Coming from Oxford, England, I will be travelling with my my wife and our 13 yr old son in the 2nd week of July for a week and not knowing anything about the area, would welcome any suggestions for things to do within, say a three hour drive from Boston. Things like good beaches, good town/villages to stay or visit, good hotels, activities etc. All suggestions would be great.

There's an organized tour called the Duck Tour. I haven't personally been on this one, but I have a number of friends who have enjoyed it. Another fun way to see alot of the city is to walk the Freedom Trail. It's free and is a great way to spend the day.

Greetings! I agree that both the Duck Tour and Freedom Trail are worth seeing. The Duck Tour requires an advance reservation of about 12-24 hours. There is also a new Immigration Museum that opened in the financial district that is quite interesing. Perhaps you would like to see an American Baseball game; the Red Sox play at Fenway Park. Your son might also like the "Big Dig" museum displays, as discussed in another post here. I think you would all enjoy the show "Blue Man Group," a humorous group of mimes that communicate creatively.
The coast of Maine, such as Ogunquit and Kennebunkport is lovely, and there is a water park "Water Country" in Portsmouth that your son might like. A nice place to stay near the beach in Ogunquit is the Sparhawk Inn; the nicest beach, in my opinion, in K-port is Goose Rocks Beach. Beaches at Cape Cod are much warmer, but not as rocky for tidepooling and general scenery. Coast Guard Beach is supposed to be wonderful. Chatham is a lovely town on the Cape; I'd recommend the Bradford Inn. Just don't plan to drive onto the Cape Friday afternoon or Saturday morning, due to grid-lock traffic.
I also like the North Shore of Massachusetts, including Newburyport, Gloucester, and Salem. You might want to stay at a central location, such as the Courtyard Marriott or Quality Inn Kings Grant, both in Danvers. In Gloucester, the Hammond Castle Museum is a "must see." In Salem, I recommend the Witch Museum (NOT Witch House)and the House of Seven Gables, and the Peabody Essex Museum.
Hope this has been helpful. Have a wonderful trip!

The Beth and David replys are right on the mark. We landed in Boston last summer and drove north to Olgunquit, Maine. Great Lobster at many places. When you get back to Boston, turn in the car!! Our kids thought the subway was great.. Go see the Boston Pops. We live in Santa Barbara and thought New England was fun. Fenway was Great!

Placing above Big Dig post

Thanks for all the advice. We will aslo be going North of Boston to Eliot, Maine. Is there anything worth doing in that area?

Hi David, Eliot Maine is right near Oquinquit and Kennebunk is just about 20 min away. York's Long Sands beach is a great beach. The water park in Portsmouth is only 10 min away. There"s a great lighthouse in York( two towns from Eliot) Nubble Light. You can catch a boat in Portsmouth or Kennebunk to go whale watching. If you need any more advise feel free to email me. I live in that area of Maine. Kathy

Hi David:

Many pople from England like to stay at the Dan'l Webster Inn, Sandwich on Cape Cod an hour and a half south of Boston.

Hi David (and Kathy!):
I like the Capn Simeon restaurant in Eliot! Also next door is Kittery, Maine which has all the outlet stores, in case there is a bargain shopper in your party. Definitely take the ride up to Ogunquit and walk on the Marginal Way. If there for dinner, consider Hurricane or 5-O. There is a fun authentic clambake (lobsters!) restaurant with hokey entertainment in York, Maine that would be fun for dinner called Foster's Downeast Clambake. They have even catered Presidential events!
Go south over the state line into Portsmouth, NH. It's a fun city for browsing and has a variety of harbor cruises on the Thomas Leighton that venture off to the Isles of Shoals, Star Island, or just through the night to a Reggae beat. Strawberry Bank is a restored colonial settlement. Plays are often performed next door at the park. Do NOT eat at Yokens! Water Country is located in Porstmouth, as well. Rye, NH has a wonderful seacoast science center at Odiorne Point, which has several walking paths along the ocean and wonderful craggy coast for tidepooling.

