Flying in to BOS Sat AM day before Easter, Mar. 30. Staying weekend, college tours of Harvard and Wellesley on Monday. Will travel by car to other colleges in area for week following. Depart BOS after college tour.

Reading posted messages unnerves us, as we are not used to described traffic horrors.

QUESTION: Should we rent car at airport and drive to Cambridge for weekend visit, using public transit for touring and leaving car at hotel until leaving for Wellesley? Or is even possible to drive from airport to near Harvard on Easter weekend?

Route suggested by several hotels: Sumner Tunnel, Storrow Drive, over bridge onto JFK Street, then on to hotels.
AAA route suggests Sumner to Rt 1A, Cross st., New Chardon, Cambridge St., Rt 3, Main, Broadway, Hampshire, Cambridge you get the idea.....

If it is possible to drive from BOS, what is best route?
Thank you for your time and help!

It depends. Which hotel are you staying at and does it charge for parking? If you're staying at the Hyatt, it has a free shuttle service to the hotel, therefore, I wouldn't bother to rent a car until you actually need it, as you can get around on the T for the weekend. Some of the other hotels also have free shuttle services too. Also, you won't need a car to get to Wellesley College, as the commuter rail stops very near there. Either walk or take a cab. You'll need to take the T to Back Bay Station and then take the commuter rail from there to Wellesley (there are a few stops in Wellesley, so ask which one is closest to the college when you buy your ticket, but I think it is Wellesley Center). Or else call the college and ask if they have a shuttle service from the station and ask which station you should get off at in Wellesley. You can get a commuter rail schedule by going to www.mbta.com -- you'll want the line that says Framingham.

I wouldn't rent a car unless you got an exceptional rate, as you're going to have it parked most of the time.

Otherwise, try mapquest.com and see what the suggested itinerary is, although the hotel probably gave you the best one. You won't be driving during rush hour, so you won't have to deal with the stress.

By the way, the hotel's suggested route is the best one.

I agree that you should postpone your car rental until it's absolutely necessary.

But actually, driving in the city on a holiday weekend will probably be easier (i.e., less horrible) than most other times.

If you do drive to Cambridge, definitely the hotels' Storrow Drive route is the best; it's what I would take. You'll have to follow the signs closely to get onto Storrow, though!

The route suggested by AAA is absolutely insane, it might save a couple of miles (Storrow goes in a broad arc along the Boston side of the river) but is no way to get introduced to the streets of Cambridge.

Here is the information from Wellesley College's website (http://www.wellesley.edu/Admin/travel.html):

Travel Directions to Wellesley College:

From the East:

Take the Massachusetts Turnpike to Exit 16 (West Newton). Follow Route 16 West for 4.7 miles, using directions above.

Via the MBTA (which is different from the commuter rail):

Take the free shuttle bus to the MBTA Subway stop. Take the Blue Line Inbound four stops to Government Center. Go upstairs and change to the Green Line. Ride an Outbound subway marked "RIVERSIDE-D" to Woodland, the second to last stop on the D line. Subway fare is $1.

From Woodland, take a taxi to the College. See Area Taxis. The fare will be approximately $20-25.

Allow two hours for total commute.

By Train (this is the Commuter Rail)

From South Station or Back Bay Station, take the Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail to the Wellesley Square stop. The commute is approximately half an hour. One-way fare is $3 and is you should buy the ticket in South Station or Back Bay Station, since there is $1 surcharge for purchasing tickets on the train. Exact change is not required.

Go up the stairs and turn left onto Crest Road; follow Crest a short distance. Take a right onto Central Street. Walk five minutes to the second set of lights. Cross the street to the entrance of the College. From there, allow twenty minutes to walk to your destination on campus.

Note: The Commuter Rail schedule can be accessed by calling (617) 222-3200. Please call ahead when making travel plans; the schedule varies on weekends and holidays. You may also take the Commuter Rail to Wellesley from Back Bay Station.

If you prefer, call a taxi from the Wellesley Square Commuter Rail stop. See Area Taxis. Fare to the College will be approximately $4.

