I'd like to take my 8 year old niece into Boston on a weekday to see the Children's Museum and the Aquarium. She is from out of state, so the summer is our only option. How crowded are these places on a weekday in the summer? I know from past experience that the weekends are pretty bad.

Arrive early on a nice sunny day and leave around lunch time. Crowds should then be manageable. Unfortunately, you probably can't predict the weather far enough out to make that possible.

Both places are sometimes over-run with camp/day-care groups in summer. So another option is to go around 4 or so when they are leaving.

I would not try to do both in 1 day with an 8 year old.

I agree, weekdays are better and doing both in one day might be too much.

Our strategy with places like these is to arrive in the afternoon about 2:00 when all the raucous camp groups are leaving. This worked well just last week for a trip to the Chlidren's Museum. Most of the matching-T-shirt crowds were leaving just as we were arriving!

Thanks for your input! We have to stay downtown all day if we go because of transportation issues. Maybe we can go to the Aquarium early in the morning (I mostly want her to see the seals and the sea lion show) rest at my husband's office nearby, and hit the Children's Museum around 2:00.

Another idea for part of the day is to take a Boston Harbor cruise - it is relaxing, but your neice could walk around on the boat. You might do this after a museum for a break.