Things to do in Boston?
 

Greetings from 'down under'! I'll be in Boston for a week from around 18 or 19 April (missing Patriot's Day marathon!) and wonder if anyone can help with some suggestions for 'touristy' things to do both in and around Boston? I plan to walk the Freedom trail but would appreciate any suggestions you might have. Ideally, I'd also like to do some day trips out of Boston (need to be bus/train as driving on the right side of the road still scares me;) ) Many thanks, in advance, for your suggestions!

I went to college 50 minutes west of Boston and have been there more times than I can remember (maybe the parties at my friends' in Back Bay didn't help).

Anyway, the one touristy thing I do recommend is the Duck Tours. It's a great way to see the city and have fun. It can be a little hokie with the whole "quack quack" thing but you're there to have fun.

A couple of my favorite places for food and drink is sitting at the oyster bar at Union Oyster House (and getting oysters and clams shucked right in front of you....don't bother with the dining room). I also love The Daily Catch on Hanover St. in the North End for calamari or steamed mussels. That place is the size of my cubicle. Lastly, I can't forget Boston Beer Works across from Fenway on Brookline Ave. or on Canal St. near North Station. Love thier sour cream and chive fries.

Walk through the North end, the Italian neighborhood. Great spots for dinner ^ and quite interesting to hear so much Italian spoken in the open on an American street in this millenium. Quick run through Faneuil Hall. Freedom trail as you said -- include visiting some of the graves of the patriots and founding fathers.:o Duck tour is worth it, you may need to reserve ahead, maybe not at that time of year but check anyway. Yes it is slightly campy but it is a good tour nonetheless. Do stop and walk through the Holocaust memorial also, it only takes a moment but you will remember it forever. Walk thru Boston Commons. Oh ya and if you must, you could stop at Cheers.:rolleyes:

museum of fine arts

For day trips out of Boston you can use the MBTA commuter rail system (www.mbta.com). You could head north towards Gloucester/Rockport and the ocean, south to the city of Providence in Rhode Island, or west towards my neck of the woods and check out the history (Paul Revere, the Minutemen vs. the British, etc.) in Concord. If you're looking for a longer trip, you can take Amtrak from Boston up to Portland, Maine, which is an interesting coastal city. If you need more info, feel free to PM me.

If you're a baseball fan, go for a tour of Fenway.

Welcome to FT, Pooch!

Lots to do around the city of Boston... My recommendations will generally emphasize indoor stuff since April weather is a fool's bet, but you can have some really nice days here in April just the same...

-- Take a subway ("T) ride over the Charles River to Cambridge and have a look around Harvard University, which is the oldest in the US. Many buildings open to the public. Sign up for a student-guided tour. Harvard has a couple of terrific museums too.

-- Also, Harvard's school of government often hosts participatory forums with U.S. and world leaders, authors, historians, even, occasionally, celebrities. Most forums are open to the public, and they are always free of charge. Check the schedule before you arrive to see what will be on during your visit.

-- Visit the John F. Kennedy Library & Museum. The museum retraces his presidency in film and artifact; the library holds all his papers. The building was designed by I.M. Pei and sits on Boston Harbor, with a beautiful view of the city. Accessible by subway.

-- Have a mid-afternoon dessert in the courtyard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and then tour a few of the galleries. It's a gorgeous museum.

-- Stroll down Newbury Street, the heart of Boston shopping... Lots of upscale boutiques; it's as chic as Boston gets, for what that's worth.

Day trips by bus/train/boat:

-- Cape Cod. Catch a bus to Woods Hole (Peter Pan bus lines, $32 return), wander around the town, which is a major center of oceanographic research as much as it is a tourist destination. Have a good seafood lunch in Woods Hole, then hop a ferry to the island of Martha's Vineyard (45 min. each way). The ferry is about $13 return. It's a nice day trip.

-- Or take a fast ferry from Boston Harbor to Provincetown, on the outer tip of the Cape. There are two ferry services, both in the range of $70-75 return. They do not operate in winter but should be running during your visit.

-- Go on a whale watch. (There are several companies offering whale watch outings from Boston Harbor. I've only linked to one. It might pay to comparison-shop...)

