twice, which we found very interesting and makes us want to go back! We would also like to return in the summer months to see the gardens as we were told they have been accurately recreated as well! There was a considerable amount of construction taking place at the Evergreens, so unfortunately that property was closed, but I have a feeling it will be worth the wait!

Big thanks to Carla (I believe that was her name) for being an excellent tour guide. She was quite knowledgeable and recited poetry to us in many rooms. As an English/literary fan I adored being able to see Emily’s house as well as the Evergreens. Thanks again!

Stopped in on a cold saturday to take a tour! I had such an amazing time with the tourguide— there was only one other person on our tour and the tourguide made it very personal! Excited to come back!

A simply beautiful location and a great tour. We booked a Kombi-Ticket, which included guidedtours in both houses. The one Emily lived in and the neighbourhouse, which belonged to her brother. Both are really wonderful to visit and completely different. The guides were very skilled and dedicated. Two hours of tour for inexpensive 16 Dollar. Great! Nice giftshop!

I want to kick this review off with a fact nugget- I knew NOTHING about Emily Dickinson (except that she was a poet) before I planned my trip the prior week to visiting the museum. This was a learning experience. It was Mother's Day weekend and also the museums 41st annual poetry walk to celebrate the anniversary of Emily's death. This is really what caught my eye- I love special events. So here are two review in one: Poetry walk Review: You report to the home, pick up a pamphlet that identifies the poem that will be read at each stop along the way along with a map of the stops and your daisies (her favorite flower.) Note: you are asked to pre-register online for the event (I mean they need to know how many pamphlets and daisies!) Off you go! We knew we were going to make it for maybe one stop and the cometary (last stop) due to an early morning tee ball game I wasn't going to miss. So that's what happened, we were able to stop at one poetry stop right outside the cemetery where they read two poems aloud and people were able to ask questions. The final stop is visiting Emily at her family plot in the West Cemetery (take a look at that mural on your left as you start waling into the cemetery with Emily in the center.) As we neared her tombstone, they were passing out cups of lemonade for a noon toast to Emily. They told some facts about the cemetery, a song was song that was inspired by Emily's writing and then one of her poems was read. We then raised our glasses and cheers to the woman herself. After the toast, everyone took their daisies and gently placed them on or around her headstone or the gate to the family's plot. It was nice to walk back through town as we grabbed lunch and then scooted back to the house for our 2pm pre-purchased entry into the house. Very nice event. The House Review: First off- no parking on site. Based on my experience- I would suggest not visiting the house during the week when college is in session! Around the house most parking spots are permit parking only for the college. With the event happening as well, it was hard to find parking. The Dickinson house has bene restored to Emily's writing hay day. As much as we did not have a guided tour (those happen in the morning) there were people stationed in each room who were a wealth of information. I had a lot of questions and they were not stumped and answered beautifully. I learnt a lot from all these fine folks who were just so interested in her, the family and the historical aspects. Thank you! (I really asked a lot of questions.) Austin's house, The Evergreen House, next door is preserved. Very different from Emily's. One has frozen in time and one has been reinvigorated to present the time. Walking through Austin's home was quite interesting as well. Their art is very interesting. I do enjoy how the museum opted to treat each house differently. I have mixed feelings after my trip about Emily and her poems especially the heavy editing but none the less very impressed with the museum and the people working there- vast amounts of knowledge that they were easily willing to share.

Didn't realize that we would need reservations . We arrived when they opened and no one else was there but they still wouldn't allow us to buy tickets. We walked around a little , mostly in the gift shop and then left. Very disappointing

Who run the world? Girls!!! Sadly, Emily Dickinsons pomes didn't get any attention until after her death. typical!! This museum is about an eight minute walk or less from the edge of the University or the downtown area. The only way to enter it is with a tour, and they only allow 10 people so make sure to reserve it in advance. You can do the Gardens self guided tour on your own, and the museum shop is always open. I walked over from my hotel, my beautiful early spring day, and enjoyed all the mass of colonial homes.

I love Emily Dickinson. I was an English major, in her hometown of Amherst, so I obviously spent a lot of time studying her poetry and thinking of her. In the time since I was in Amherst her family home has been opened up as a museum honoring her life and work. I took the tour on a crisp fall day and absolutely loved it! The tour guide was interesting and informative and I got a sense of his passion for her work. I highly recommend the tour if you're spending anytime in Amherst or surrounding areas.

