One Week in Boston (First Time Going) - Any Advice?

madmoe

Hi all,

Been to the United States many times, mainly to the West coast but this is our very first time to Boston (November 2022). Flights are booked, want to get accommodation sorted before October 1st if possible, any good recommendations on the accommodation front please? Clueless about the good\bad areas of the city to stay in. Happy to walk within reason but don't want to be miles from the city centre.

In terms of the top things to do what would you recommend?

Many thanks,

M

finbarrk

The closer to downtown, the more expensive it is, but it's better. See TripAdvisor for the top tourist attractions. Call to McGanns pub for nice Guinness.

AngryLips

Just back from Boston and stayed in the Godfrey Hotel. It's quite new and they offered excellent service with complimentary water, coffee pods/machine and snacks in the room as standard. It wasn't cheap but the location couldn't be better. There are many neighbourhoods to explore in Boston and all reachable by foot. Be sure to check out Boston's North End neighbourhood for food (little Italy) and also Chinatown. Back Bay is good for shopping and deffo check out the library in Back Bay - it is stunning (and free). I wish I had visited the New England Aquarium but instead I did the Tea Party Museum (which I thought was a bit hokey and cringe without being particularly informative). Look into some local theatre, they've a big theatre scene.

endofrainbow

If it's not too cold, I'd do one of the Boston Harbor Tours. Very informative about the history of Boston and great views of the skyline from the water.

fran38

Look up 'Duck Tours' and maybe try the Prudential Building for 360* views of the city from the second from top floor. The top floor is a rotating restaurant.

The pubs in South Boston ( Southie) have a very Irish feel. Look up the L Street Tavern.

markest

Have stayed in the Seaport Hotel. Up & coming district, walkable or busable.

SusanC10

Would recommend Quincy Market and also The Aquarium.

Can't help on accommodation as stayed with family there.

SweetSand

Boston is quiet small and very walkable so see what is available for your dates and budget. We like Copley sq/Back Bay Area. Stayed in Hilton Back bay, Sheraton in Prudential, Intercontinental, close to aquarium and a very nice hotel in seaport area (can’t remember the name). Would avoid seaport area though. Was very nice and lively during the day but we couldn’t get a drink on Saturday night in July at 10.30pm, even hotel’s bar was closed. Sadly good few of our favourite places closed during Covid, including some Irish bars but there are still loads of amazing places there. Agree with some earlier posters about North end, Chinatown, duck tour and etc. depending when you are planning to come over in November - prices will vary a lot. Beginning of November is still considered high season as tourists still coming over to see foliage. Late November will be much quieter/cheaper/weather less predictable, not unusual to see a snowfall at some stage. When booking - make sure you check the area, as in you put in Boston but your search result can come back with Cambridge as all are very close. I love booking through Hotwire and Priceline. You don’t necessarily know what hotel you ll get but if you can see what “person before you” got - you ll get the same and prices so much cheaper. If rating is decent enough as in above 4 (for me) it will be ok. Check out tripadvisor, not just for hotel reviews but their travel forum as well. If you put in Boston - you ll see loads of suggestions on itineraries, places to stay and eat as well as recent trip reports. I always find it great. Anyway, have fun in Boston!

youcancallmeal

We're off to Boston next week for the first time. Staying in the Bostonian Boston which is in Downtown very close to a lot of tourist stuff apparently. Working out at around $325 per night which isn't too bad considering the central location and the generally high price of hotels in Boston. We did book it 6 months ago though. On our to do list is

• Baseball game in Fenway Park. It's the last game of the season so not possible for you in November but there might be basketball and football you could go to then?
• Maybe a tour of Fenway Park. I feel like just the game will be enough so probably won't bother with this.
• If the weather is bad maybe a hop on/hop off trolley tour but we'll decide when we get there.
• Walk the freedom trail.
• Harvard and MIT tours. The Harvard one is free and led by students, presume we'll be tipping them at the end though. Not sure about MIT, seems like you can get a map from the visitor center and just stroll around yourself.
• Visit some craft breweries like Sam Adams, Harpoon, Trillium, Night Shift. Boston and New England in general is renowned for craft beer if you're into that kind of thing.

