Massachusetts
Massachusetts Office of Travel
and Tourism
Boston
Boston USA!
Public transportation: The T is easy to use and
cheap, but the best way to see many of the sights in Boston is on
foot.
Stuff that's worth checking out: Boston is a great
destination for learning about early American history. Start by taking a walk
along the Freedom
Trail that connects 16 sites in downtown Boston and
Charlestown, from Boston
Common to the Old North Church.
Along the way are the Old South Meeting House,
Bunker Hill, the Boston Massacre Site, Paul Revere's House,
and the Granary Burying Ground, final resting place of American patriots Paul
Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams and Elizabeth "Mother" Goose. Take a walk
along the harbor, and on the Central Wharf near Faneuil Hall/Quincy
Market you'll find the New England Aquarium.
Across the Charles River in Charlestown is the USS Constitution,
the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world! Also across the river in
Science Park is the Museum of Science
In the Back Bay wander along Newbury Street
where you can poke around the upscale shops. More shopping is available in the
heart of Boston at Downtown Crossing,
and going to the original Filene's Basement
is a MUST!
If you're interested in culture, the Museum of Fine Arts
is really good with one of the best Monet collections outside of France, as is
the Isabella Stewart
Gardner Museum, the art collection of a
rich Beantown Brahmin in a beautiful building. If you like the architecture of
Henry Hobson Richardson, check out Trinity Church.
Also, the public library facing the church is well known for having influenced
library design in the U.S.
Baseball fans should stop by Fenway
Park, legendary home of the Boston Red
Sox, and take in a game if you visit during the
season.
Head out to Cambridge
on the other side of the Charles River for the multicultural atmosphere of
cafes, boutiques, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Exactly in between those two universities you'll find Central Square with lots
of international restaurants and pubs.
Restaurants, bars, and
pubs: Enjoy the beer that started the microbrew revolution fresh from
the keg at the Samuel
Adams Brew House. There are some cool
bars in the Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market area. Try Hennessy's,
repeatedly voted Boston's "best Irish bar." If you're looking for big scene
bars, check out Lansdowne Street and Boylston Street. Pop culture fans might
want to visit the original "Cheers"
on Beacon Hill.
Grab an Italian dinner in the North End, a short walk
from Quincy Market and the Aquarium. This area has great little, family-run
restaurants, the kinds of places where Mom and Dad are the cooks, the kids bus
tables and wash dishes after school, and one of the aunts is the waitress. Stop
at Boston's capital of pizza and a North End landmark, Pizzeria Regina
on Thacher Street. Go to Mike's Pastry
or one of the other shops in the North End and get a cannoli or three.
In
Cambridge try Grendel's Den
near Harvard Square with a great restaurant upstairs for salads and veggie food
and a nice, fairly laid-back bar downstairs. Irish pubs abound, of course.
The
Field and the Cantab Lounge
in Central Square are also good pub/music spots as is The Burren in Davis Square,
Somerville. It has live music on weekends, and rumor is they serve the most
Guinness of any establishment in the Western Hemisphere. If you have some extra
time, there is a good restaurant/pub in Haverhill called The Peddler's
Daughter.
Where to stay: Try the HI-Boston
in Back Bay or Boston Backpackers Hostel
in the Bullfinch Triangle neighborhood
Side trips: If you
want to sample quaint Massachusetts seaside towns, try a drive along the
North
Shore. Visit Gloucester,
Ipswich
with its gorgeous beach, and Salem for pondering the
witchcraft trials and looking at beautiful old houses, including the
House of the Seven
Gables that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel of the same
name. If you'd rather drive west, you could head out to Amherst
via Lexington
and Concord.
Comments:
The Freedom
Trail is really something! I guess every school kid in the northeast region goes
on it, but as an adult, I had a great time. All the sights along the way are
things I've read about, but to see it is something incredibly powerful. If
you're at all interested in history, you'll have a great time! The Sam Adams
Brew House was so much fun, and I loved the kitschy T-shirts they sell there. If
you're only in Boston for a weekend, I wouldn't waste time with a jaunt to Salem
- it's pretty cheesy.
I love Cambridge and Central Square. Walk by the
Tootsie Roll factory. It smells like chocolate!