This is a magical place. Seeing Emily's house was an amazing experience. It was surreal to see her infamous bedroom and garden, and it was easy to imagined her life in the house. The gift shop was amazing, too. My only problem was that tour guide spent too much time talking about themself - the tour is about Emily, not about you.

I don't even know where to begin, except to say: I was able to wander in bare feet in Emily Dickinson's garden grounds while reading her poetry. I gazed out of her bedroom window and imagined I could see her world through her perceptive, poetic eyes. I walked the path from her house to Austin's that she must have trod so frequently. I stood below her bedroom window like a child waiting for lowered picnic baskets. Beyond all of that transcendence, our guide was knowledgeable and wonderful in every way. She answered questions and definitely took her time. When the tour was over and I wanted more time in Emily's bedroom, she graciously arranged for another guide to take me and my companion to her room privately (!!). Seriously, if you are at all a fan of dear Em, my good gracious, do yourself a favor and make a trip here. You'll feel "physically as though the top of [your] head has been taken off" and be left "dwell[ing] in possibility." Truly. Get to it!

I've always admired Emily Dickinson and her poetry. After all, her words got me through the darkest times of my life and it was very refreshing to hear (or read) her words from the printed page. High school was hell for me. College too. Emily Dickinson help me through and see the light. Since I was planning on traveling through the New England area on a recent October 2016 trip, I made a special pitstop on purpose here to Amherst, Massachusetts. It was here that Emily Dickinson made this town her home, solitude, and her world. She lived all her life within the town of Amherst, Massachusetts in this house where the homestead and museum since today. The homestead is the original home she lived in, with some restoration and other reconstruction efforts within the home with modern effects. It was really cool to see where she lived and wrote many of her poetry here. I arrived here on a nice Wednesday afternoon, after rushing from Hartford, Connecticut and seeing the Mark Twain home and museum. I did not know that the Emily Dickinson had a guided tour, and I just happened to be fortunate enough to make it to the final tour of the day. The The tour itself was approximately 90 minutes long which encompasses both Emily Dickinson's home and evergreens, which was Emily Dickinson's brother and his family living next-door. This was like the best time ever for me, especially when it was full circle to where I could be happy with myself and my life again. The overall experience here at the Emily Dickinson homestead and museum was exceptional, coming from an enthusiast. I have all her completions of her poetry and a few volumes of biographies written about her from other authors at home. So it was a real treat to be in the same house that she was but 120 some years later after her death. Especially standing in her bedroom where she worked and lived, there was a poignant moment for me where this was that moment of clarity for me. It was obscenely personal for me and it helped me sort some stuff out that day. How her words helped me during my most darkest days and helped me sort through the craziness we call life. The Emily Dickinson homestead and museum is located at 280 Main Street here in Amherst, Ma. They except major credit cards, which is always a great thing. As far as parking goes, I had to park in one of the side streets where parking is available where you can find it. The parking area that they have next to the homestead, is for handicapped and disabled only. Best bet is to get here early and secure parking before going to the entrance and securing your tour slot. The entrance fee for the Emily Dickinson Homestead and museum is $15. It was well worth the price for me. I kind of remember the tour guide's name, but can't be too sure. I think her name is Barbara. She was very knowledgeable about the homestead and about Emily's life. She knew stories about the family and of Emily and once in a while she would tell us a poem from Emily about it the particulars of each room in the house. The interesting part of the home is the poetry room. I know that they have special events in that room. The evergreens also was a special treat, since we got to see Emily's brother and his family lived. It was sad to hear about Emily's nephew passing away at a young age, which may explain Emily's eventual reclusiveness and her uptick in writing and personal thoughts of the world. She lived like she had no other and she left this world with her words on the printed page. Years after her death, her poems were eventually published and she became a beloved icon in the literary world. I enjoyed my visit here thoroughly and definitely recommend if you are in the area and are a fan of Emily's work. Oh, Emily is rests in West cemetery with the rest of her family, which is about half a mile from the homestead. I had time after my visit to the homestead and paid a visit to Emily and her family. She saved my life with Her words, so it was only right to say thank you to her in person. Support local! A++

This is my favorite small museum, and I revisited today for the first time in about eight years. Our tour guide, Greg, was terrific. He recited poems throughout and struck the right balance of enough information for an average tourist as well as someone whose read Dickinson's poetry. Seeing the restoration in progress of Emily's brother's house next door was a real treat. We also enjoyed the self guided audio tour of Emily's garden; each stop has a narration as well as a poem. With easy street parking and no crowds, it's a great day trip to the Berkshires!