Will let you know how it goes when when we're back

Gavman84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119681007#Comment_119681007

The restaurant and bar at the top of the Pru is no more unfortunately. Loved going there for the view! Hopefully they will have a new venue in the future. Seaport has rooftop bars I think and is a nice area in general.

Duck tours are a great way to see the city. Boston Common is nice to walk. I did a ghost tour before there was fun. Aquarium is worth a visit. Boat tours are cool but may be the wrong time of year for that. Faneuil Hall area is nice to check out.

Its an easy enough city to walk and the T is great way to get about to different parts of the city too. A place i recommend is the Liberty Hotel. Its a hotel in an old prison and has a really nice bar in there worth a visit.

If you fancy shopping also Wrentham outlets are worth a trip or at least were when I was last over.

Great city you will love it!

Nigel Fairservice

I've stayed in Hotel 140 in Back Bay, nice spot. Take a stroll down Boyleston Street, it's lovely. Get some cannoli at Mike's Pastry in the North End. Go see a Boston Bruins game at TD Garden. I enjoyed the Sam Adams tour as well.

You can do some nice day trips from Boston too. Hyannis Port, Barnstable and Provincetown on Cape Cod are lovely. Salem is just north of Boston and worth a visit. You can reach a lot of New England easily enough from Boston. Newport and Providence in Rhode Island are nice as it Portland, Maine.

BENDYBINN

go for a night out in Fields Corner….if you know you know…..

madmoe

Thanks a million guys :-)

youcancallmeal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119683976#Comment_119683976

Just back yesterday and it was a brilliant trip. Great city with so much to see and do. We did the hop on Hop off old town trolley tour which I'd possibly recommend giving a miss as you're going to see most of the highlights when you walk the Freedom Trail anyway. We walked the trail ourselves with a pamphlet guide you can get in the visitors center at the start of the trail in Boston Common. I wish we had done the guided tour, it was nice doing it at our own pace and taking a break halfway through(our hotel was near Faneuil hall) but you miss the colour/levity that a guided tour adds to things, especially when there is 3 graveyard stops! With the exchange rate everything is more expensive than Ireland but we were expecting that and tried not to focus on it too much. The T(subway) was great for getting around to anything that was more than 20 min walk, just buy a ticket from the machine for $2.40 and off you go. If you're looking for an exceptional meal then check out Contessa at the top of the Newbury Hotel, one of the best meals I've had anywhere in a long time. It's pricey and books out quickly though.

madmoe

Have had to change our flights to May of next year so loads of time now to plan and get organised for it. @youcancallmeal what was the name of the hotel you guys stayed in? How long did ye head over for?

Many thanks,

M

youcancallmeal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119819756#Comment_119819756

May should be a nice time of year to visit. We were there for 4 nights 5 days. Perfect amount of time in retrospect as we didn't leave feeling like we missed out on anything. It's better than NY in that respect where I've always left feeling like I wish I had more time to do X or Y. Hotel we stayed in is Bostonian Boston, superb location walking distance to nearly all the main tourist hotpots. It's fairly run down though and the bad reviews on tripadvisor are accurate in that respect. We got it for around $325 a night through booking.com. Boston is very expensive for hotels so $325 was good value, we booked and paid several months in advance and also went on Sunday to Thursday which helped. Maybe you might get some better value by staying further outside the city center or even check airbnb. Ultimately outside of sleeping and showering we spent very little time in the hotel anyway.

madmoe

Just a quick update! Three weeks out now from our first trip to Boston! We are staying on Temple street, right beside Boston Common so I think the location is pretty good.

Thanks,

M

madmoe

So....back a few days and had a lovely time. It is a great city with very friendly people and is very very walkable! It has a much slower pace\vibe than NYC and tons to do. Any questions anyone has please feel free to reach out here or in a PM. As people were so kind to help me I am more than happy to give back.

Thanks,

M