Boston Area College Tour
 

Planning for a college tour this summer with my daughter. We will be visiting Tuffts, Harvard, Boston University, Boston College, Wellesley. Any suggestions for hotels or best area of the city to stay?

Only 1 of these colleges is actually in Boston, so I would stay in an area near anything else you might want to see. All are accessible by public transportation, but a car is more efficient for Tufts and Wellesley.

If it were me I would stay in Back Bay, Copley, Faneuil Hall, Downtown areas - depending on how they are defined by hotel, booking site. Avoid any hotels that call themselves things like Boston/Waltham - or any other town. Even though they may be only a few miles from downtown, transportation between there and anyplace else can be annoying.

Specific hotel names I will leave to others - since I live here I stay at home.

We have always liked the Hilton Doubletree on Soldiers Field Rd. They have a shuttle that goes around Cambridge and downtown. Also, many like the Hotel Commonwealth.

What is the budget?

And I'm assuming you will have a car? I wouldn't want to do Wellesley without a car. The others can be done via public transit, but Tufts an BC will be easier with a car (especially BC, which is at the end of the green line and takes forever to reach.

A central hotel would be my first choice, but budget will sort of dictate.

Gail's point is a good one: it is very easy to get from the center of Boston to most of the suburbs, but it is hard to get from one suburb to another " around the ring". Getting from Tufts to Wellesley, for example is daunting enough even by car that I would not schedule back to back visits without a good amount of time between them.

Also, as parent, keep asking yourself, " How would my child get home for vacations if she went to college here?"

What gail said.

If you stay where the red and green lines of the MBTA (the subway) intersect, you can get to all but Wellesley without much trouble. As mentioned, Tufts (esp. the admissions office) is a hike from the station, but you could go to Davis Square and then take a cab to campus.

Maybe rent a car for a day to visit Wellesley and BC (which are in the same general direction).

You have options, depending on how you want to spend your time and your budget.

If you're going to spend 5 or 6 days in town and want to spend time both enjoying the city and also visiting colleges, then finding a downtown hotel (Copley area, Beacon Hill, or Faneuil/Waterfront) would serve you well. You could visit one school/day, using public transportation for all but Wellesley -- you'd rent a car for the Wellesley visit day -- and also enjoy all that Boston has to offer.

But if you're focusing exclusively on visiting schools rather than combining a Boston visit, then it's more practical to rent a car and stay outside the city core. A very good choice would be the Crowne Plaza in Newton (at the Newton Corner exit of the Mass Pike), which is a 10-25 minute drive from any of the schools. However, unlike downtown hotels, you wouldn't be able to walk out of the hotel and be in an interesting area with shops and restaurants. Also, having a GPS in your rental car would be a must.