Romantic Boston Long Weekend
 

My boyfriend and I are meeting up to celebrate our 1 year anniversary for an long weekend in Boston, including Valentines Day. We are staying in Brookline so I was looking for breakfast suggestions around that area. Also, my boyfriend is from England and has never been to Boston before so I was wondering if anyone had suggestions of Boston must sees. Also we would like to do something special one night, most likely dinner, so if you have any suggestions of good places to go maybe someplace with live music, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

Brookline encompasses a huge area. Where in Brookline will you be staying?

If you are near Coolidge Corner, I recommend Zaftigs
http://www.zaftigs.com/

Must-sees in Boston, obviously would be the Freedom Trail, though I wonder how well that will go with your British boyfriend. :)

For indoor activity (as most likely it'll be quite cold in mid-Feb), you can consider one of the art museums. Museum of Fine Arts is great (with lots of American painters), but Gardner Museum is downright romantic as the museum is built based on the model of a Palazzo in Venice.

http://www.mfa.org/
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/index.asp

Or, you can head over to Havard Sq and walk around the campus, do some shopping, as well as visit the glass flowers in the Natural History Museum of Harvard.
http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/

For Valentine's day dinner, I suspect many places are booked already. Go to Opentable.com and see what places are still available, unless you don't mind eating at 5:30pm or 9pm.

We are staying right near Coolidge Corner at the Marriot, so thank you for that suggestion! Also due to the jet lag my boyfriend will most likely be experiencing we will most like do dinner earlier and I'm truthfully not attached to having to do our nice dinner on the 14th, so any restaurant suggestion will be useful.

Thanks!

Washington Square Tavern is a great, very low key spot for dinner - not fancy, but nice and homey. You can walk there form your hotel.

In the city, depends on how fancy you'd like to go - the South End has many of the city's great restaurants - I'd start the night with a drink at The Butcher Shop, maybe with a cheese plate. Then you can walk to so many spots - Franklin Cafe is no reservation, but great, low key vibe, american food. Hammersly's is right across the street from the bar, and has french inspired food, pricey but great. Across the street is also B+G Oyster, a great seafood place, and pretty intimate. All of these are a taxi ride from you, or hop on the green line and ride it to Copley stop, then walk over.

If you can handle the weather, duck tours are great, but it will be pretty frigid, and they're not contained. Good history and amusing. Save yourself time and skip Fanueil Hall. Copley street from Arlington St. to Mass Ave. is a great stroll, although Pottery Barn and Gap have replaced many of the cities old charming galleries, but still nice (it's shopping), you can walk down Commonwealth Ave. which run parallel to it and see some of Boston's best architecture.

Enjoy yourselves. :)

I like Orinoco, which has a branch in South End and one in Brookline Village. Not sure how far is the walk from Coolidge corner to Brookline Village.

http://orinocokitchen.com/

What kind of music? Jazz? Club/dance?

Unfortunately, you're probably too late to get a reservation for the 14th at the really romantic places, but you might try one of the hotel restaurants such as the Ritz, Eliot, or Boston Harbor. Otherwise (on the 13th? or ?) maybe Sandrine's or Chez Henri in Cambridge?

Unless the weather is daunting (and everyone has a different tolerance level), you kind of "must see" Beacon Hill, which is best done walking up Charles St and working your way over to Louisburg Sq., then back toward the Public Garden.

For me, the quintessential "picture" scene is the bridge in the Public Garden - picturesque in all seasons, esp. at dusk. http://farm1.static.flickr.com/3/4473250_13efb5f87d.jpg People seem to want to kiss under the lampposts.

Of course the other must-do for some would be a Bruins or a Celtics game! Very romantic.

When you say "live music", what type of music do you have in mind?

Rock, folk, jazz, classical?

There aren't that many restaurants in Boston that offer live music - or at least you won't get good food that way. Better option would be have dinner and then to another place for the music.

Scullers Jazz club is pretty famous, but difficult to get to without a car. You probably can get a cab to go there if you really want:
http://www.scullersjazz.com/

Alternatively, there is the Regatta Bar in Harvard Sq
http://www.regattabarjazz.com/


Club Passim in Harvard Sq has more folksy, new age music
http://www.clubpassim.org/

Middle East Club in Central Sq, Cambridge
http://www.mideastclub.com/

If you like classical music, the New England Conservatory has multiple concerts (most are free)
http://concerts.newenglandconservato...p;Date_Month=2

Also, the Boston Univ Choral is having a free concert on Friday 13th
http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/calendar/ev...d=17&oid=0

For more ideas and listings, check out the Phoenix:
http://thephoenix.com/Boston/

For a romantic dinner nearby, my friends all really like Orinoco in Brookline Village, The Fireplace in Washington Square, or Lineage, literally just around the corner from you on Harvard St. My favorite food is at a tapas restaurant, Taberna de Haro on Beacon St, down the hill from Coolidge Corner, but it is not a very romantic setting.

We all like Petit Robert, a pair of French bistros, one located in Kenmore Square and very easy to get to on the T, the other located more picturesquely in the South End but harder to get to except by cab.

Your hotel can show you how to get to these places, but Brookline Village is a ten minute walk if you walk slowly, and Washington Square and Taberna de Haro are both quick trolley rides.

I agree with Zaftig on Harvard Street for breakfast, especially on weekdays. It is packed on weekends. It will be 5 or 6 minutes on foot. I also like breakfast at the Family Restaurant on Washington St in Brookline Village, in the opposite direction. It is a Turkish luncheonette, and they have very interesting items for breakfast in addition to all the usually greasy spoon stuff. Also great for lunch, as is Matt Murphy's Pub around the corner. Avoid Village Smokehouse.