4bams

I need our input! we have a week with our teens (19 and 17) in mid june. our initial plan was 4 days quebec (quebec city and then up to the charlevois area) then fly to boston for 3 days. now we are thinking we should stay in the boston area for the whole week instead, and have less traveling around. we would still just spend 3 days in boston, but would love suggestions on what there is that time of year that is nearby for a few days... we not shoppers, love history, love outdoor activities and good food.... appreciate any help you can give us! (we are from toronto, and can get to quebec any time, that is why we are considering leaving it off the plan this time)

china_cat

Its a beautiful time of year, and there are lots of things you could do nearby. You could do a number of easy daytrips..Lexington/Concord, Rockport and Salem, maybe Marblehead or Newburyport. If you wanted someplace to go for a couple of days, I would recommend Newport RI, or Portsmouth NH both of which have interesting historical sites and plenty of good food. You could head to the Berkshires for a couple of days, where there are some very nice museums, and outdoor activities. Any of these things would make for a nice add-on to a Boston trip.

Ackislander

It's a good time to come. The weather is generally good, and it is not quite as busy as later in the summer because New England schools are not yet out.

If you like history, you should walk the Freedom Trail in Boston and go to Lexington and Concord for the Revolutionary War sites. Concord also has the Louisa May Alcott house and the home of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in addition to a reconstructed version of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond.

In Boston, you should also pay a visit to Beacon Hill for the Federal architecture. You can walk through the Public Garden to the Back Bay for later architecture (it gets newer the further out you go since the land was gradually filled in over time) and shopping. Commonwealth Avenue looks like Paris, and Newbury Street has interesting shopping at both ends with the usual boring mall shopping in the middle. Nearby Copley Square is home to Trinity Church, a famous building by HH Richardson, and the Boston Public Library, with lovely interiors in the historic building.

You can walk out to Mass Ave (Bostonians abbreviate everything) through the Back Bay, then back along the Charles River waterfront with views of MIT across the river.

Another day, you ought to visit Harvard and Harvard Square and the Harvard museums. You can have lunch at Mr Bartley's Burger Cottage. Your young people can continue out the Red Line to Davis Square in Somerville, home to lots of funky-fashionable bars, restaurants, music venues, used clothing, etc. I love Redbones BBQ, but they might like one of the many ethnic restaurants, and they can safely join you back in the city later in the evening. You might like eating at one of the Petit Robert bistros. There are three of them, and they are a nice substitute for going to Quebec, with good French food.

The new American Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts is a very fine addition, well-curated and well-hung, with art displayed with furniture and decoration of the same period. Nearby is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a turn-of-the-century Venetian Palazzo with major collections and a delightful interior garden.

You could do a day in Newport, another day in Salem (home of the Peabody Essex Museum by Moshe Safdie) and Gloucester, still a working fishing port. Marblehead is quainter than Gloucester, but you do need a waterfront experience somewhere. In Boston, you can take a tour from Long Wharf out to the Harbor Islands, a good way to spend an unexpectedly hot day.

I'll leave the rest to others.

cband

You can rent canoes or kayaks and paddle up the Charles River (check out Charles River Canoe & Kayak), take the ferry to Provincetown (gay, artsy great beaches and restaurants)and rent bikes there or do a whale watch in P-town or from Boston.

I think the Berkshires is kind of ho hum for teens. Try to get some Red Sox tickets - (try HubStub on line - or Craig's list) there are also tours of Fenway which are cheap and fun.
Harvard Square on weekend nights has lots of street performers.

Kwoo

You could rent a car & stay on Cape Cod for the remainder of your trip. The water may or may not be too cold for swimming (depending if you are on the bay side or ocean side) but you can still lay on the beach, walk on the beach, just enjoy the beautiful scenery. You can rent bikes & go bike riding on the trails. if you choose the cape, I recommend the lower/outer cape, such as Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro & Provincetown. The Cape Cod National Seashore is beautiful with sand dunes, & unspoiled beaches. P'town is very interesting & artsy. You'll find lots of great seafood restaurants. Plenty of mini-golf if your teens like that.
I think this would be a nice mix of city & beaches/ocean scenery.

Kealalani

I love Ack's idea of giving the kids a few hours to explore Harvard/Davis Sq on their own!