Awesome experience that really makes Emily into a multidimensional historical figure. I can't wait to go back in a few years as they are able to expand the museum.

I should start by saying that I am not easily impressed by house tours - even moreso if it's an author's home. However, I was happily surprised by my experience at the Dickinson Museum. The house itself has enough original offerings to keep people interested. The most impressive was probably Emily's bedroom. I commend the museum for offering several types of tours, each with a different thematic focus - and, more importantly, posting the schedule for these tours so you know what your options are before you bought a ticket. I signed up for the one that focused on poetry. Though the docent used notes, my assumption was that she researched and wrote the tour herself. She explained Dickinson's life and work with pathos. At the end, she invited those of us on the tour to read from some of her works. I couldn't resist volunteering after my great experience. I didn't get to visit the second home that's part of the museum but I hope to go again some time so that I can. By the way, if you're a fan of cemeteries like me, the Dickinson family plot is a "relatively" close walk from the house. Ask for directions. I was moved by all the tokens and mementos her admirers had left for her.

Emily Dickinson is my favoritism New England poet, and I have great expectation upon this visit. The tour guide is helpful, and house is nice, Emily Dickinson's white dress still moves me a lot. Yet the garden is in renovation and does not open to the public. I have bought a key ring with a line fromEmily Dickinson: to wait an hour -is long if love is beyond. ---love is so much!

I drove an hour and a half to see the museum today. According to the website, the museum was open, but when I got there today, it was closed. They really need to have more accurate information on their website.

This was an interesting tour and a pilgrimage for those perpetually changed by Emily's writing. Our guide Grace did a fine job and answered our questions to the best of her ability, given a limited historical record. It is a must-do for any lovers of Emily or house tours. Suggested improvements- why not include a visit to her graveyard? It isn't that far to walk and would round out the experience better than just discussing it. If there is any way to expand a tour just on Emily and stay in her house and grounds, that would be more meaningful for those who are there for her. For those who just like house tours you could include the Evergreens in that tour.

The 90 minute tour was a fantastic introduction to the poetry of Emily Dickinson, the characters in Dickinson's life, and a window into the mid-19th century in Amherst. Traveling around New England and the northeast, I've been on many tours of historical homes. I usually enjoy them, but there's a slightly repetitive rhythm to seeing old homes and mansions. If that's what you're expecting, the Emily Dickinson house tour will be completely different and refreshing. The main point of the tour is to give people an appreciation of Dickinson's poetry, her life, and her creative artistry. Yes, we saw different rooms of the houses (many of which are in different states of renovation). But after showing us a few of the rooms and artifacts, and telling us some history of Dickinson's family, our group went into a room where our guide gave us a brief interactive lecture about Dickinson's style of poetry - I'm surprised to say that this was a real highlight of the tour. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, clearly loved Dickinson's work, and spent the 90 minutes trying to give us a piece of her enthusiasm for her poetry. Since my girlfriend and I are math/science people and not students of poetry (who does study poetry these days?), I must admit I really didn't know much about Dickinson before the tour - I left the tour with a newfound appreciation for the subject and the person. Totally worth it, engrossing, and a must-see for visitors to Amherst. For some reason, Yelp has this tour listed as appropriate for kids. I disagree. Some teenagers (but not all) might enjoy a journey into Dickinson's poetry. I would hesitate to bring anybody younger than 12, who might be a little bored. Perhaps the shorter 60 minute tour would be better for families with young kids.

If you LOVE Emily Dickinson like I do, take the time to visit. I took the 90 minute tour that visited the Homestead (where Emily spent most of her life) and the Evergreens (the house her brother Austin built next door). The Homestead is pretty well-restored but the Evergreens is in a state of fascinating run-down-ness... pretty cool to see such a contrast within one historical site! There are also gardens and a big yard, very well-maintained and pretty to walk around in. Seeing "where it all happened" (so to speak) gave me a greater appreciation for "the Belle of Amherst," as Emily Dickinson is known. There was also a part of the tour where we discussed the editorial process by which her works were posthumously published, which I found quite thought-provoking. The whole experience of visiting Emily's house gave me a new appreciation for her and her poetry.

I visited the museum this passed weekend (8/20/16) and it was magical. I was transported to the 1800s and Emily's brilliance. I'm so incredibly grateful to our Tour Guide Miss Mary Pura and the museum's staff for our amazing tour. Their staff put forth such wonderful preparation in order to take us into Miss Dickinson's world. I highly recommend doing the 90-minute tour if you have time, as it's very detailed and thorough. I loved everything about visiting the museum!

