The 200yr old chinese house was the best part of this museum. I was devastated when I found out that we could not take pictures inside of the house. This rule should definitely be changed. Plus, the chinese house bodyguards are a little unnerving. You feel like your doing something wrong the entire time your in the house the way... more

at first it looked very interesting nice huge building the inside was beautiful but the items on display did'nt catch my interest and i became very bored throughtout their tour. great people but not my kind of museum. more

For those interested in Salem's maritime history, a visit to the Peabody Essex Museum is a must. With its large collection of Asian export and maritime art, it will compliment nicely a visit to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site providing a window on the conditions the Salem mariners faced and the objects of their trade. Over my lifetime, I've... more

I had the pleasure of taking a friend from out of state to the Peabody Essex Museum today. Anyone visiting Salem should make it a point to put this on their itinerary or "to do" list. The PEM boasts an outstanding collection of art and has galleries dedicated to American, Chinese, Japanese, Oceanic, Indian, Native American and Korean art. The... more

The houses on display as part of the museum's properties are quite special -- well-preserved, thoroughly studied and obviously appreciated by the previous owners, the guides and those who have worked to preserve them. I particularly appreciated the fact that so much of the furniture was original to the homes -- very rare! I didn't have time to see much... more

a nice museum but the food was too much money more

Ok... Maybe I'm not as cultured as I should be. I thought the items were spaced out so far in the displays...it seemed like they were trying to make the exhibit look bigger than it really was. They could have fit eveything on one floor! The items were amazing and I respected the stories behind the gathering of them, but... more

The maritime art here is really amazing. They have so much it would take hours to see it all. Not only do they have paintings that vividly depict our forgotten seafaring era, but they also have scale models of ships like the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner, and also relics from famous ships. I also visited the Chinese house. There were... more

We were lucky enough to stumble upon the PEM on a recent visit to Salem. Having had a fairly ordinary experience at one of the many Witch museums, the PEM was a real gem. When we visited we (my husband, myself & 2 daughters 10 & 7) had limited time ( wish we hadn't done the touristy witch thing) so... more