Boston and Cambridge
Here are the sites in Boston that I personally enjoy. I’ve included approximate time I would allocate to spend in each place as well as general tips/tricks.
In the part of town that feels isolated from everything else…
- Fenway Park (only good for a baseball game)
- MFA (around 2-3 hours…free for Harvard students)
- Isabella Stewart Gardner (around 2-3 hours…free if your name is Isabella)
By the water…
- ICA (around 2 hours, I believe it is discounted for college students but not free; one of the upstairs galleries has a beautiful view of the water where it feels as if you are levitating on waves)
- Aquarium (around 2 hours, although if you stay to admire the many penguins it may take longer…most remarkable/distinguishable from other aquariums because of the big cylindrical fish tank in the middle of its main exhibition hall)
- Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market (around 1-1.5 hours, a great place for some famous chowder but would not overindulge in the other food here)
- North End (variable, as this neighbourhood is known for being Little Italy and is home to many cannoli stores, cafes, and restaurants)
- Paul Revere House / Old North Church (1-2 hours, depending on if you enter to explore further…the church is free, of course)
…which leads us to the…
- Freedom Trail (3-5 hours, depending on if you complete it in its entirety…my preference is to do the parts of it that most interest me because then I can prioritize quality of experience over quantity of sites seen)
…one end of the Trail is near the…
- State Capitol (1 hour…go in and check out the gold dome for free! Note: guests to the Capitol enter through the General Hooker entrance and have to walk through a metal detector/bag check process)
- Tremont Street / Downtown Crossing area (variable…landmarks include a horribly disappointing Macy’s and a very large Primark for shopping, but otherwise check out your typical American retail outlets and the Corner Mall whose food court is so old it feels like it was from before I was born)
- Chinatown and South Station (variable…not a bad spot for lunch or a snack…check out the Chinatown gates and then take a peek at Financial District from there…walk to the water to see the Federal Reserve Building, or check out the train departures board at South Station)
- Boston Common (half hour…park outdoors, check out Frog Pond where there are movie screenings in the summer and in the winter, there is ice skating for some fee)
…which is connected to the…
- Public Garden (half hour…check out the duckling statues, the bridge, and the blossoming trees in the springtime)
- Newbury St. (variable…lots of upscale stores, local classics include Trident Booksellers (with a cafe inside) and Newbury Comics, though there are also many bakeries and restaurants)
- Boston Public Library (1 hour…explore the old building – enter from Copley Square – and check out the reading room, the courtyard (and maybe have afternoon tea here), explore the newly renovated new wing, then take a peek at the finish line for the Boston Marathon just outside)
- Copley Place / Prudential Center (variable…if shopping, plan lots of time. This is the best shopping Boston has to offer. Otherwise, check out Eataly at the Prudential Center and just do a walk through of the rest of the space…two malls are connected via indoor skybridge)
The other end of the Freedom Trail is near…
- USS Constitution (2 hours…my experience was that the museum is more aimed at younger audiences but still check it out!)
- Bunker Hill Monument (variable…depending on if you climb up the big hill or see it from afar; and I believe sometimes you can go up the monument…check hours if you plan to do that)
From there, you’re not horribly far from Cambridge…
- Museum of Science (2-3 hours…it’s quite large, there are several wings, and lots of hands-on exhibits)
- Cambridgeside Galleria (variable…not worth a visit if you’ve already been to the downtown malls)
- MIT (2 hours…check out their dome that is on Mass Ave and the field in front of it facing the Charles River; walk around Kendall and Technology Square to see the many tech and biotech companies that are located here)
And then…meander along the river or the 1 bus or the red line T (subway) to…
- Harvard (2 hours…walk north from Harvard Square up to the science buildings on Oxford Street, then come back south along Quincy Street…peek in at the Fogg Museum’s lobby and check out Harvard Yard…take a spin around the Square and check out the many cafes and businesses that the students frequent)
If you’re still looking for ideas…explore…:
- The Tremont area near Downtown Crossing/Park at night-time for bars and clubs
- Somerville – especially Davis Square – at night-time for bars and restaurants
- Back Bay for the many brownstones…take a walk down Commonwealth to ogle at the houses
- Assembly Row – more stores, but in a strip mall complex, with many great food options including Paul Bakery and Earl’s