Absolutely wonderful! I'm not a huge poetry fan, and what I know of Emily Dickinson is the rudimentary facts that most English majors know, but the tour of her family's houses is excellent and fascinating. We did the 2pm tour on a Saturday, and there were only four of us total. That was nice because it made the experience feel more relaxed, though our tour guide was so approachable and friendly I would have felt comfortable in a larger crowd as well. The tour begins in the home where Emily lived most of her life. The family briefly moved away when she was young and lived in a different Amherst home that was located where the Mobil station is now. After a few years, they moved back, and she lived in and wrote all her poems in that house. The tour also includes the house next door, which is where Emily's brother and his wife (Emily's childhood friend) lived. As far as literary house tours go, it was pretty standard. We traced her life from childhood to adulthood, and then moved over to the other house and talked about her brother's family. This is certainly a tour that a person could do more than once because they are doing a number of renovations to both houses--re-adding Emily's greenhouse, trying to chance the decor back to what it would have been when she lived there, etc. Amherst College has only owned the estate since 2001, which was surprising to me, and they are very actively trying to make it the place for all things Dickinson. Another fun element of the tour, was the interactive poetry section. When Dickinson was writing, she would often include lists of other words that she might use in a particular line. The museum took a couple poems and mounted the on the wall with a slider bar so you could read the poem and change out the words she marked for different ones. I'm far too impatient to be a huge fan of poetry, but it was a really clever way to draw attention to how deliberate each word choice is, and how much the mood of an entire poem changes when other words are swapped. In addition to the 90 minutes Emily's World tour that we took, they also have a poetry tour, a Victorian sex tour (don't know the real name of that, but it was mentioned), and a tour of the grounds. This would certainly be a lovely place to visit once the ground is green again, but it was a bit bleak in early April. This is hands down among the best literary tours I've been on. Beautiful houses, beautiful grounds, interesting incorporation of Emily's works into the tour, and, let's face it, Emily was an odd duck, it's always interesting to hear more about her eccentricities. I highly recommend this tour to any fan of either history or literature, even if you're not a poetry lover.

I love Emily Dickinson and thought this was a solid museum and place to visit. They have only been around 10 years and are trying to make improvements as funds become available. I did not love our tour guide. She was asked a few questions during the duration of the tour and didn't know any of the answers. She seemed to take some personal liberties on what she thought Emily was like instead of sticking to researched information. Later she told me she hadn't been there a week and unfortunately, it was all too evident. It would be interesting to go back and have a different guide. I really loved the room with the visual displays of her poems. I loved learning that she put different word selections in the margins of her poems. That display was beautifully done. Overall, I had a lovely experience and would recommend it highly!

Stopped by to take the tour since we were in the area. I have to admit, I know Emily Dickenson by name only, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The house was nice, well maintained. I imagine the yard and garden are beautiful in the summer but all we saw was snow! The tour itself felt a little stiff, like the guide had memorized something and was just repeating it word for word, including pauses and inflections.

Interesting. A nice piece of history kept in its original state. The tour guides are knowledgeable. I left knowing a lot more about local history!

Worth the visit if you're a fan, and possibly if you're not. Debunks some common preconceptions and leaves visitors with a rare emotional charge not found in most historic dwellings.

It kept us all interested in the 90 minute tour . From ages 21 to 90, in a group of 5. Really didn't know much about Emily Dickinson other than her name . Loved learning more about this reclusive poet. The Tour was enlightening and interesting .

There's the homestead (the main house) & the evergreens (another family house) out back. They were both very, very interesting. The tour guide was very informative. They host a lot of events here for Emily's birthday and throughout the year. The museum store is small but has neat books and souveniers.

Well, I have read the reviews and I beg to differ. This 90 minute tour of both houses was a tour of houses, mostly. We learned about the types of pianos used back in those days. The fireplaces were discussed ad nauseam, and the guide even had the nerve to say, "Well more about the fireplaces later." Hey, what about the poems? What was a day in the life of Emily Dickinson like? No clue. The white dress on the 2nd floor was only mentioned when someone in the group asked if it was an original. "No it isn't." She was called, "the lady in white", after all. But that was it for the dress. In one room was a display on the structure of a Dickinson poem, but seemed geared more for children and we spent 5 minutes in that room. Of course we heard about Emily's brother Austin and his affair with a woman named Mabel Todd. But what about the poems. Maybe I got on the architectural and gossip tour. Next time I'd like to hear about one the foremost American poets, Emily Dickinson.

