Boston area outlet shopping malls

Boston has a good number of discount clothing stores, including TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, DSW Shoes and Filene’s Basement. However, when “discount” isn’t enough, then thoughts turn to “Outlets”. Indeed, many of our welcome visitors from overseas make Outlet Shopping one of their top priorities. While we don’t have Outlet Malls within the city itself, we certainly do have them within a short distance.

The Granddaddy of outlet malls is the famous Kittery Outlets in Kittery, Maine (less than an hour from Boston). It has over 120 outlet stores, including Ralph Loren, Banana Republic, Bass, Calvin Klein, J. Crew, Nautica, Tommy Hilfiger, and Levi’s.

Freeportis a beautiful coastal Maine village with over 200 upscale outlets, designer shops, and eclectic boutiques. It is home to the world-famous L.L.Bean, plus Burberry, Brooks Brothers, Reebok, and Ralph Loren Polo. Hours vary by store, but L.L. Bean is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Freeport is about 2.5 hours north of Boston.

The Cape Cod Factory Outlet is the largest factory outlet mall on Cape Cod and is only about an hour from Boston. There are over 20 nationally-known factory outlet stores, including Bass, Van Heusen, L'Eggs, Hanes, Bali, Playtex, Izod, and Jones New York.

Finally, Wrentham Village Premium Outlets has 170 stores, including Banana Republic, Barneys New York, Burberry, Coach, Tahari, Hugo Boss, J.Crew, Kenneth Cole, Lacoste, Nike, Ralph Lauren, Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Sony. It's about 45 minutes southwest of Boston. Note that this is the only outlet mall reachable via alternative transportation from Boston (for bus information, click here).

- Alan Maltzman of BostonCityWalks.com