Boston: Accomm. & daytrips by public transport
 

<BR>Planning to take my mother and aunts to Boston in early May and would very much appreciate help: <BR>- Postings here suggest accommodation is expensive. Are there any major events planned that week? <BR>I will need to book 3 separate sleeping spaces and wonder would an apartment or hotel suite be feasible? Ideas gratefully received. <BR>- We would love to do some day trips from Boston, ideally to the coast or country. Any suggestions on places accessible by public transport or by private coach tour (I was told not even to think about car hire!!!) <BR>- Is the JFK Museum worth a visit? <BR>- Are any of the discount outlets easy to reach by public transport? <BR>Ideas and suggestions would be very much welcomed. <BR>Many thanks. <BR>Adrienne

May is college graduation season here in Boston. With 20+ schools, Boston is a busy place in May! The earlier in May you come, the better! Yes, hotels are very expensive. You're looking at $150 and up. Call around to various hotels to see if they have anything available. My suggestion would be to stay in town (although expensive as mentioned above). Back Bay/Copley Square is a good location as is Fanieul Hall. <BR>For day trips to the coast via public transportation, take the Commuter Rail (http://www.mbta.com) to Rockport. It's a beautiful seaside town. Also Manchester-By-the-Sea is a cute place to visit. <BR>There is an outlet mall in Worcester and I think you can take the commuter rail there. <BR>Good luck with your plans and I hope you have a great time!

If you're discount outlet fans,you must be sure to check out the ORIGINAL Filene's Basement store in downtown Boston -not to be confused with Filene's department store - although they share the same building! The basement store is comprised of two floors below street level - accessible by escalator from the main floor of Filene's or directly from the "Downtown Crossing" subway stop.

I found the JFK Museum to be very worthwhile and interesting as well as accessible by public transit. They've tried to make history "come alive" w/interesting and creative displays. <BR> <BR>For instance, rather than just showing you a bunch of newspapers from around the country announcing his innauguration, they set it up to look like a city street with the newspapers displayed on newstands (interesting to see which cities didn't find it newsworthy enough to put on their front page too!). And when you got to the room dealing with his assasination, you walked into a dark room and watched Walter Cronkite's actual newscast -- very moving. <BR> <BR>It is a very "Camelot" place though. Don't expect to hear anything about Marilyn Monroe or others or to get a very balanced view of the less-than-golden-boy aspects of him. <BR> <BR>I also really enjoyed Cambridge/Harvard and this too is easy to get to on the "T."

As the others said May is graduation <BR>time so you may not have much choice <BR>and Boston is quite expensive. I live <BR>here so i know. I highly recommend the <BR>jfk library. I have gone several times. <BR>they add new things and its very <BR>interesting and fun even for kids. Its <BR>right on the harbor which is nice. I <BR>also love the aquarium which has a 3 <BR>floor high tank you walk around and you <BR>can press your nose right up to&gt; Rockport <BR>and Concord would be my 2 favorite day <BR>trips. you just take a train from North <BR>Station. Each is about 50 minutes away. <BR>If you go to mbta.com you can get <BR>schedules for the commuter rails. Rockport <BR>is a coastal artist town with lots of <BR>shop, seafood places and beautiful vistas. Concord is very quaint and <BR>historic. Walden Pond and the Alcott <BR>House are my favorite places there. Lots <BR>of neat shops too. <BR> If you have other questions please <BR>email me.

What price range and type of accomodations are you looking for? Will look for the # of a prof and his wife (if I recall correctly) who do a B&B-type thing in Cambridge out of the extra rooms in their house, if you are interested. They advertise in the back of the Harvard alumni mag, and Harvard graduation isn't til June, so perhaps they'd have something available at a reasonable cost. (Have never done it myself, but made a mental note for future reference.) <BR> <BR>Re the car rental, what were you warned against? Boston does have a great public transportation system, so if you are afraid of Boston drivers (warranted, I lived there for 8 years and am guilty as charged), driving around for hours, vicious meter maids and one-way streets, your fears are justified. If it's cost, you can get decent deals, esp from the airport, from most of the big co's. However, given the above, I'd recommend public transport. <BR> <BR>Am confusing the names of the little shore towns, so won't attempt to give advice on those. Agree, though, that for outlet shopping, would definitely try to get out to Worcester Common Outlets (about an hour from Boston).

I don't know if its too early in the season, but if the weather is good you might be able to take the ferry to Provincetown. It makes for a nice day trip to the coast, with no car or traffic involved. You only get about 3 hours to walk around P-Town, though. <BR> <BR>You could take the commuter rail out to Worcester and then walk to the Worcester Common Fashion outlets, or take a cab. I think it would be a longish walk, but a cheap cab ride.