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  • 3.5 days in Boston MA, recommendations?
  • Imabigkidnow
    Free Member

    About to retire for the evening but I thought I’d fire this off and come back sometime tomorrow. Doing our own research but it’d be nice to see if there were any hidden gems.

    Visiting family in another part of the USA but decided on a 4 day (3night) stopover on the return in Boston MA as a city break. 5th-8th Oct if that matters.
    Wife is Veggie so any good/cool eatery recommendations would be well received. Happy to hire a car if it gets us to something completely awesome

    Not so keen on too much history and I was completely museumed/churched out as a kid on family holidays so they have to be REALLY good to keep my interest but she studied fine art I studied music so not completely un-cultured.
    We’re often quite happy just wondering around absorbing the atmosphere and getting the visuals, but need hard plans in case it rains 8)

    Also if I’m not taking the proverbial too much: cheap but clean places to stay maybe between ‘upmarket?!’ Hostel – 3* hotel?

    eskay
    Full Member

    Salem is worth a look, Quincy market is worth visiting as well.

    allthegear
    Free Member

    When leaving, get the water taxi back to airport

    Rachel

    Alex
    Full Member

    Few years since I’ve been there, but I did visit the place about 20 times for work. For a view of the city, the Hancock tower is pretty good or the Bay Towers office block which has a three story restaurant near the top (proposed to my future wife there). Also Helicopter flights at night are amazing but expensive.

    You have to do the DUKW tour which has some old WWII amphibious vehicles driving in and out of the waterways.

    Don’t bother with cheers bar, very small and dull but the Italian quarter is ace or it used to be. Was under the freeway I think has come down now with the big dig. All around the state house is nice as is most of the area around MU, you might as well go and have a walk round the quad. It’s not oxford or cambridge but it’s very impressive.

    Downtown boston was a bit of a dump when I was there, but may be better now. All the stuff around the river is pretty cool (beware of a million joggers) and they have a fantastic outdoor stage – worth checking what’s one – we say the ‘bluemen’ or some such thing was fab.

    Not sure on eating/accom now probably all changed. In terms of retail therapy stay out of Tiffiny’s tho – ask me how I know 😉

    There is loads of great history there (Paul Revere/Boston Tea Party/Bunker hill/etc) but if you’re not intersted in that, it’s still pretty cool to walk down the old brownstones, near downtown to soak up a bit of Boston.

    if you fancy a bit of real ‘southie’ on the south side of the river (where the client I worked for was), there are some ace irish bars but it is a bit rough (or used to be), not dangerous just a bit, er, spit and sawdust.

    althepal
    Full Member

    Bunker hill and the navy base was good. Boston beerworks did amazing ribs in salem of all places.
    The back bay is pretty chilled out and the Pru tower has a nice view.
    If you want to treat yourself and like seafood/lobster legal seafood was very very good but not cheap. Clam chowder just about everywhere we went was also good.
    Chinatown is nice but some bits are a bit daunting after dark.
    Lovely wee place, was a welcome few days there after a week in New York.

    Alex
    Full Member

    Is Jimmy’s still open on the wharf? Amazing lobsters. Shame the ‘green monster’ (fenway park baseball stadium) has been demolished now I think. If you like sport at all the ice hockey (bruins) and basketball (celtics) are worth a watch if they are playing.

    Good call on the Boston Beerworks… have many happy memories of that place.

    Imabigkidnow
    Free Member

    Cheers for the help folks.

    By the wife being veggie I really mean vegan, and I’m not a seafood fan, but the thought was appreciated; you weren’t to know.

    I’ll check out the water taxi, we did a Duck tour in that London recently, great laugh, will look out for the Boston one too.

    Beerworks will get checked out too.

    I’m not writing off Bunker Hill or some Tea party stuff, my grasp of US history is only basic and I do like to ‘understand’ things.

    Not really daunted by certain aspects of city life, we both lived in Hackney before it was hip and er, we met working in a weatherspoons just after uni (what else do you do with arts degrees), so can associate with spit n sawdust. All part of the charm!

    DrJ
    Full Member

    A subway ride to Harvard Square is worth the trip. Wander round the shops and cafes, and the occasional university building.

    sadmadalan
    Full Member

    Boston used to have a National Park tour! Just a walking tour of old Boston. It was free and ran from the Tourist Information place. And the science museum is excellent.

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