Boston for a cruise: South end? Downtown?
 

We're flying into Boston to spend a couple nights before we board a ship. I saw a hotel near a park that someone had mentioned was a good one (Omni Parker) and in South Boston near the port there are a lot of airbnb places available. We'll arrive in the early evening on a Thursday. We'll have all day Friday to poke around and much of the day on Saturday before we'll go to the ship.

My questions are if it's a good idea to stay near the <i>port</i> or if we should stay near <i>downtown</i>? Also since we won't have a car, do we just grab a cab to our hotel from the airport or is there public transportation which is a better option?

One thing I thought we'd do is visit the Boston Tea Party Museum. Other than that, I haven't made any plans. Thanks for any help you'd like to offer.

(I just have to add that as I type this I am listening to a 60's music station and they just played the song Dirty Water "oh oh Boston you're my home". What a coincidence!)

It's easy to get from the Parker House to the cruise terminal.

You mix up the South End and South Boston, two very different places. Even South Boston is divided into Southie, the Real South Boston, and the South Boston Waterfront [sic], also very different places. Some are desirable, some are awful.

I would go to the Parker House in your situation. The "Park" is Boston Common, the Freedom Trail begins there, goes right in front of the hotel, and visits all the important colonial history sites. On the other side of Boston Common is the Public Garden, which borders the Back Bay shopping district?

Interesting about S Boston! Thanks for that. I appreciate your suggestion. I had heard about the Freedom Trail and that sounds good surrounded by so much history. In addition by choosing a hotel over an airbnb, we can ask the hotel to hold our luggage on Saturday before we head towards the ship.

As far as getting there from the airport, do most people grab a cab or is there a train (like Vancouver has, or BART for example)?

You can take the T (our version of the Metro) from the airport to Government Center station and walk two blocks to the hotel. If you have Über, you can take it to the hotel. Or you can get a taxi.

The Parker House is an easier walk from the Park Street T station, but you have to change from the Blue Line to the Green Line at Government Center. If you are experienced users of public transportation, this is more or less a doddle.

Ackislander: Thank you for that. I went ahead and booked the Parker House just now. We do have Uber. I'm inclined to take the cheaper options such as public transport, but my husband is 20 years older than me, and far less patient. However, I think as long as there are elevators (since we'll be schlepping luggage) it could work for us.

As I think I understand it, we take a Massport bus to the Blue Line at the airport. We buy our tickets from a kiosk and find our train to Government Center station. We exit and walk to the Green Line and get on a train to Park street. We exit and walk a block. Is that correct?

I would not take the T, including two changes, just to save a few dollars. It just isn't worth the time and hassle. Uber is pretty easy from the airport and will be cheaper than a taxi.

I also wouldn't bother staying near the port. The Parker House is a nice location.

Beware the entree level rooms unless you like staying in a closet. You could take the red line across the street to the silver line.

to get to the ship. but i'd take a car

"Beware the entree level rooms unless you like staying in a closet."

Ugh! I rarely book anything other than a standard king room. More than $300/night for a closet? That really stinks, but I have heard prices in Boston are as bad as NYC or LA of which I'm familiar. The one thing it has going for it is that everyone seems to agree upon is the location being very good. Knowing us though, if we have fun when we're out and about the size of the room will be soon forgotten. Come on, fun times!

You should be fine. The closet rooms can't fit a king.

You have two choices for taking public transport. From the terminal you can take the FREE Silver Line bus to South Station, transfer (also free) to the Red Line towards Park St. and walk two blocks to the hotel from there.

Alternatively, you can take an free airport shuttle to Airport Station, Blue Line to Government Center ($2.65) and walk from there. No need to transfer to Green Line to Park Street.

Just take a cab or Uber to the ship terminal when you're ready to board.

Ina: Thank goodness!

cw: Thank you for that. It's nice to know all the options. If we took the shuttle to Airport Station then took the Blue line to Government Center, wouldn't that be the quickest since one never knows about traffic congestion? I read that traffic can be pretty thick. We're arriving around 4 pm on a Thursday.

One of my favorite restaurant is just down the road a bit.

Teatro

Thanks for the tip, it sounds Italian.

Thanks! It's not far at all. :-)

Dai, the Silver Line (which is a bus) runs both on the street and in a dedicated tunnel. I would guess that the timing for either option would be about the same.

cw: Thanks, I had tried to figure out what the silver line/red line was all about. I looked at wiki at both options you suggested. I think I will ask my husband what he wants to do once we arrive. If he decides he'd like to go public, we'll go airport station/blue line/government station and walk. Looking down as the crow flies on google maps, it's just not a big deal (for me, anyway). If he's not interested in walking a block or two, I'll call Lyft (I've been using Lyft over Uber). I read an article which stated that Boston's airport allows Uber/Lyft drivers, and we'd just need to ask around to find out where to meet the car once we exit the terminal.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me if I understand it correctly, taking the subway from the airport to Governments station, a couple blocks from our hotel, would be the way to go since we would avoid being stuck in traffic around rush hour.

<i>Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me if I understand it correctly, taking the subway from the airport to Governments station, a couple blocks from our hotel, would be the way to go since we would avoid being stuck in traffic around rush hour.</i>

Even with rush hour, I would still take a car.

I mentioned the redline to the silver line in context of you heading to your port from hotel.

I have to agree with travelog. Lugging luggage on commuter trains during rush hour would be a nightmare.

If you go to Teatro, consider to polenta duck and mushrooms. It is rich and goes nice with a salad for the perfect meal!

Ina: I see. I was mostly interested in learning about public transportation from the airport to city center. Some cities have great public transportation from the airport, and I wanted to know if Boston was part of that club.

Our last vacation was in Vancouver and we stayed downtown near the port. When we disembarked from the ship, the lines for the cabs were outrageous (we later learned that passengers literally stayed in that line for three hours waiting for a cab!) We ended up getting out of the line-to-nowhere and rolled our luggage to our hotel. When it was time to go home, we got a cab to the port and took their train to the airport. Easy peasy. It was something that literally <i>everyone</i> recommended and was a cheap and easy way to get to the airport.

Sounds like Uber/Lyft is the way to go when it comes to Boston. Thanks for that.

Re: Teatro, I saw their menu. It looks good, but we'll have to pass on the duck since I'm a vegetarian and hubby is a vegan. ;-)

"One thing I thought we'd do is visit the Boston Tea Party Museum. Other than that, I haven't made any plans. Thanks for any help you'd like to offer."

Boston has some good museums. The Gardner, the MFA, the ICA, the Harvard art museums, if you like art.
The unique Glass Flowers at Harvard.
Of course, the Freedom Trail is the big attraction.
Take a ride on the iconic swanboats and see the duckling sculptures.
Fanueil Hall is fun for people watching, street performers and an assortment of foods.
There is a quirky glass world map to walk through.
Some of the squares (Harvard, Union, Davis) frequented by students are fun.
Lots of Italian restaurants and pastry shops in the North End.
If you Google for Vegan restaurants Boston, there are over 100 places that come up, in and around Boston, many of which can be reached by the T (public transport).

And the water isn't that dirty anymore. (Although I do remember if the sailboats capsized in the Charles Rive, in the era of that song, we had to wash the sails first---before they took us to get tetanus shots! LOL) "Love that dirty water. Oh, Boston, you're my home."

Have fun.

Samba: haha! Thanks for the advice, especially for vegan food recommendations! I'm going to look into these places you've mentioned.