We will be in Boston for 2 days pre cruise. We have never been to the east coast and look forward to seeing as much of Boston as possible. Would love suggestions on what to see since our time is limited. We will be in town on an Thursday and Friday. We plan to try to get tickets to Red Sox on Friday night. What trolley tours are recomended? Thought we woud start there. Any suggestions would be apppreciated.

What dates are you looking for Red Sox tickets? They are extremely difficult to get and will cost you an arm and a leg, even for obstructed view seats.

Would definitely recommend walking the Freedom Trail.

If the weather is nice, take the Duck Boat tour. Buy your tickets and board at the Prudential Center.

It's about a 1.5 hour live guided tour and will give you a nice look around historic Boston without having to drive it yourself. You sit high up in the boat and have a much better vantage point than from street level. Great photo ops too. It's called a boat, it's actually a WWII land/water boat - drives and then can float so you see Boston from the Charles River too.

I haven't done it, but walking the Freedom Trail gets a lot of good recommendations.

Also, Faneuil Hall Market Place is a good shopping/eating area to spend a few hours.

Don't miss Boston's North End which is right near the Fanueil Hall area. It's very old Italian section with lots of great restaurants. Have some pastry treats. On Friday the pushcart vendors will set up in Haymarket Square (same area) which is an experience also a good time to pick up some fresh fruit. Agree Duck Tour is fun. Some of the Freedom Trail is in the North End. You can take a culinary tour of the North End which provides great historical background of the neighborhood plus tasty treats at some stops along the way. On my last visit I wanted to enjoy a dim sum meal in Chinatown. My friends weren't up for the adventure and didn't enjoy the meal (we had no idea what we were eating). It might be available only on weekends.

What people remember from Boston:

1. Beacon Hill: Mt Vernon St, Louisburg Square, West Cedar Street (like some parts of London)
2. Public Garden with Swan Boats, Make Way for Ducklings statues
3. Back Bay: Commonwealth Avenue, (like some parts of Paris), Newbury Street (high end shopping like Cartier, Brooks Brothers, Vera Wang, many small boutiques the farther out you go).
4. The Freedom Trail from Park Street to the US Constitution
5. The Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
6. Harvard Square and Harvard Yard in Cambridge
7. Copley Square, Trinity Church, and the Boston Public Library (also shopping at Copley Place, the Pru, and Boylston Street). Much upscale shopping at intersection of Boylston and Arlington (Hermes, etc).
8. A walk along the Charles River along the Esplanade
9. The waterfront from Rowe's Wharf to Charlestown
10. The JFK museum

Ackislander, what a great list! When I saw this question yesterday, I began a similar list but never got to post it. It makes me want to drive to Boston (I'm not far) and do some of the things you mentioned!

"We plan to try to get Red Sox tickets on Friday night". Dream on. Season has been sold out for months. Options are ticket broker (we use Ace Tickets - they have website), secondary market like StubHub or eBay - (used successfully by many but risk counterfit tickets if print-at-home option is used); street scalper - illegal in Massachusetts, varying price and success rate and varying risk of confiscation of tickets. A few game tickets go on sale at box office or on-line day of game, but time and availability varies.

Maggie - I would choose a trolley tour over the Duck tour. The trolley gets you around to everything, you can get on & off, do all day if you want & you get alot of info. The duck tour seemed to be more hype. We have done both in the past but its been years(maybe 10).

Sox tickets will be tough, but you could see if there are any standing room available. The tour is pretty good, so you could do that in the morning anyway. There's also a baseball exhibit at the Museum of Science, if you're hard-core fans. Duck Tour is fun, but you can't get on-off, if that matters to you. If you're walkers, Boston is a great walking city and Boston By Foot does tours. Get a really good map & enjoy!