-Check out the U.S.S. Constitution, old iron sides, in the Charlestown Navy Yard. This is a short walk from the north end or a water shuttle from rose warf.

-Copley library in copley square is fairly cool, old architechure and some amazing marble work.

-Skywalk at the prudential building gets you to the top of the building for a fee. At night I reccommend going to the bar at the Top of the Hub rather than doing the skywalk. You don't pay the skywalk fee and you can sit and listen to jazz while having a drink. Don't bother with eating at the restaurant.

-Arnold Arboretum is a botanical graden type thing out on the green line by Arbor way (Jamaica Plain). Its just okay ordinarily, but you might catch some of the lilac exhibit at that point in the spring which is really nice if you like that.

-If you can't get into Fenway go to the Cask n Flagon, next best thing.

-Esplanade- nice area on the charles river where they often have free shows and movies in the spring summer. There is also a path that borders the river to walk or run on where you get good views of cambridge and all of the sail boats. You can rent kayaks for the Charles too which isn't bad.

-Many churches in the copley area and north end that you can tour if you like that.

-Newbury street is good to people watch and do some shopping, always interesting people and stores there.

-Harpoon brewery tours in South Boston are good, there is a Sam Adams one too by Stoney Brook on the orange line.

-Lots of concert venues if you like Indie or main stream. The Paradise, Middle East and Avalon are my favorites for cheap club shows with up and coming bands.

I'm likely to have a day in Boston later this month or next, weather permitting. What's the best subway line to take into the city, Blue or Silver? (Can I purchase a Day Pass on the Silver shuttle bus, or only at the Blue line sation?)

Sounds like I could do the Fenway Tour, a brewery or two, and maybe get to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or similar art gallery. Would likely fly in around 10/11am fly home 9/10pm so obviously can't see all I'd want to. (I've been before, so have done Harvard, the Kennedy Library, MIT and the major historical spots.)

If you're aiming to hit Fenway and the Gardner or the MFA, it would probably be better to take the Blue Line. I don't know that you can buy a day pass on the Silver Line bus, and if you can't buy a pass or a stored value "Charlie Card" onboard, then you will be forced to pay a higher fare per ride. (The single-ride fare structure just got more complicated and more expensive as of Jan. 1.) The Blue Line is gross, but you can definitely buy a day pass or a Charlie Card at the Airport station on the Blue Line. From there, it's only a few stops to a direct connection with the Green Line at Government Center station. Fenway and the museums are on different branches of the Green Line.

There is lots to see in Cambridge. In addition to Harvard, there is MIT. The MIT museum is lots of fun. I would second the Gardner in Boston and the MFA (if you like art). Just walking along the Charles River (or running) is usually pretty nice.

If you are looking for an additional day trip, the Old North Bridge (the first battle of the American Revolution as the locals fought with the Brits) is in Concord, which can be reached by train from North station. Also there is Louisa May Alcott's house (where a woman dressed up as louisa gives tours on certain days), the Colonial Inn (George Washington must have slept here and they may or may not have changed the mattresses since then), various shrines to the patron saints of the town Henry David Thoreau (of Civil Disobedience and Walden Pond Fame) and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Walden Pond is also there and is quite beautiful, but I don't know how one would get there via public transportation. It is beautiful and historic out here.

tour? see about getting tickets to a game, mate! It's early season and they should do well this year! Oh, and buy a Boston Red Sox (http://www.redsox.com) hat too. the old/worn looking ones in blue often found only at the park.

I personally would find a mountain bike rental somewhere and ride thru the city that way. I will try to find some links. I used to do it all the time and you can really get around with ease, as it is a small and walkable/bikable city with many little roads and not enough auto parking for everyone. PM me and I will try to help you with more tips. The reason why I say that is because if I see a private message I will concentrate on answering it. That's cuz I cant right now but wanted to start somethin. Then I will share the info with others too in here!.

Welcome to FT too.

Some places to look for--this list is from places scattered within the city as a teaser for ya:

Mike's Pastry
Il Panino
Cafe Vittorio
John Harvard Brew House
Mr Dooley's Pub (best Guinness in the country)
The top of the Prudential building
Fenway Park
The Co-Op
Harvard University
China Villa
Grendell's
Newbury Street
The Waterfront and any cruises, whale watches, trips to Cape Cod, etc.
Tia's bar
Mr & Mrs Bartlet's Burgers
the Union Oyster House
the No Name Fish Restaurant
The Harpoon brewery (Try the UFO beer!)
Warren Tavern
Capital Grille Streak House
Not Your Average Joe's
Pizzeria Regina

Any Brighams, ben & jerry's, Baskin Robins or any Richardson's icecream place
Any pete's Coffee

Any bar around fenway park/Kenmore Square--or to say it in a classic Boston accent: Any bahh around fuggin fenway pahhhkkk

the Boston Garden
Faniuel Hall/Quincy Market

gawd there's sooo many I have to think!

Study THIS too:

www.mbta.com
good luck.

If you attempt to drive in this city, good luck. I suggest subway, duck tours, walking, biking and then taking the car OUT of the city to head to the North Shore and find WOODMAN'S fish restaurant, among others.

Read the Boston Globe, which is a main newspaper, the Improper Bostonian, and the Phoenix, and if you would consider yourself to be a hardcore right winger, read the Herrald. hehehe

You could google them all online.

Well, there is more! Enjoy and ask away mate!
bring me a VB. They dont have any here. People here think the Outback Steakhouse is real Aussie. It's not. Avoid the place if you wanna stay healthy.

