Hey everyone. I'm coming up on my one year wedding anniversary. Thanks to some twists of fate in planning our wedding, we ended up getting married the day after my wife's birthday. So now, a year later, my wife is turning 30 the day before our first anniversary. I thought the best way to celebrate was a good trip to somewhere we've never been. We're both really into art, museums, history, litterature, etc. so Boston naturally came up. We'd be there from March 3rd, 2011 to March 8th if we decided to go, and I need some advice from any beantowners: 1) Is it too cold during that time of year? (FYI, we are NOT wusses. Spent Valentine's Day in Manhattan 2 years ago and we were fine). 2) Where to stay? Downtown? Financial District? Back Bay? Cambridge? 3) Any out of the way places we HAVE TO see? Stuff you don't neccessarily find in travel guides? 5) Any dives? Hole-in-the-wall type restaurants or bars that are not to be missed? Any other unsolicited advice would be VERY welcome. Thanks everyone.
I went to Boston in mid to late April, and it wasn't that cold, long sleeves and pants, maybe even a light jacket. I stayed in Braintree, which is about 5-10 min. outside of Boston, the hotel drove us to and from the metro station for free.
i visited boston a couple of years ago. I loved it. don't bother with a car. just buy a 3 day subway pass (forgot what they are called) and learn to ride the lines. the place is beautiful for walking.
I went over Thanksgiving with wife and kids. It was cold, but bearable. I thought some of the touristy historical stuff was good, like the Freedom Trail, the USS Constitution, and Plymouth. Boston is really a small town with good public transportation so it is easy to get around. We stayed at Hotel Nine Zero, which is close to the Commons. It was nice and it has free hot chocolate in the afternoon and free wine at 5:00 pm.
Went there for a conference a few years ago. I would have died if I hadn't gone to see this: Spoiler The coolest place there. I am a BIG fan.
I had an emergency appendectomy during a lacrosse tournament there when I was a kid, thats about all I can tell you
The weather in Boston is extremely unpredictable. So March 3rd could be 60 or it could be -10 wind chill. Try yelp.com for restaurants and hotels, You can pick your price range and cuisine. You can check the things to do section under Boston.com before your trip and see if there are any unique events.
I live in Boston. This cannot be repeated enough. There is absolutely no way to determine in advance what the weather is going to be like.
Hi I lived in Boston for 10 years, much of it downtown. I didn't have a car so I know pretty much all the nooks and crannies. I would live in the Back Bay. Check the Back Bay Hilton, sometimes they have rooms for like $120 or so, and last time I was there I ran into Guy Fieri. Haha. Back Bay is awesome because you can walk to all the places. Here's what you can do: 1. Walk on Newbury Street. It's like the 5th Ave of NYC or Magnificent Mile of Chicago. Good shopping there. Lots of cafe's and art galleries and such. 2. At the end of Newbury Street you hit the Boston Common. Very famous, first park in the U.S., go see the public gardens, frog pond, etc. Pretty romantic, there are bridges and willow trees you can kiss under etc. If you're into that kind of thing. 3. Okay then at Boston Common you see the State House, you can either walk North to Beacon Hill (very historic neighborhood I lived there for 4 years, there's houses where famous people used to live like Robert Frost, etc.) 3a. The best restaurant in Boston, No. 9 park is there. It's expensive (like $100+ per person but it's worth it). Ask for a Copenhagen cocktail, best rye whiskey drink on earth. 4b. The original Cheers is also in Beacon Hill. Very touristy, do not go. 4. Or, you can walk East to Fanueil Hall. On the way there you can pass the "Omni Parker House." So that's basically where they invented the Park House Roll and the Boston Creme Pie. So that's fun. 5. Anyway, at Fanueil Hall there's lots of shopping and sights. The old town hall or school house or something is there, I used to walk by it everyday. There's also a Cheer's there. But it's not even the real one, and even more touristy. I guess I'm only mentioning Cheers because someone else did. Mainly I would eat at McCormick and Schmick's there. It's a little touristy but it's got pretty good seafood, Oysters, etc. Great happy hour specials. Also there's an Irish tavern called Ned Devine's. There's pretty good music and dancing there. 6. From Fanueil hall you can walk North to the North End. It's a famous Italian neighborhood. The tourist thing to do there is to get a Cannoli at "Mike's Pastries." But watch out for long lines and the cannoli's are pretty much delicious everywhere. The most famous Pizza is "Pizzeria Regina." Don't be fooled by the franchised ones, the original is something different. You can check out the Boston harbor front around North End too. So technically this can be done all in one day. Other things to see: 1. Harvard Campus. I lived here for about 4 years too. Highlights include "Mr. Bartley's Burgers" and "Harrell's Ice Cream" and "Pinnochio's Pizza" more commonly known as " 'noch's"... get the sicilian slices, they're very different than what you can find other places. 2. Fenway Park. I mean it's pretty historic. Usually when I go there I like to eat at Popeye's, because I like fried chicken, but I guess you can get that anywhere. You can also go to Gillian's... there's kind of a quintessential Boston scene there. That's all I can think of for now. If you post what kind of food you like, I can make some recommendations, I've been to pretty much every place there.
If you're a member of the Feenster's Union... you should go to a Celtics game. "7 rings in 7 years! Look at all this bling!" But if I remember correctly, you're a BTL that resides in the Shek Republic.
Ha ha!! I am a Shek Republican, but applying for a Feenster's Union membership card. I think we are going to take a tour of Fenway. Oh yeah, and I'm a dirty monkey, not a BTL.
I love Boston, it's my favorite city I've been to in the U.S. My brother-in-law lives there so we try to make it there at least once a year. The food is awesome and the history of the city is just amazing. Tons to see and do there. I can't wait to go back.
Okay, well yesterday the trip was in jeapordy. The wife put the kibosh down... too expensive she said. So I started working on some other kind of trip. More local. We were going to spend 3 days/nights on the riverwalk in San Antonio (I know... trite!!). Well this morning, she called me at work and reminded me that are Chase debit cards earn miles!! They're Continental One-Pass miles. We've used these debit cards for about 4 years now and only recently started using a credit card, so it turns out we put some miles on these babies. Just finished booking a FREE flight to Boston for both of us. Got an extra day off of work, so we're leaving first thing in the AM on Thursday, 3/3!! Keep the suggestions coming! I need a breakfast joint or two, maybe a Sunday brunch spot, live music spot, and of course a very romantic dinner spot. THANK YOU Clutchfans. Greatest damn site in the world.
All of this is excellent advice ... I lived in the Boston area 88-92. If I were to go back for a vacation, I would stay in a hotel near a T stop (Back Bay and Harvard are good suggestions) visit Boston Commons visit Fanueil Hall at night, shop and see all of the street performers eat at Legal Seafoods (was a location in Cambridge near a T stop) visit North End, eat some Italian food and get a cannoli at Mike's catch a basketball game at the new Gardens (too early for baseball at Fenway) eat Dim Sum for brunch in China Town (near the Commons) visit Harvard Square (T stop), shop and walk around Harvard Yard eat Indian food for lunch at Central Square (Cambridge, T stop) catch some live music (live music scene is almost as good as Austin)
