Going to Boston for a week...?

Question

And I was wondering what places should I visit for sure. And also please tell me some good restaurants to dine at. I know I should go on the Freedom Trail, duck tours, boston common, etc.

OH and I was also wondering what towns near Boston should I visit?Ones that are quaint and small.

Please and Thank you.

Answer 1

To Do In Boston:

First, check out www.bostonusa.com to get some ideas of what may be going on in town while you are there.  I also suggest you pick up Boston For Dummies – it’s a great book and will give you directions on how to get to a lot of places.  

If you’ve never been before, you may consider purchasing an MBTA subway pass.  That way you’ll never have to worry about having exact change for the subway.  You can make this purchase at www.mbta.com.  They offer the passes in 1, 3, and 7-day passes.  If flying into Boston through Logan International Airport, you can pick-up the blue line (in bound) to get to downtown Boston.

FYI – when taking the subway, more commonly known as the “T” – if you want to head towards ‘downtown’ Boston (i.e. State Street/Park Street) then you’ll want to take an “in bound” train, anywhere away from those points, would be an ‘outbound train.’

All of the locations that I suggest below are accessible from the “T.”

For things to do – Boston has a ton – it all depends on what you are looking to do.  I would first suggest that you take a tour or trolley; it’ll give you great insight as to where ‘touristy’ things are located.  Please note, that Boston is considered a ‘walking city,’ which means, that even though things may look very far apart on map, in actuality, the probably aren’t.  There are several tours/trolleys to choose from.  One unique tour is the Boston Duck Tour (http://www.bostonducktours.com).  These tours sell out quickly, so you’ll have to take advantage of this when you first arrive to Boston.  This tour is good rain or shine.  You can board from either near the Boston Science Center or the Prudential Center.  You can also purchase tickets at either location.  When I was in Boston in 2006, you could also purchase tickets at Fanueil Hall (see below).

Some nice restaurants include - The Black Rose (good steak), Legal Seafoods, The Chart House, Tia and pretty much any restaurant on the North End.  

You’ll more than likely want to partake in the Freedom Trail walk.  There is/are tours by bus you can take, but if you like to walk (and are able), walking it is like no other.  You can go to the official website (http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/) to print out a map and get information on what the trail is all about.

If you like sports, baseball especially, see about doing a tour of Fenway Park.  Not sure the exact dates of your trip, but more than likely, baseball will still be in season, so you’ll have to call to find out what dates/times tours will take place.  http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/ballpar...

If you are looking for ‘greener’ pastures, check out the Boston Common and Children’s Garden, as well as take a stroll along the Charles River (down the esplanade).  

Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market are another good stop.  Usually there are street performers and music going on.  http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/

The Boston Aquarium is another great stop and near the Fanueil Marketplace.  You can find out more about the Aquarium by going to http://www.neaq.org/.  While here, you can also sign up to do a whale watch out of the Boston Harbor.  

There are plenty of college campuses to check out – MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, Boston University, Boston College, etc.  

If shopping is your thing, check out Newbury Street - http://www.newbury-st.com/.

If you’d like to see a show – check out Blue Man Group – http://www.blueman.com/.  It’s a complete one-of-a-kind show.  There is nothing like it.  

Other things to check out are:  Cheers, Christian Science Reflecting Pool, Copley Square, Boston Children’s Museum, Boston Science Museum, Isabella Stuart Gardner Art Museum (there are many museums in Boston), etc.

Have a great time.  I’ve vacationed there several times and I absolutely love it!!

Answer 2

New England Aquarium, ICA, whale watch or harbor cruise.

For restaurants, yelp.com is a good resource. There's good Italian in the North End (my favorite is Al Dente on Salem St, but there are plenty of good places). Grand Chau Chow in Chinatown. Tapeo on Newbury St for Spanish tapas. Parish Cafe at Arlington/Boylston has sandwiches by the best chefs in Boston. Figs on Charles St has really great gourmet pizza.

For quaint small towns, I'd suggest Newburyport or Rockport first. Salem is a bit more accessible but not as quaint.

