Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

Am heading to Boston for a long weekend break with my g/f leaving Sat coming back on Mon. Am staying at the Intercontinental on the waterfront so centrally located, I would appreciate suggestions for:

- Restaurants - good breakfast / brunch, lunch and dinner. Will do 1 fine dining on Sat night so can splurge a bit more for that one.

- Things to do - what historic sights should I be seeing? Museums? Markets? Areas we should be walking around?

- Any must see things in Boston?

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ghlight=Boston

Good thread on stuff...a couple of threads on bars/food...also the wiki has quite a bit on Boston.

Depends on budget, having a car..

for the posh do, I'd go for Top of the Hub at the Prudential centre, Copley Plaza area as it's not that expensive for a posh place and you'll get some of the best views of the Boston skyline.

If it's nice out and you do the cheesy sites, Faneuil Hall and all that jazz, Hay Market is just around the corner and that's a great place to go get nibbles for a lunch picnic type thing at a park or what not.

If you've got kids, or it's shit out, the Aquarium and the Science Museum are a lot of fun, pricey though unless you nab library passes or get them in advance.

If there's anything going on at TD Garden, a game or gig, worth going to that.

If you've got a car and it's really nice out, the Minute Man Walk is superb, it's out a few mins from Boston, but a lovely walk, Lincoln - Concord - http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail...lid=XFA012-018 It's about 5 miles, Paul Revere, where he got captured and all that stuff.

If it's spring, the duck tour is great, Duck Pond is a great spot to go have lunch and there's loads of nice shops around the area if you're into shopping, just besides the financial district, which itself tbh is a bit meh, and ghostly over the weekend.

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

Fantastic, thanks for this information and the pointer to the other thread.

There aren't really any budget constraints (withing reason!) although we are taking the train from Stamford to South Station so no car, although enjoy doing loads of walking (we walked for hours completely ignoring the subway on a recent trip to Washington). No kids thankfully!

Does stuff shut down for Presidents day on Monday, or should it be business as usual for shops / restaurants??

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

South Station, it's a bit shit during commuter hours, it's one of the last stops for the commuter rails as well as a large train terminal, and parking is a major ball ache, so a lot of angry people double parking to drop folks off in the morning/evening.

Zip Car might be worth looking into for a couple hours if you're thinking of heading out of beantown to catch something.

If you can get a Charlie card in advance, it's worth doing, it'll save a few pennies ago on the T, but more than that, it'll save your sanity loading it up with a chunk of change in advance rather than every go, especially when it's busy...and realise you can load up other amounts rather than $5/10/20/50 etc, so if you know you're only got one ride left to catch and there's a dollar left of on, just chuck a 70c on it and you're golden. Can use it for the bus and boat too, which can be nice.

Most places will be open on Presidents day, a few places will be closed, the ones that usually do close on Mondays, but the majority of stuff in Boston will be fine.

The Sam Adams tour, don't know how into beer you are, and it's a okay beer, but they sometimes do really fun tour events on holidays such as Presidents Day, so maybe worth a look. It's in Jamaica Plains, which is the Orange line on the T, and a fun area to go poking around if you stay in the nice area. If you're there already, go to Doyles - http://www.doylescafeboston.com/ It's a superb bar, they do a great Sunday roast, but it's more about the atmosphere and history to the place, where the Kennedy's used to hang out, so lots of photo's of the rich and powerful from back in the day. JFK museum/library also isn't far and can be worth a poke around if you're into politics.

If you're into tech stuff, Microsoft NERD Centre is just past MIT on the Kendal T Stop, red line. They've often got loads of free tech, small business, networking type events going and if nothing else, the balcony has one of the best, if not the best view over the Charles River in Boston, it really is fantastic. So might be worth a see, just to run up there for a few minutes.

The British consulate is across the street as well, and a few mins walk up the road is the CBC - Cambridge Brewing Company, and that's a great place for beer and lunch/dinner. If you're into architecture, the MIT buildings are worth a look - http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2795/...803_z.jpg?zz=1

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

Really appreciate all the information given Bob, has definitely given us options for a few things to do whilst there.

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

It's been a few years since I was there but we enjoyed following the Freedom Trail, there is a red line on the streets so you can't get lost you can download a map from
http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/maps/maps.html

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

If you fancy getting merry on good beer let me know as I can help you with that.

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

http://www.goreplace.org/tour.htm

Gore Place, the old govnor's residence, in Waltham...not idea without a car, but there is a bus I suppose.

It's usually free to wonder about, just have to pay for the special events...but it's a lovely area for walks, especially good for kids, but also just for something a little different.

Plenty of decent pubs and other things in Waltham to check out whilst there...the industrial steam museum, just off Moody Street is surprisingly kinda cool and there's the Skellig and Watch Street Brew Pub a couple mins walk across the bridge for lunch/dinner.

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

As Bob pointed out Zipcar is good but I think from what I have heard you need to become a member for at least one year to obtain the card.
I was talking to a student who at college in Boston and he dad enrolled her in Zipcar so she could drive home to Saratoga when she gets time off, she was very impressed with it.

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

Didn't realise you had to be a member. I've a friend who uses them irregularly, didn't think he was in Boston. Then again, he only uses it for a couple hours here and there to get around town as he lives in the burbs.

Re: Things to do in Boston over a weekend?
 

If you are into river tours, Boston has "Duck Tours" on the River Chuck. We did one at daughter's university graduation in 2002. It was neat. [We also did a Duck tour on the Thames two years later]. If you want to walk across the Harvard Bridge, make sure to count the Smoots.