Betsy

Hi!

I'd love to go to Concord for a day (out of Boston) to visit the Concord Museum and several other literary sites. I won't have a car, but according to some guide books, there is a train to and from Concord that leaves Boston from North Station (where is that?). The Concord depot is not quite in the center of town; are these sites (the Museum, Wayside, Old Orchard,etc....) within walking distance or is it very hard to see Concord without a car?

I'm going to leave myself enough time to see everything I want to see, but I just hope that Concord isn't too much of a pain to get to; I'm looking forward to it very much.

Also, can I get to Walden Pond without a car?

Thanks so much!

Betsy

Carol

Concord is on a commuter rail line and there are frequent trains. For schedules and station locations see www.mbta.com. North Station is on Causeway St. between Canal and Friend. As to walking from the Concord station, I'd use Yahoo to check (after you get the station address from mbta.com). There could be a bus to Walden Pond; again, try mbta.com.

Joanne

North Station is right in the city of Boston; in additoin to being on the Commuter Rail, it's a stop on the Green Line and the Orange Line of the subway system. Couldn't be handier!

Such cannot be said, however, for getting around the suburb of Concord. Many of the attractions are several miles apart or several miles from the train station. The good folks of Concord have heard your question before, and have prepared a nice commentary and guidelines, complete with distances from the train!

http://www.concordma.com/transportation.html

There is, or was, also a weird in-town shuttle; you might want to e-mail to check on the status of this service.

http://www.concordma.com/magazine/april98/bus.html

Betsy

Carol,thanks for the tips, especially about using Yahoo. That's a good idea.

Joanne, I went to that site earlier, and read that article. I can't say I disagree with them, although I wish the sites were closer.

I'll be there in June, so in those surroundings, a mile or two or three won't be so bad (and I could use the exercise). I was just hoping that the distances weren't too awful.

Thanks again

Betsy

Leslie

You might check with the concierge at the hotel you are staying at, as there might be some bus tours to the area. There's a bus tour company in the Transportation Building, unfortunately, the name escapes me.

Leslie

This info might help you out:

Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism
10 Park Plaza, Suite 4510
Boston, MA 02116 U.S.A.
Phone: (617) 973-8500
Toll-free: (800) 227-MASS (U.S. & Canada)
Fax: (617) 973-8525

Also, here's the URL for information on Massachusetts vacations:

http://www.mass-vacation.com

You can do a search - type the word TOURS and you will come up with all of the companies that offer tours in Massachusetts, but I think someone at the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism should be able to answer your question.

ted

I agree with other posters...you can easily take the train from Boston to Concord, but once you get there you may find it difficult to get around...a tour might be the best bet if you really don't want to rent a car...dispite all the hype about Boston drivers, once you get out of the city, it is a pretty easy 18 mile drive on good highways to get to Concord...

Betsy

Thanks, Leslie and Ted. I'm sure these sights will be very useful!

Betsy

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I live in Concord. Apart from Walden Pond, which is about a 40-45 minute walk from the Concord Depot, none of the other sites are all that far away. You can easily walk to the North Bridge and the Manse, which are next to each other. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the Concord Museum and Orchard House are all within reasonable walking distance.

Of course, being a European by birth, I may be more used to walking than most Americans. If the weather is nice, I even walk to Walden Pond and have a swim in it afterwards! The only complaint I have is that Concord should have more sidewalks to many of its historic sites.

gail

Another problem with the plan is that the shortest distance between some of these points is on roads not suitable for walking (like Route 2 or parts of Route 2A). Walden Pond is not near any of the other sites, and while it does have historic and literal significance, it really is just a pretty pond that in the summer is over-run with swimmers at the small beach. A very nice walk around, but not in combination with all your other walking. Although I am not usually a bus tour fan, you may have to decide the pros and cons of seeing the most or having your freedom and privacy and seeing less. The advantage of bus is that they would likely also take you to Lexington which is 5-10 mile away.

North Station is near main part of downtown Boston (near North End, Boston City Hall) and is served well by several MBTA transit lines. Check schedules of trains carefully because most trains around Boston are very geared towards M-F commuter schedules and they are few and far between on weekends, middle part of the weekday, or later in the evening.