Answer 3

We were in Boston only for one day, and I got lots of good advice here in Yahoo Answers, which included doing the Freedom Trail, or taking a guided tour via a Trolley or a Duck. We decided that it would be most comfortable to take a guided, narrated tour around the city (we chose a Trolley), but we were very disappointed, for these reasons:

First, it was very hard to hear the driver's narration over the loud-speaker, due to the noise of the traffic. And, often, just when the driver had pointed out a see-worthy thing, a big truck drove up along side our Trolley, blocking the very thing we were supposed to see. The driver talked way too fast, and interjected his narration with very corny jokes, which we didn't appreciate. He hinted the whole time about leaving a tip, if we were pleased with the tour (which we weren't, so we left nothing).  I regret that we didn't do the Freedom Trail instead. We love to walk, and we enjoy having the opportunity to tour at our own pace - lingering where we want, but by-passing things that are less interesting for us. Walking would have been much quieter and more pleasant.

  That's my two-cents worth. Hope it helps you decided where to spend your hard-earned vacation money!  

Answer 4

go to the northend they have amazing food and its very nice down there.

also hang out in the boston common, and catch swan boats.

you could check what kind of concerts/ events will be at the hatch shell thats good free fun.

theres the science musem and the aquarium.

Surrounding towns to visit are brookline you can tour jfk's house, quincy where you can visit the house of johny adams or shop at the market if there is one the week you are comming, or have your fortune told at the Regina Russell Tea room. Plymouth is a really nice town its about a half hour away but they have beautiful beaches like white horse. Scituate and cohasset also have awesome beaches. Have a picnic in the arbouritum in rosilindale. there is alot to do.

Good restaraunts are fire + Ice downtown in copley,  Verona's in watertown, the West Street Grille in down by the theatre district. The coconut cafe which i believe is in newton if you like thai.

Also check out georges island and the boston harbour tours, go to a sox or a pawsox game!

hope this was helpful!

Answer 5

Harbor Islands, Whale watch, Art museum, Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum, Science Museum, Museums at MIT/Harvard Universities, shopping on Newbury Street

Crazy Dough's on Boylston St (near Mass ave) has awesome pizza

Nearby towns, try Salem, lots of touristy stuff there

or to the beach at Cape Cod

Also go to the Battle Green at Concord and  Lexington

Answer 6

You can learn all about the historical Salem MA witch hunts from the Witch Museum.  The train leaves Boston frequently, and you can walk to the museum.

Answer 7

Well I'm from Needham which is 12 miles west of Boston and it's a very nice and quaint town.  Most of the surrounding towns are very nice too like Dover and Wellesley.  

Answer 8

The closest "quaint and small" towns near Boston are to the north and

northwest.  Try Rockport, Essex, Andover.

For restaurants: visit Durgin Park and the No Name for the experience; maybe the Olde Union Oyster House as well.  For gourmet dining there are scores of choices.  But for combination of gastronomy, ambience and price, as a general rule the best in the Boston area are

the Portuguese restaurants, or restaurants of Portuguese speaking countries (other than Brazilian -- almost all the Brazilian restaurants are Rostecceria BBQs -- good and you'll get stuffed but not really DINING experiences).  Most of the fine, tablecloth Portuguese restaurants are in East Cambridge: The Sunset Cafe and Casa Portugal are our favorites of the Iberian Portuguese but the best of all in our judgement is Restaurant Laura (Cape Verdean and Portuguese) but that is about 3 to 4 miles south out of downtown and not close to a subway station unfortunately.

I am sure that other Answerers are going to advise you to eat Italian in the North End.

As for upscale fish places, other than the ubiquitous and famous Legals, there is Skipjacks.  McCormack & Schmidt has a unit in Boston at which it tries (as it does at all its restaurants) to localize

somewhat the menu choices of seafood and recipes.

Answer 9

Try Mother Anna's in the N. End. Hanover St. Many Italian eateries but this one is my favorite. Head out to Concord or Maynard area lots of history there. Ceck out Fanuel Hall in Boston too , all kinds of shopping and great food. Have fun!

Answer 10

go to fenway park you won't regret it.

and you should go to Glauster, MA

it's about 25 min away from Boston.

It's a lot of fun there. i was just there 2 weeks ago.

my family and i went whale watching, it was awesome!!

Answer 11

GoBostonCard.com/attractions