What an interesting avenue of thought...the English view of Boston. I'm sure you'll find the American viewpoint of the American Revolution, and Boston's part in it, interesting, based on (I assume) your English viewpoint. To Americans, Boston contains some of our country's oldest history; to you, it will be relatively recent history! Consider visiting Plimoth Plantation, an hour or so south of Boston. It's a recreation of the village of Plymouth settled by the Pilgrims, and the people in the village act the parts of the real settlers, even to the point of using the accents of the parts of Britain that the original settlers had. I found it very interesting.

Consider carefully a visit to Salem. I liked it (we visited it at Halloween one year, when we used to live in Boston), but comparing it to somewhere like Rye, England, there's no comparison for period buildings, etc., and it's quite touristy. If you're interested in the history surrounding the Salem witch trials, or Nathaniel Hawthorne & his house, then it's worth the visit.

Enjoy your visit!

DEFINTELY do the Duck Tours! It is well worth the time/$. Don't miss Fanuiel Hall... lots of different stores and restaraunts/food vendors. Classic "New England" restaraunt is Durgin Park, known for it's "rude" service and Great Food! Also, lots of entertainment during the day at Fanuiel Hall (i.e. music or dance groups, mimes, etc.) Don't miss the North End for Italian Food, Fenway Park for a Red Sox Game, the Aquarium or a Whale Watch would be fun. Vermont is beautiful also, if you're willing to drive! Cape Cod has great beaches, but you MUST make a reservation at a hotel if you want to stay over... try Chatham, Orleans, or Falmouth. Driving might be difficult due to the MAJOR construction of a new submerged "highway" system...and I have to admit we aren't the most patient drivers! Also, if you're going to drive here, be aware that we DO NOT stop at the end of ramps entering highways... we MERGE! Frequently there are free concerts at the Hatch Shell by the Boston Pops Orchestra, or go out to Tanglewood to enjoy the summer music series there. All other postings also had excellent ideas... it might be worthwhile for you to purchase a tour book and do some additional research. Have fun!

Hi David. All of the above are excellent suggestions and I'll add a few more that haven't been mentioned yet. Not knowing your interests I'll make a stab at a few different types of activities.

In Boston the Duck Tours are excellent as are the trolley tours. An added benefit to a trolley tour is that your ticket is good for the entire day and you can get off and explore at different stops and then get back on the next trolley that comes along. I recommend the green and orange tour company, which, I believe is Old Town Trolley Tours. Old Town Trolley seems to have many trolley cars in its stable and you never have to wait too long until the next trolley comes along.

I would also recommend a trip to Newport, Rhode Island (www.newportri.com). It's less than 2 hours from Boston and the row of summer "cottages" built by some of America's wealthiest families at the turn of the 19th century will astound you. And the families thoughtfully built their mansions next to each other along the Cliff Walk so touring them or just looking at them from the Cliff Walk is quite accessible. Newport also has some nice beaches and a day trip or an overnight there is quite enjoyable.

If you are interested in amusement parks Six Flags New England is located within a couple of hours west of Boston (www.sixflags.com/newengland). It has lots of roller coasters and it also has a water park with slides, wave pool, etc.

Beaches close to Boston include everything from the very active city beach in Revere (and "T" (Boston's subway) accessible via the Blue Line) to beautiful and serene Crane Beach in Ipswich, just north of Boston (you'll have to drive). Just be aware that the water temperature will be quite cold anywhere north of the southern shores of Cape Cod but quite tolerable along the southern Cape Code beaches west of Chatham.

Free concerts and movies are available almost nightly at the Hatch Shell, a performance venue along the banks of the Charles River. The Hatch Shell has hosted such diverse acts from Green Day to Catherine Wheel to the Boston Pops.

There are also lots of hiking opportunities in the Blue Hills Reservation just outside of Boston and a bit more challenging terrain at Wachusett Mountain in Princeton, Massachusetts (1 hour west of Boston) and even more challenging terrain at Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire.

I'd like to reiterate the advice about not driving in Boston unless you are on your way out of town. The "T" will get you most places and your feet will get you others. Boston is a very walkable city and with the Big Dig construction a fairly unnavigable city to begin with has become even more so.

Some web resources:

www.boston.com
www.bostonphoenix.com
travel.boston.com

Welcome to Boston!