@TheGreyKing Thank you!
If your school has access to a good college town, that’s typically regarded as a plus. However, this is something that applicants to liberal arts colleges are commonly prepared to sacrifice. LACs have small enrollments, and they tend to be located in out-of-the-way places, so they often lack a bustling college town environment.
Williams College, for example, is certainly one of the top LACs in New England (in fact, the USNews rankings rate it as the #1 National LAC). Yet Williamstown is known for its small size, lack of services, and isolation. Williams students seem happy nonetheless.
Have not been to Mystic, but it’s supposed to be a cute little town that draws lots of tourists. It appears to be 10 miles from CC though, so you will probably need a car (or a friend with a car) to get there. Note that CC freshmen are not allowed to bring cars.
I have not been to Worcester recently either, but my guess is that there are probably more things to do in Worcester, and that those things are relatively close to the Holy Cross campus, and that they are accessible by local public transportation, even if you don’t have access to a car.
Another option – which didn’t exist when I was in college – would be ride-sharing services like Uber or Lyft. It’s possible that those services have significantly improved the mobility of carless CC students. Of course, they could also be useful in Worcester as well.
Mystic is fun, but a drive away. It has the famous historic Mystic Seaport, the largest maritime museum in the United States, with historic sailing ships (used for whaling, fishing, etc.) and a restored village where you can see what life was like long ago. It also has the great Mystic Aquarium, which is a world-class aquarium. Mystic also is a touristy little town where you can walk around and enjoy ice cream, restaurants, and shopping for trinkets.
Also within a short drive are a submarine museum, two gambling casinos run by Native Americans (Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun), and a wonderful Native American museum where tribal members act as docents and provide interesting insights into their current experience as Native Americans, as well as discussing the displayed artifacts: Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center.
And then there’s the National Theater Institute, which is affiliated with Connecticut College.
From New London, there are ferries you can take to Long Island and other points, if you want to visit Long Island north shore wineries or something else. Again, having or renting a car is helpful for these outings.