-- Take a commuter train to Gloucester, as I believe was mentioned by an earlier poster. Beautiful shoreline, lovely town, home of commercial fishing industry as depicted in "The Perfect Storm" (book/film).

-- If the weather cooperates, rent a bike and follow the Minuteman bike trail from Cambridge through Arlington, Lexington and Bedford. It's a lovely ride and it takes you right through the area where the Revolutionary War began. You can stop and explore the towns you pass through, or grab drinks and snacks for the road. The trail is accessible from the city on the MBTA - take the Red Line to Alewife station.

As others have covered restaurants I won't add to the expertise in that area, but feel free to PM me for expanded explanations or other ideas. I hope you have a wonderful visit.

Duck Tours! You can reserve on-line a few days ahead. Spring isn't generally sold out non-stop (insider info as DH is one of the original drivers...).

Also - the new ICA: http://www.icaboston.org in South Boston. You can tag on lunch at the Legal Seafoods Test Kitchen.

I just got back from a week in Boston.

If you take the duck, don't sit in the back.

Finlene's Basement.

Boston has a small Chinatown with good food.

For hotels try priceline.com I have had fantastic luck with them.

There are many cheap buses that wll take you to New York 4 hours each way for about $30. google Chinese bus boston.

Lobster and Clam Chowda.

Hi Pooch,
If you like Sydney, you'll like many aspects of Boston. Transport options, at least in the city, are good.

Highlights for me on our most recent trip were:
- Day trip to Salem (Mrs Bizi is into ghost tours and the like);
- Mrs B insisted on a drink at Cheers, where we indeed made some friends, and you're guaranteed to be talkoing to other tourists ;).
- Stopping into Marblehead (almost Disney-like historical town, just north of BOS) for lunch and to walk and browse amongst the galleries;
- A great drive through Cape Cod, right down to Provincetown. That was a shock, but great fun and totally unexpected for an American town!
- plus all the in-Boston suggestuins above. MIT is also on the T to Harvard. If the weather is good, walk across the bridge to MIT.

Not so impressive, but still worth considering:
- Filene's Basement isn't nearly a patch on NYC's Century21 opposite the WTC in NYC. Not even as good as the DJs sale in Sydney ;). However your luck may be better!
- Legal Seafood gets good writeups in the guides but wasn't up to the standards of good Sydney seafood. Overrated food and understaffed for service. However, try the chowder whenever possible!
- Newbury Street is fine for a walk; maybe on the way to MIT/Harvard across the water?

We stayed near a beach area not far from the airport and had a car, so I can only comment (positively) on the train into the city, but no other public transport.

Boston streets were extremely confusing so I don't blame you for not wanting to drive in town; however it's very easy on the freeways, so it might be worth the trouble - maybe with a friend?

Hope this helps.
Cheers! ^

talk about "old home week"
 

having grown up in boston. all of the prior suggestions are excellent ^^ but how come nobody mentioned the swan boats at the public "gahden" ;). yeah, it's corny but it's a fun little ride (http://www.swanboats.com/new/welcome.shtml) and i even remeber when adults were 25 cents and kids only a dime-late '60's people-i'm not THAT old ;)

i'll also add that if you're a history buff, explore the state house on beacon hill (the hall of flags is pretty cool) and a walk on beacon hill to look at homes with the "purple windows" (glass is so old that it has turned purple tho some folks "cheat with purple curtains behind clear glass)

now as to the blessed red-sox (hey, i can now die a happy goalie ;)), according the the 2007 schedule, they are home april 20-22 vs the yankees and 23-24 vs toronto. you should at least try and take a tour but if you can go to a game, it would be even "bettah", tho trying to get tix to a yankees (arch-rival/anti-chri$t) series is pretty much next to impossible but ya nevah know.

lastly-check the weathah right up until the day before you leave as the old saying in boston is "if you don't like the weathah, wait 5 minutes"(.....i remembah snow in may and 80's in february)

oh and lasty, we don't have an accent ;), it's just that the alphabet only has 25 lettahs-there are no r's in the english language :D

enjoy your trip, you'll have a blast

Also growing up in Boston I have to second this. If you really want to see what Boston is all about and the true heart of the city you should go down near Fenway for a Sox game. Even if you can't get in you could stop by Boston Beer Works for a bite, have a drink at the Cask and Flagon and Who's on First. If you do venture over there go early and take the subway, a taxi would just be stuck in traffic before a game.

