I'm going to be visiting Boston for a weekend. Staying at the Westin Copley. About the furthest away we will get is MIT, for my son to tour the campus.

How should we get from the airport to the hotel?

What about to MIT - should we rent a car that day?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

The best way from the airport to the hotel is by taxi. Cost will $15-20 depending on the route the cabbie takes, and it'll be about a 15-30 minute trip, depending on traffic. Don't rent a car: it's expensive (for one thing, they tack on a preposterous $10 convention center charge to each rental), the overnight parking cost is more than the cab fare, and you have a good chance of getting lost a few times before you get to the hotel.

(If you were on a tight budget, I would also mention public transportation. I assume you're not, so I won't.)

The trip from the Westin to MIT is a short one, no more than a mile or so. You can take a cab, or it's a nice walk if the weather cooperates and you'd like to do so. The walk takes you across the Charles River, the banks of which will be teeming with happy people if it's a nice day.

The only reason to rent a car is if you wanted to explore sites outside the Boston/Cambridge area (Lexington/Concord, Cape Cod, etc.)

Edited because this typist reads bad, and doesn't write so good either.


[This message has been edited by wideman (edited 05-15-2002).]

Thanks wideman. That's everything I needed to know. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Don't do it! Driving in Boston ( I went to college there and visit also) is absolutely the worst I have ever encountered The streets are laid out like a cow town and lots of one ways that aren't obvious. The "T" takes you everywhere if the weather isn't nice enough to walk, and from the Westin Copley to MIT is a short ride. MIT is on the T line and really not too far form Boston proper even tho it's in Cambridge.

They also have share cabs at the airport so if you hook up w. another who is also going downtown you can save and strill be downtown quickly.

I have to agree about driving in Boston being bad. Aside from the driving..the parking is not that great either.

Thanks again for the advice. I definitely will not get a car! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Ditto what they said. So just to reinforce, I had a work trip back there last month and needed a car to get out of the city for a couple of meetings. It was a headache and a half, with horribly confusing poorly marked streets; parking is a nightmare itself.

Getting around was much easier on two previous pleasure trips this year, WITHOUT a car.

IIRC if you don't want to shell out for a taxi from BOS, you can take a shuttle to catch the T to Copley. But, as already mentioned its much easier to do a taxi.