jeanneba28

We will be visiting Boston this summer with our three children aged 2, 9, & 10. We would love a suggestion for a hotel which is centrally located and which has suites at a reasonable price. We would also love suggestions for activities (the older boys are big baseball fans and we have already bought sox tickets). Also would love suggestions for good restaurants that tolerate fairly well behaved boys.

Thanks.

TKT

A quick note: Boston is a walking and public transit city.

You could add a tour of Fenway to the trip along with your plan to go to a game.

The Children's Museum and Sceince Museum are easy to access.

Chinatown has many restaurants that are family friendly, but someone else could help you more with that.

You might want to state what you consider a reasonable price for a hotel with suites, Boston prices may shock you, be prepared.

escargot

I believe the Children's Museum is closed until October for renovations.

Hotels with suites - the Eliot is one of my favorites, but as was suggested give us a price range.
Reasonable to one is not to another

Every restaurant tolerates well behaved children - what kind of food do they like and are you looking for family restaurants or more child oriented -
kids like FIre & Ice, Giordano's family restaurant- Fanueil Hall has the food court and lots of surrounding restaurants, the North End has some great spots - maybe wait until we know what area your hotel is in if yuo want easy access / quick return to hotel after-

Sites kids love:
Duck Tour (you can book online 5 dys ahead)
Skywalk Observatory at Prudential Center
Waterfront Park/ NOrth End/ Faneuil Hall
The Freedom Trail

A walk down Charles St, over the 'overpass' over the street to the other side to walk along the Charles River
(see if any outdoor concerts at nigth or activities day or night on Esplanade while you are here)

The Museum of Science

Check out the Museum of Fine Arts and see if they have any special kid activities -

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has family nights in the summer - check their web site if any fall during your visit - sometimes music, scavenger hunts for kids, craft projects, great family time.

jeanneba28

In terms of price range for hotel, we wouldn't want to spend more than $400 a night unless it were something very special.

We like all types of food, especially seafood and ethnic food. If there are some restaurants that are special to Boston which are appropriate for children, we would like to try them.

The tour of Fenway sounds great. Do you know any details about it?

I'll look at the eliot on line and see if it makes sense for us. Thanks.

jeanneba28

Escargot
I just looked at the Eliot and it looks perfect. Just one question: How well located is it? Is it near the train?
Jeanne

TKT

The Eliot is a great location, take it if you can, 15 minute walk to Fenway.

Yes, the Children's Museum is closed until Oct.

If you go to MLB.com and go the The Red Sox sight and look under Fenway, you will see the tour schedule, tours are frequent.

Do your kids enjoy history?

escargot

Although we live in town, we have stayed in the Eliot as a treat with family on a few holidays and loved it. Immaculate and room set up for relatives with suites is great. Exc location

For some restaurant ideas you can check out menupages.com and opentable.com (if not familiar with, you can also make reservations on the latter)
Ones I might rec looking at, aside from the ones I mentioned above
Jasper Whites Summer Shack (Kings Bowling Alley in same building if they like that too!)
www.summershackrestaurant.com
www.jilliansboston.com (bowling, etc, good kid menu, check out the web site)

http://www.starthereboston.com/Kids-Guide.html

www.thefreedomtrail.org

Boston harbor Islands are fun too- Georges Island is a good one w/ kids
www.bostonisland.org and
www.bostonharborcruises.com

jeanneba28

we booked The Eliot and got a fairly good rate (AAA). Thanks for the other suggestions.

Yes, my children do like history-- suggestions? Can we get to Plimouth via public transportation?

Thanks all!

missypie

If you click on my screen name, you will find my trip report from our recent trip to NYC, Boston and Maine. My kids are a bit older, but some of the info may be useful.

I just posted a review of the Eliot on Trip Advisor.

The Eliot is about a block away from the T stop. Just pay a bit of attention - the line that takes you to the Eliot splits into 4 or 5 sub- lines....most split after the stop for the Eliot, but one splits before.

There are scores of restaurants within easy walking distance of the Eliot.

If you want Italian food in the North End, either go at lunch time or make a reservation. The North End is packed in the evenings and I know that a long wait for a table is not popular with kids.