MM

I grew up there!

here ya go!

http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/
http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_ma...route=FITCHBRG
Commuter Rial trains from north Station in Boston, and they go regularly to Concord. The town is on the Fitchburg Line and you can walk across the street to Starbucks, grab a coffee and then walk thru town to see most of this stuff.

My kids are getting to do so now. Definitely a good place to raise kids and a very pretty place. Puts the capital Q in Quaint.

I think you could walk from the Starbucks to Walden Pond. It is a straight shot, but it is proably a mile each way. Then, there is a beautiful hike around the lake.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner museum would be ideal for that type of plan. It's a relatively small museum, and the building itself is every bit as interesting as its collection. Mrs Gardner herself was also apparently a piece of work.

The Gardner is just a 5- or 10-minute walk from Fenway Park. A very doable plan would be to go to the Gardner museum in the morning, the Boston Beer Works (adjacenbt to the ballyard) for lunch, and then a Fenway tour in the afternoon. (A small note about terminology: 'Fenway' is the name of both the ballpark and a road that half-circumnaviagtes a park called The Fens. The Gardner museum is on Park Drive, which is the road that goes around the other half of The Fens.)

Thanks gents for the fine tuning tips. I found a pretty good map of the area on the Isabella Stewart site which does go all the way up to I90 and Fenway. However, I noticed that the Beer Factory really is just an eating spot and not a microbewpub. The Sam Adams Brewery is somewhere along Brookline, but is it near Fenway? (I also thought Sam Adams actually brewed its beer off site in upstate New York under contract?) Are there any true brewpubs or microbreweries in the city that are convenient to get to?

The Blue line appears to the best option, since the shuttles are free to the station and I can get one of those Charlie cards/day passes.

Hopefully this fine weather will hold up for a few more weeks and I can do this day trip in January. NYC's my first such trip, using a neat AC pass that gives me unlimited travel within NAmerica for C$400 a month for two months, albeit just on Tuesdays and Saturdays. My plan is to do similar day trips to US cities I've not been to for a while, and that have an AC sked that can get me in before noon, and back out by 9p, and to cities that have good public transit between the airport and city centre.

Unless things have changed recently, the Boston Beer Works on Brookline Ave is very much a brewpub -- the bar underlooks the brewing room.

I would definitely check out THIS place:

http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/

they often have events and who knows, you may stumble across one when you visit!


OR, this bar. they have like EVERY BEER!

the SUNSET GRILLE AND TAP, Allston, MA http://www.allstonsfinest.com/allsto...tgrill&tap.swf (that's like next to Brighton and Brookline and near Fenway. If you look at a map, it is as if they made a thinly sliced pie of three towns that are considered part of boston and they are all on their own sub-section of the same "T" or subway train line. the green line runs from the city thru Kenmore Square where Fenway park is near, and goes out to each of these "finger" slices of towns and there's the B line, C line, D, E, etc... You could visit Boston University, Boston College, and a whole bunch of cool clubs and bars, among other things. It's a happening spot and I think every young person who ever lived in the city spend SOME time renting there at one point.

Harpoon, on the other hand, is on the oposite side of the city but you can get to spots pretty close to it by subway as well. www.MBTA.com shows you the "T" or subway system, but note that unlike most cities, this one goes not based on N, S, E, W, rather, it goes inbound or outbound based on the centralized point at PARK STREET and a couple other stops in the middle of the city. The grid is signified by colored names of the trains and the end of the line is kinda at the waterfront, where Faniuel Hall is located. You could take T's to the airport but it can be a bit tricky as you gotta drag your bags on long undrground dusty corridors to try to catch trains that are so full sometimes you think you are in Asia!

BUT it's a good city and is relatively safe. I wouldnt like leave my laptop in the front seat of my car on the street, but I have not had any problems otherwise. Everyone is there to have a good time cuz there are so many colleges and bars to go to!

MM

Lots of great suggestions. I live in Boston, so let me add votes for

1) Aquarium. Touristy but fun
2) Museum of Science. DO NOT go without seeing the Omni theater - its awesome. Also, be sure to check out the lighting show. I bring everyone to the Omni theatre that is in town and they all love it
3) Duck tours, if you must May be chilly in April, dress right!
4) Don't miss downtown crossing, Newbury Street, The Boston Commons, Freedom Trail, Esplanade, and be SURE to get food in a real chinese place in Chinatown. These are all downtown and easy to do
5) going up the hancock tower and prudetial are good. if you want a nice dinner with a view, go to Top of the Hub at the top of the Pru. Very nice and lunch is not that costly
6) Day trip up to Salem MA or Gloucester, MA is good if you like ocean-y stuff.
7) See the Constitution, near the North End
8) Wang Ctr and Museum of Fine Arts are good. There are lots of eclectic museums in/around Boston that are great to check out.

who put the bump?


6) yup, and Rockport or Manchester-By-The-Sea too!

Both are on the commuter rail train

www.mbta.com


if you do have a car and like antiquing, Anything and everything in Essex. Also in the north shore and doable by train but you actually would be better off by driving this one. That's where Woodman's is too. mentioned earlier as a great fish and lobstah place. Complete with the red & white checkered table cloths and the picnic table style seating. have a beah and a lobstah and you will also get some good pictures of boats in the water marshes all around there. It's pretty real New England in all these places, adding to the great ones corporate666 mentioned.

MM

If the weather is nice:

1) Walk around Back Bay. What I mean here is between Newbury Street and the Charles. Walk down Marlborough, walk through the Commons, etc.

2) Check out the South End. This is the "hippest" part of Boston currently. Lots of new good restaurants, beautiful restored brownstones, etc. Tremont Street is the name to remember here.

3) Do a river walk.