10 days in east coast , early march
 

Nyc, Dc ,Boston - what to and what not to

Plan for indoor activities in case the weather turns bad. I recall late snowstorms in March in NYC.

We enjoyed the food tours. Did Chelsea Market in NY. In Boston we have done both the North End and Chinatown with Michelle Topor's tours. Both Boston tours require a lot of walking in and out of little shops. We've been having mild days but snow is predicted for this weekend (Feb 11). Could be gone by the time of your visit.

Can you tell us a little about your interests, and how much time you have in each? There's an endless amount of things to do in these cities, a little more info would be helpful.

That is still winter - and you may be lucky and get temps in the high 40s - or you can get 20s and snow - a lot of snow. The record-breaking blizzard of '88 was in late March.

Definitely check the weather right before you leave - but plan on having warm winter clothing, snow/ice boots and have plenty of ideas for indoor activities. And realize that the city tends to be damp and windy - so cold can feel colder. If you do a boat tour be sure it has an indoor area and realize that Central park will be brown and crunchy (our trees leaf in end April or ealy May).

Boston is further north and will likely be colder, DC is slightly farther south and can be a little warmer - but even there the beginning of spring (Cherry blossom festival) is early April.

As for what to do, who/how many are you (a family with kids, an elderly couple, a group of young women?) and what are your interests. Without that - there are hundreds of things to see/do and we don;t know which you will enjoy.

So I gather nyc early march is not all that a good idea , am traveling solo, been to some of the touristy places like empire state, statue of liberty etc.
Was planning to explore nyc a lil bit.

Any city will be fine in early March because the great stuff is either indoors (museums) or places you can pop in to get warm (Bloomingdales, coffee shops).

Besides, who can call the weather these days?

Go for it!

But if you don't know what you want to do in these cities, why are you going? We are all more helpful when you can say, "In Washington I am planning to do this. What would you add and what would you leave out?"

All are very worthwhike - with a lot to do inside - and you may get good weather.

But unless you tell us more - how do we know what to reco?

The only thing "not to do" is drive your own car. All three have fine public transit and high parking costs, traffic, etc.

Otherwise do it all!!

Are you asking which ones you should go to? Or are you planning on all three? With ten days I would pick two. Weather in DC probably a tad warmer in March but I think the other two are more interesting cities. The museums in DC are wonderful of course but there are great museums in NY and Boston too plus so much else.

But March weather in any of them is a total crap shot. In NYC the last three days: Friday was sunny and really pleasant - I sat outside for lunch. Saturday was cool, damp, grey, drizzly - but not really terribly cold. Pleasant for walking around but not for standing or sitting for long periods. Sunday was sunny but really windy so much less pleasant to be outside for any period of time. So the moral to that story is have plenty of things on both your 'inside' list and your 'outside' one. Both NY and Boston are full of cafes and coffee shops and good shopping so you can do walking tours with stops if it's nasty out.

Have you been to either before? Even if you have not done all the main 'must sees' I would still suggest you intersperse them with some time just wandering. On the nicest days I'd do walks along the waterfront in both cities. And both have nice parks worth walking through even though nothing will be in bloom, city parks can be beautiful even in winter. And try to fit in a 'lesser museum' like the Frick in NY and Gardner in Boston as well as the biggies.