The Freedom Trail is cool
for keeping you on the right track in Boston. I used to use it to find my way
from Boston Common to Faneuil Hall. The Aquarium is great fun. Cambridge and
Central Square is definitely an interesting area.
We had fun wandering
through the North End, just people watching and taking in the sights. Also
enjoyed the Freedom Trail.
The family restaurants in the North End are
the best. Try to catch a family fight. They're rather entertaining. There's
usually a line at Pizzeria Regina because it's the best, but don't expect
wondrous service -- it's part of the charm. Only go to the one in the North End,
though. The one in Quincy Market just isn't the same.
If he's still
alive, there's this blues guy known as "the Peanut Man" who plays every weekend
at the Cantab Lounge -- could be a fun show to catch before going out to more
happening bars elsewhere. Freedom Trail and North End Italian food are
musts.
I love the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Gardner Museum is great,
too. There was a huge art heist there, and several Rembrandts were stolen. For a
while they still had the frames there without the art. Don't bother going to the
"Cheers" pub. It's not worth it.
The Aquarium was, to us, overrated, but
I guess it's worth checking out if you're in the area. Maybe because we went in
late October everything outside was closed so it seemed small.
The Museum
of Fine Arts was awesome, as was Harvard Square and the North End. I went to
Grendel's - what fun!
Boston is a whole lot of fun, such a nice city to
walk in with history around every corner. My favorite bar was the Sam Adams Brew
House -- cute and kitschy plus cheap samplers!
I stayed at the HI a few
years ago. I liked it because the kitchen was large, the staff was friendly, and
the T was only a couple of blocks away. There was a grocery store nearby and a
Trader Joe's around the corner. Fenway Park was within walking distance. There
was a Dunkin' Donuts outside, and I stopped in to see what all the fuss was
about. Boston is a fun, fun city.
DON'T TAKE A CAB IN BOSTON. A 10-minute
cab ride cost us about $30.
Dine at Cheers -- really good food there or
you could just go to the bar.
Things we enjoyed in Beantown -- the
touristy but fascinating historical stuff like the Freedom Trail, Old North
Church, USS Constitution, Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market, Bunker Hill, Boston
Common, Boston Massacre site -- those names just thrum with revolutionary
vibes.
I suggest a quick train ride to Salem if you have a few hours. The
witch theme is a bit overdone but still fascinating.
We had the greatest
time in Boston. The HI was reasonably priced for dorm beds (compared to other
lodgings, anyway!) and in a great part of Boston. We walked the whole Freedom
Trail, went to the Museum of Science, walked around Harvard, and did a bunch of
shopping at H&M and Filene's Basement. We drove to Salem with some friends.
We both thought the witch museum was kind of lame for the money, but the House
of Seven Gables was really cool. I had lobster for the first time at
Legal Sea
Foods. MMMM. Oh, and if you eat in the part of Boston where all
the Italian restaurants are, bring lots of cash. Most of them don't take credit
cards (we found that out the hard way).
The food was good at Peddler's
Daughter in Haverhill, but I loved the atmosphere. It's definitely worth
checking out.
Cape Cod
Cape Guide
Visit Cape Cod
Cape Cod is Massachusetts' beach playground with miles of
beaches, fresh seafood, hiking and biking trails, and history. Enjoy the 27,000
acre National Seashore,
go on a whale watch
trip, or stop by the John F. Kennedy Museum
in Hyannis.
Comments:
Cape Cod can be a bit
pricey in summer, and holiday weekends will be crowded with horrendous traffic.
Every time I ever went to the Cape, we camped. There are a bunch of organized
camp areas, not so much in terms of wilderness camping. It depends how far up
the Cape you want to go, but you could spend the better part of a day driving
out there.
I lived an hour and a half away from the Cape. It took us at
least three hours, if not more, to get there on Saturday mornings in the summer.
Some places on the Cape are cheaper and prettier than others. I've always loved
the bay side as opposed to the ocean side. It's usually a few degrees warmer.
Route 6A (not 6) is a great drive with less traffic once you get on the Cape.
The Cape Cod
Canal is a great place to walk around. Try the fried clams!
Best stuff ever!