i compeltely phorgot about the cask 'n flagon-that is the palce to be before, during and after a game and yes, absoltuely take the "t" whereever you go in boston-look into getting one of the visitor passes (or whatever they're called)

Almost all tickets for the season are sold out already. What does this mean? Only that you will be in the same boat as most fans and have to buy tickets from a scalper, on E Bay, or from a ticket agency. Tickets for Yankee games may cost several times the price of tickets to a Blue Jays game.
The T has just joined the 21st century with stored value Charlie Cards (Chahlie Cahd) rather than tokens for fare payment. I don't know whether they will continue to sell the multi day tourist passes.

it's the end of the world as we know it :D

-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?
:D

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.

Thank you everyone
 

My very sincere thanks to you all ... I now have such a fantastic range of ideas to fill my week - looks like I'll have to start planning my next trip to Boston:cool: to fit it all in!

I'm truly grateful and appreciative of all the wonderful suggestions for 'things to do' and 'places to eat' ... you're all terrific!

Thanks from sunny oz,

Pooch

Ditto, thanks for all the useful "local" information.

If the weather holds up as it currently is in the east through Tuesday, I will do my daytrip this coming Tuesday (the 16th)...shall decide Sunday night or Monday...this pass is very, very flexible...of to Montreal for dinner with friends and back to Toronto by 11p!

hey! I would definately do a duck tour, i had a great time. Also the whale watches are fun but make sure you pack a jacket and know you may not see alot of whales! Also the freedom trail is a good idea and definately shop in the Prudential Center if you're looking for good stores or Faneuil Hall is also pretty cool!!! Have Fun!!!

Finally did this trip, albeit on a stopover return from a trip to Warsaw and Berlin in May. My LH flight got into Logan around 8p so I could legally connect to an AC flight to YYZ the next evening at 6:20p. This gave me pretty much a full day to enjoy in the spring warmth. Got a super rate at the new IC ($149) on the docks overlooking a giant Milk Bottle (what's that all about?), and which is right on the Silver Line route at the junction of the RR station and several other lines. Next day took the subway out to the Art Museum for the Edwin Hopper show (finally saw some of those American classics for real), then miandered through the rest of the galleries. Headed off along the road around Fenway Park itself and over to the baseball stadium, then across to the Boston Beer Co for a nice lunch and sampling of their brews, settling on an IPA (well made, classic hops and grapefruit aftertaste); walked about a mile to find a subway station back to the Common, strolled through it for a bit before heading back to the hotel, showering and packing for a late 4p check-out and Silver-lined back to BOS. Perfect combo of culture, baseball and brew!

Make a visit to "Dicks Last Resort" http://boston.dickslastresort.com/index.php .. its a good place to get a taste of Bostonian life... also go to 222 Friend St. :D

For anyone heading up to Boston (too late for you shareholder, but since we're on topic) try the new Codzilla ride around Boston Harbor. Friends went on it the other day and raved about it! From what I understand, it's a speed-boat/thrill ride around Boston Harbor traveling at speeds of up to 40 mph! Brand spanking new this year and I guess it's very popular! Google Codzilla for more details.

I'm glad you had a great day. The Milk Bottle is part of the Boston Children's Museum, which is directly across from the IC. :)

Dick's Last Resort is about as authentically Boston as the establishment at 222 Friend Street. Both could (and should) be skipped.

222 Friend St sounds like the address of the much-lamented Dew Drop Inn, a particularly welcoming, down-scale bar where we'd usually go drinking before B's games. (When they were good. Which tells you how long it has been since the DDI was in existence.) The DDI was also a reliable place to get a football card or to make slightly larger short-term investments.

The DDI, unlike Dick's, or whatever on earth 222 Friend St might be, was indeed typical of Boston, not to be dismissed lightly.

I had a blast in Boston just exploring places like Beacon Hill and wandering into one of the oldest cemeteries in the U.S. (a traveler on the Mayflower is buried there). I also did a lot of beer tastings, from Boston Beer Works to Cambridge Brewing Company.

Making my way to Fenway was great, as was the North End. Things for my next visit: Southie, Bunker Hill, and more breweries.