What a spectacular and intimate view of the life of America's greatest poet! We took the "World of Emily Dickinson" tour with Jeff, and enjoyed every minute. I admit that when they said it was a 90-minute tour, I thought, "what possibly could keep me interested in Emily Dickinson for an hour-and-a-half?" Boy did I have a lot to learn! The life and the poetry of this amazing woman came alive. The Evergreen's home nearby also gave us a view directly to the 1890s and the surviving Dickinson family. Highly recommended!

If you're interested in a biographical overview of Emily Dickinson and a brief review of the editorial concerns posed by transcribing her poems posthumously, this museum is a decent place to see a docent do his thing. If you're remotely familiar with Dickinson and her work (e.g., I took half a summer course in her poetry at San Francisco State 5 or 6 years ago) you probably won't gain new insight. The tour spans half a dozen rooms or so, the most interesting being her sparsely furnished bedroom and writing table. I appreciated that my docent--an amiable plaid-shirted gent whose name I didn't catch--focused more on Dickinson's craft than the meaning being particular lines or poems.

Despite being an English teacher, I've never really developed an abiding interest in Emily Dickinson's poetry. That said, I took the 90 minute tour and found it to be interesting on many levels. Period pieces and eclectic artwork made the house tours well worth the price of admission, and the grounds are beautiful as well. As far as Dickinson herself, I'm interested in reading her poetry now--more so than before, certainly--and becoming more acquainted with her literary legacy. The tour guide was fabulous: knowledgable, engaging, and possessing just the right demeanor for a tour of this sort. Highly recommended, for Dickinson lovers and non Dickinson lovers alike.

Beautiful place, interesting and people were very friendly and knowledgeable.

Took the guided house tour yesterday. The docent seemed a bit uncomfortable, not very engaging and almost bored. The homes and the grounds were quite lovely. I would recommend the museum but would request a seasoned tour guide.

You do not have to be a die-hard Emily Dickinson fan to find the 40 minute tour very interesting and engaging. Our tour guide, Judith, shared interesting anecdotes about the rooms we visited and supplemented her talks with Emily's poetry. She was able to answer all of our questions about the poet and the house. We saw the bed where Emily died, and her writing desk. I appreciated the little details such as verses from her poems in the signs that were posted in the house, and information about the installation of the house's plumbing in the bathroom. I emerged with a very rich portrait of this woman's life, and a greater appreciation for her work.

What a wonderful tour of both Emily's and Austen's home. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, personable, and quite patient with a young member of our group who asked lots of inquisitive questions. The opportunity to connect place with poetry/art and with poet/artist is often rare. This museum respectfully highlights the many ways in which place shaped the art. A great treat and a must-see if one is traveling through this part of the state.

As an Emily Dickinson fan, I was impressed with this museum. The tour guide was very knowledgable & made the experience delightful.

What a treasure to spend a few hours where Emily Dickenson lived her life and wrote beautiful prose. My daughter (9) is learning about Emily in school. At the museum she saw and learned information about Emily's life that she could not appreciate by reading the history books. Tour guides are extremely knowledgeable and open to questions!

I loved visiting the Emily Dickinson Museum some years ago as I am a native to that area. I hope to visit again very soon. Did you know that Emily Dickinson is a cousin to many well-known personalities in history, past and present? I discovered this while serving a part-time Service Mission in SLC at the Church History Library this past year (vis a vis the Family History Library which is more of a genealogical library while the church history library is just that all about the church's history and includes pro and con and histories of other religions as well btw; wonderful library!) Emily Dickinson is descended as I am sure the local historians know, from Robert White and Bridget Allgar (Robert 1558-1617 and Bridget 1562-1623). Well, these other people are descended from the same couple: Ulysses S. Grant, Shirley Temple (Black), Marie Osmond (and family), football player, Steven Young, Lucille Ball, The Wright Brothers, Joseph Smith, the Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, (now deceased, former modern day Prophet, L.D.S. Church/Mormons), and William Williams of the 1700's. Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of this chart may contact: Family Search, Joseph Smith Bldg., North Temple St., SLC, UT.

it's a good tour and i enjoyed it thoroughly although it's not of the greatest tours i've taken - they could've incorporated more sensational facts that i know.knew about Emily that would draw more people in