we will be spending a thur afternoon - fri noon in boston before going to a wedding in kennebunkport. any advice on what to do in such a short time? a few people have mentioned a duck tour? also, would love a cool place for dinner. we are staying by the ariport but plan on being in the city except for sleeping..

Visit the Capitol-do the Freedom trail and have a nice dinner.PAul

The Capitol? Do you mean the State House?

The Duck Tours are great, very highly recommended. You should reserve online because they are often sold out.

You could walk the Freedom Trail, or parts of it. I would recommend a stroll down Newbury Street or a walk down Charles Street in Beacon Hill, down through the Common and then to Faneuil Hall. You could then head over to the North End for dinner. There are hundreds of Italian restaurants in the North End, everyone has a different favorite. Walk down Hanover street until you find a menu that suits you.

Do you need a date for the wedding in Kennebunkport? Sounds fabulous!!! Reserve a duck tour to get a good overview of the city and then stroll the northend for dinner and a waterfront walk.

Definitely get down town to the Boston Common area. From there you can easily walk through the Boston Gardens park, go for a swan boat ride, walk the freedom trail, see the state house, get over the Faneiul Hall or the North End (little italy) for dinner.

Freedom Trail, if the weather is nice. Another idea already mentioned is the Duck Tour, or alternatively a Trolley Tour. Newbury Street has unique shops. North End has great restaurants, and if it rains there are two indoor shopping centers (with restaurants) in the Back Bay.

My husband and I just got back from a long weekend in Boston. A close friend of ours recommended lots of great restaurants; he entertains clients often. We chose 3...Stellas (trendy Italian), Fiore (Italian in the North End) and 75 Chestnut in Beacon Hill and were very pleased. 75 Chestnut is more of a local place, very reasonably priced and great food. Some other recommendations he gave, which the concierge at the hotel said were all pretty good choices: Mistral (pricey), Grill 23 (high end steak), Sibling Rivalry, Stephanies (outside patio, good for lunch), Toro (tapas), Masa (spanish),Lucca and Taranta in the North End. You can google all of them to get their web sites and check out the menus. Also recommended was a jazz place, Beehive.

The concierge at our hotel recommended the trolley tour over the duck tours. If I remember correctly, the difference is that with the Trolley tour you can get on and off as you please and also you can ride it as much as you want for the day. One word of caution...we didn't realize how much time it took!!! The entire loop takes approx. 1 hour and 50 minutes, without getting off at any sites. Most people get off and explore the different areas which included Cambridge, Fenway Park (tours on the hour every hour), USS Constitution, Paul Revere House, Faneuil Hall, etc. AND, you had to be on the last trolley by 5pm (but that was a Sun., not sure if it is the same every day?) If you don't have a full day, I'd probably skip a tour! Instead, I'd go to Faneuil Hall, do some shopping on Newbury Street and walk around the North End. The Paul Revere house is in that area as well and is a quick visit, but interesting.

Hope this helps!

I'd say the Duck Tour is a DO, it is so much fun and you will get to see lots of Boston, and the Charles River.

In Mass, the capitol building is called the State House, not sure why, probably dates back to the early years. The State House is the begining of the Freedom Trail, and you might enjoy walking abit and seeing some of the city. There are maps available in the Commons area, so pick one up so you have an idea of where everything is located.

Have a great time.