TKT

Boston itself is full of history, most of the Freedom Trail is between 1-4 miles of your hotel and easy to access by public transit.

The Freedom Trail also goes by many restaurants and places to sit and rest.

escargot

Talking with someone else today I did the same thing I did in the above post, I referred to the restaurant as Giordano's and it is Giacomo's (I am getting my G restaurants mixed up the former is the one near us on the vineyard - )
Giacomo's is a good family italian restaurant I meant for you in either the North End or on Columbus Ave (esp if yuo stay at Eliot) - either would work/ wlakikng or T to Back Bay or North End

china_cat

when my nephews visited they were 8 and 10, and they loved the duck tour. They seemed to be just the right age, they both got a chance to drive the duck when it was on the river, and that was way cool.

They also really liked the Science Museum. In fact, we scheduled the Duck tour from there, as they are somewhat less popular than the ones that leave from Copley, and it made for a fun day.

If you are looking for food around Fenway, you might consider La Verdad, a new taqueria on Lansdowne Street. You can get a nice outdoor table, and the tacos are excellent.

sam

To your question about getting from Boston to Plymouth without a car, you can take the MBTA from South Station in Boston to Plymouth. Here's the link http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_ma...route=OLCOLONY

There's also some good info and links at: http://www.plymouthwaterfrontfestival.com/id8.html

and also,
www.visit-plymouth.com

Lord_Mesron

For fun things to do I would recommend the Science Museum, a Duck Tour, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, the New England Aquarium, and the Maparium at the Christian Science Mother Church. I believe that there is also a reanactment of the Boston Tea Party down at the harbor.

As for dining, if your family likes steaks I would suggest Hilltop Steakhouse. I believe that there may be one in Boston, but I have only been to the one in Saugus which is not very far by car from Boston.

You didn't say whether you would have a car, but for history, you can always go to Salem, Plymouth, Concord and Lexington. Of course as others have said, there is plenty of history in Boston itself. Also, there is a ferry from Boston to Salem.

missypie

If you try to take public transportation to Plymouth, remember that if you want to go to Plimoth Plantation, that is a few miles away.

You'll need a car for the Maine part of your trip, won't you? Several (probably most) of the rental car chains have locations in Boston other than at Logan. With every chain we checked, it actually cost less to pick up the car in town and return it to Logan than to do a Logan round trip.

We rented from Avis and picked up the car at the train station. I know that one rental car place has a location at the convention center.

If you are at the Eliot, they have a "summer in the city" package that includes free valet parking (otherwise it's $34 a day.)

escargot

The Hilltop is in Saugus only. Unless you are driving on Rte 1 up there for some reason, there are plenty of choices for great steaks in Boston and to me, not worth pulling your car out of parking to go there.

Lord_Mesron

I just looked it up and see that it was Braintree I was thinking of, not Boston for Hilltop. I also see that it was just a butcher shop. Like I said, I had only gone to the Saugus location, I had only seen the sign for the Braintree location from the highway. I also see from the website that they have closed the Braintree location.

As for other chocies in Boston for steaks, that may be. This is the one that had been recommended to me my first time up there and we have gone back to it each time we have been to the area. To each there own.

escargot

Lord_Mesron - you are right, it is a good recommendation and they have exc steaks - and I would also say ok if driving by, but to drive to Saugus from Boston with three children in tow, when there are many steak restaurants in Boston just seems an added expense and hassle to me -
I did not mean to infer that you had made a bad recommendation, just didn' t know if as a visitor you were not familiar with the location/distances/etc.

escargot

My apologies, the children's Museum is not closed - it reopened in April, although they are still building and the complete renovation will be ready in october - there is a calendar of events and what is open on their web page - check it out, in the past I would have said it would be fine for the 2 year old but the 9 and 10 year old may find it boring depending on their interests and their experience with museums.

jeanneba28

We will not have a car in Boston (returning it when we arrive in town as we feel that it is more of a hassle to have a car when it is such an easy city to walk or to take public transportation in) but think that we'll have time prior to Boston to visit Plymouth.

Any specific recommendations for good Italian food (and desserts?)?

Thanks to everyone for your advice. You have all helped us tremendously. Can't wait to go!

There are lots of great suggestions here and we really appreciate everyone's advice.