North: You could head to Salem for some history and then go to Ogunquit Maine for walking 3 mile hard sand beach and rocky Marginal Way, take a lobster boat trip for short money and explore the surrounding coastal area of York, Kennebunkport and Wells.

West: you could hit Sturbridge Village and the Berkshires - Great Barrington and Lenox are great towns and Stockbridge has Norman Rockwell Museum.

South: You could take the ferry to Provincetown for the night and do a dune tour or rent bikes. You could rent a car and go to Newport RI and visit a mansion, walk the cliffwalk and fly a kite or take a boat trip.

If you can see a game at Fenway, it is the grande dame of old time baseball.

There is really so much to see, that it will be difficult to break it down. I think staying in the area rather then splitting it with Quebec is wise.

Good luck deciding.

4bams

thanks for all your input and great ideas!

Michael

When we stayed in Boston we had access to a car and visited the Mystic sailing museum. Boston also has interesting neighborhoods for strolling. These will have to replace the trip report I never wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7623081257993/

Cranachin

If you are music lovers, consider a Boston Pops concert. Symphony Hall is one of the world's best concert venues, and Pops concerts are just plain fun as well.

http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/complete...d=bcat14350010


A reply by Bennnie to another thread might be apropos here, too - think about going candlepin bowling. The balls are the size of a grapefruit, and you get three tries instead of two to knock down the pins, which are skinny.

ggreen

Boston and vicinity also has some notable modern architecture, if that interests you.

Nearby Copley Square is home to Trinity Church, a famous building by HH Richardson, and the Boston Public Library, with lovely interiors in the historic building.
I.M. Pei's John Hancock tower is also in Copley Square. His Christian Scientist campus is just the other side of the Prudential building and houses the Mapparium, a stained glass globe of the world you can walk inside and see from the inside out. (Timed tickets required.)

The relatively new building housing the ICA (Institute for Contemporary Art) is as interesting as the art inside.

In the town of Lincoln (next to Concord and Lexington), you can visit the Walter Gropius house, which the founding member of the Bauhaus movement built after having to leave Germany. Lincoln also has the DeCordova Museum with a nice collection of contemporary sculpture on its grounds.

On a different note, the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) also houses the largest collection of Japanese art outside of its home country.

* * *
Since you want to spend time outside of Boston, you should decide if you'll travel by car or only by public transit. (The latter will restrict your excursions but not too badly.) Then decide if you want to to see more of the good suggestions of places that have been recommended, or less: the idea of Boston + beach (Cape Cod) is certainly appealing.

If you do want to see more of the area, plot the places on a map, and take your trip in a loop. For example, head south from Boston to Newport RI and Mystic CT, then up to Concord and Lexington before returing the car in Boston. (Assuming you're flying in/out of BOS.) Or head north, stopping in Concord and Lexington before going to Salem, Manchester, Gloucester, Maine (maybe return car in Portland and fly out from there?).

I agree that you've picked a really nice time of year to be in and around Boston. Have fun!

Ackislander

YOu can actually get to Mystic on the train, though you will need a taxi to Mystic Seaport itself. It is about 100 easy miles by car, though.

bachslunch

I'm a fairly hearty walker, myself, and was able to get between the train station and Mystic Seaport on foot without problems. Depending on your walking route, it's anywhere from 3/4 mile to just under one mile.

No question public transport in this city is poor, though, so if this level of walk is unappealing, a taxi will indeed be necessary.

Jaya

1) Also look into the Charlestown Navy Shipyard. It's in Boston, just a few minutes from the Italian North End. The name Charlestown is from the 1800s and just stuck. Admission is free and you can just wonder around and go onto any of the ships that are open.
http://www.nps.gov/bost/historyculture/cny.htm

2) The Duck Boat tours are a great way to get a tour with live narration of Boston without having to do the driving. They are WWII amphibious land/water vehicles. Since you are up higher, you can see things from above street level and get great pictures. You see and learn a lot in an hour.
http://www.bostonducktours.com/

rmw555

Whatever you decide amongst all the great suggestions above - you should book your Boston hotel very soon if you haven't already. June is primo wedding season here, and some university commencement weekends (MIT for example) often spill over from late May into the early part of the month.