Taxis:

Colonial Cab - (508) 653-5600
(discounts for advanced booking, group rates on airport shuttles)

Veteran's Taxi - (781) 235-1600
Hours: 24 hours

Wellesley Transportation - (781) 235-2200
Hours: 5 a.m. - Midnight

Need to fix the directions "From the East"

Take the Massachusetts Turnpike to Exit 16 (West Newton). Follow Route 16 West for 4.7 miles, to a stoplight (5-way intersection) in the town of Wellesley; go straight on Route 135 (West). At the third traffic light take a left into the main entrance of the College. Follow signs for admission parking.

Thanks for good info!!!!!
Harvard tour over around noon Monday, Wellesley tour starts at 1:00. So I guess we will need car in Cambridge. We had hoped to drive from Cambridge to Wellesley, then on to other colleges.
AAA says it takes 30 minutes to drive Cambridge to Wellesley, but then we know how well they did on BOS to Cambridge.....
Thanks again.

Oh, dear, jmom, I'm afraid that you've set up a very ambitious schedule for that hour from noon to 1 -- not only the driving, but also fetching your car in Cambridge and then parking it and getting to the appropriate spot on the Wellesley campus. Is there any way you can give yourself more time for this transition? Can you tour Wellesley at 2 or even 3 PM rather than 1? You're leaving yourself no time after the Harvard tour for a chat with the tour guide, or going back to a spot on the tour that you wanted a closer look at.

One of my daughter's friends just got back from a week of two-colleges-a-day touring and he says it's all a blur. How much can you really understand a place in half a day? Is there any way you can devote Sunday to Harvard and Monday to Wellesley?

Joanne, I have to agree with you, but that specific Sunday is Easter Sunday. I would think that these tours must run on some type of schedule, so I think that jmom and her daughter are going to have to leave Harvard earlier than planned. They need to allow at least 90 minutes to get to Wellesley College unless they do a test run the day before. It really shouldn't take even 45 minutes, but you never know with traffic, the hard part is really getting out of Cambridge to the Turnpike.

jmom, pay attention to the toll booths while you are driving on the Mass. Pike, you do not want to be in the lane that says "Fast Lane" as you need a transponder in your car to pay the toll electronically. If you go through that lane, you face a $50 fine. The "Fast Lanes" are quite visibly marked.

Harvard and Wellesley never do tours on Sundays. Harvard does an orientation on weekdays at 10 with tour at 11, and Wellesley does tours at 1, 2, and 3. That's why I suggested that they leave some time at the end of the Harvard tour, or skip it altogether and just give themselves a tour on Sunday.

Frankly, I think most formal college-campus tours are a waste of time, doling out anecdotes about the guy that the science building was named after and other useless tidbits or things that can be gleaned from other media. IMHO, the time would be better spent hanging around the dining hall or student center or such (in the case of Harvard, that would be Memorial Hall), library or a dorm, or meeting with people from an extracurricular activity that the prospective student is interested in -- be it theater, sports, student radio station, whatever.

Many thanks for the inside travel advice. This has all been very enlightening.
Maybe we will try for the 3PM tour at Wellesley!!! Or maybe just tour Harvard as Joanne suggested, and move on at our own pace to other colleges.
Other days of our trip are not as ambitious, as we are touring some and leaving ourselves plenty of time for rest.
"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Thanks again.

Of all the places to look at on Easter, Harvard is one of the few that might actually be productive. Their student body is so diverse, in backgrounds and geography, that you might actually get a reasonable impression despite the holiday.

If you are Christian, you should try to attend a service by Rev. Gomes at Memorial Church on Easter. He's quite a guy, a top-notch speaker.

Although I have frequently posted against driving a car in Boston area, this time I disagree with myself. You will have an anxious teenager plus luggage with you. Also, local (non-airport car rentals can be expensive and troublesome - sometimes we have found they just "don't have a car" despite reservations). Rent a car at the airport, follow the first set of directions you gave, park car at hotel - paying the outrageous fee, walk around Cambridge to get a feel for the area. If you want, go to some really old church for Easter service. I agree with above posters - not enough time from Harvard to Wellesley. Good luck - your kid must have worked hard to be looking at these colleges. One more thing, as far as traffic horrors - yes Boston area traffic stinks, but if you have experience driving around a city and do not panic if you get lost, it is just unpleasant, not impossible.

Driving from the airport, driving in Boston, driving in Cambridge...lol, lol, lol. We just drove in Boston this very week and with the new construction(The Big Dig) they have changed routes..there is no parking in Cambridge. You definetely will need a car to get to Wellesley..otherwise use taxis. There are van services that will get you to and from the airport.