3-days in Boston on my own

I%26#39;ll be in Boston 6/27 to 6/30 for a re-union with a childhood friend. The last time I was there (I grew up in NY) was when the windows of the Prudential tower were falling onto the street!

I remember little snipets of the Charles River but that%26#39;s about all. I%26#39;d like to immerse myself in ';everything Boston'; and am therefore staying at the Parker House -- tell me I haven%26#39;t made a mistake here!

I%26#39;m the kind of person who enjoys getting up early on vacartion and doing as much as possible. My friend will be traveling with his family so I suspect that there will be ';kid stuff'; that I won%26#39;t participate in. So, I%26#39;m trying to get an idea of what to see and do. I%26#39;ve printed out the offerings of:

1. The GO Boston Card

and

2. The Boston Explorer Pass

and there are so many attractions that it%26#39;s difficult to choose. I%26#39;d like to go to things that are unique to Boston. For example, we have lots of art museums in L.A. (and I often visit them when I travel -- the Natioinal Gallery in D.C., last year as well as MOMA in NY last year, for example. We also have some great aquariums in California (Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and the Monterey Bay Aquarium).

So, I%26#39;m thinking that I will skip the Boston counterparts of these.

Here%26#39;s what I%26#39;m considering. Please share your comments with me:

1. Beantown Trolley Pass (included in both of the %26#39;attraction passes'; (above) and, in my mind, offering an easy way to get oriented, learn a little about the city and get from place to place without having to worry about subways right away.

2. Freedom Trail Walking Tour -- also on both of the above attraction passes.

3. Boston Duck Tours -- Is it lame or fun?

4. Ferry to Martha%26#39;s Vineyard -- worth the time?

5. USS Constitution

There are 70 attractions on the Go Boston Card and it%26#39;s a little daunting to say the least. Any assistance would be appreciated. As I said, I don%26#39;t mind moving quickly to see as much as possible. I%26#39;ll be arriving on the evening of June 27 (a Wednesday) and will have all day Thursday and Friday.

I leave for NY on Saturday and have not decided on the means of transport as of yet. I could:

a. Fly (seems like too much trouble for such a short flight)

b. Rent a car with my friend and his family and drive

c. Take a bus -- I%26#39;m told there are comfortable buses that make this trip.

So, on Saturday, I could leave late in the afternoon so I can do some touring beforehand. I appreciate any comments. Thanks!

One last thing....

Since my friend and I will be getting together in the evening for dinner and evening activities, please suggest places to eat / things to do for adults in their early 50s. They will be staying in Cambridge. I%26#39;d prefer fish over beef or chicken.

Thank you all for your assistance!

3-days in Boston on my own

You have to do the Freedom trail as that is very unique to Boston. Other things on the card you should consider are:

- Fenway Tour - Gotta love Fenway Park. Very Boston.

- Movie Tour - Great way to see the Hollywood side of the city.

Can%26#39;t go wrong w the trolley and Duck Tours. Ducks are very popular.

3-days in Boston on my own

Given your time constraints, I think the Boston Explorer Pass would be a better bet for you; you%26#39;re simply not going to have the time to take good advantage of the discounts represented by the more expensive GO Boston card. (Altho%26#39; I think the Old Town Trolley tour guides are better than Beantown%26#39;s, if you%26#39;re primarily using the trolley as a means of transportation, it doesn%26#39;t matter much). And do call or email the Greater Boston Visitors %26amp; Convention Bureau for one of their FREE Boston USA cards:

www.bostonusa.com/visitor/resdet.php…

So here are my suggestions:

** For your 3 picks on the Explorer Pass, choose the Beantown Trolley, the Freedom Trail Walking Tour (did you notice that the walking tour included on the GO Boston card is an audiotour, not a personally guided one? the Audiotour is fine, but I think the in-person guides are better for a first-timer), and the whale watch -- the Constitution cruise can be fun/interesting, but getting the whale watch via the Explorer Pass is giving yourself a heftier discount because the Constitution cruise is cheaper to purchase on your own.

If this year%26#39;s whale-watching season is anything resembling last year%26#39;s, it will be great. And in all honesty, much as I love the Vineyard, I can%26#39;t recommend cruising there as a day trip, especially from Boston.

Proposed Thursday itinerary:

Stop in at the Visitors Center at the Common when it opens at 8:30 AM ( t%26#39;s a quick walk from your hotel) to pick up their handy, very small folding map of the city plus a transit system map, etc. %26amp; to see special offers/discounts they have (e.g., in October, I got, e.g., a great discount coupon for Filene%26#39;s Basement). Then proceed to the Wharf to board for the whale watch cruise which departs at 10 AM.

When you get off the cruise, hop on the Beantown Trolley for the full loop for your introductory overview %26amp; geographic orientation.

Then make your way to the State House steps (perhaps stopping by your hotel en route to freshen up) by 5:30 PM to take advantage of the Beacon Hill tour offered by the non-profit Boston By Foot. The trolley is not permitted to traverse Beacon Hill so you won%26#39;t have already seen much of it, and Boston By Foot%26#39;s tours are splendid. This is something that I think your friend %26amp; his family would enjoy as well, unless his kids are quite young.

http://www.bostonbyfoot.com/

Then how about dinner in the North End %26amp; then strolling around another uniquely Boston neighborhood? Will be a liitle less crowded and zoo-y on a Thursday nite than Friday evening, but I still recommend making a reservation at, say, the Daily Catch. Want more North End reco%26#39;s? -- use the Forum Search feature or post back.

OR the Boston Symphony is doing a concert of Tony %26amp; Oscar-winning music that night.

Friday AM:

Take the earliest possible Freedom Trail walking tour %26amp; then take the trolley over to the Charlestown Navy Yard. Stop first at the Visitors Center and see the multi-media presentation ';Don%26#39;t Fire Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes'; before visiting the USS Constitution %26amp; the USS Cassin there in the Navy Yard -- the USS Constitution Museum is worthwhile imo but because it%26#39;s not run by the US National Park Service, there is an admission fee -- and then Bunker Hill.

Trolley back to the stop closest to your hotel and stroll along Newbury Street/ the Back Bay -- or simply sit down in the Common to relax %26amp; people-watch -- before meeting your friend for dinner. There is a Legal Seafoods restaurant right by your hotel, but I much prefer the one by the Aquarium -- or perhaps you would prefer to meet him in Cambridge (the T subway system is easy to master and safe), eat there %26amp; saunter through that part of town?

Amtrak is my preferred means of traveling between NYC %26amp; Boston. If others will be joining you on that leg, use promotional code V383 for 50% off every second ticket purchased at the same time as one regular adult fare (discount expires on 6/30).

Hope this is of some help to you -- HAVE A GREAT TIME

I certainly wouldn%26#39;t do both the Trolley AND the Duck Tours - they are really redundant. And the windows didn%26#39;t fall out of the Pru - it was the John Hancock Building. The Go Card seems like it would be too much pressure on you to see things - skip it. Instead go to Harvard Square, have a latte, listen to street musicians, and stroll through Harvard Yard. And relax a little........

Doing both the trolley and Duck tours would be redundant. Choose one. I%26#39;d go for Duck. You mentioned a ferry to Martha%26#39;s Vineyard -- can%26#39;t do that from Boston. It leaves from either Hyannis or Woods Hole. You could take a ferry to Provincetown but I wouldn%26#39;t recommend it since you have so much to do in a short time in Boston and it would be an all day trip. It%26#39;s definitely worthwhile, but do it if you come back for a longer visit. The bus (cheap) or Amtrak (comfortable) would be my choices for going between NYC and Boston. If your friends are near the Red Line in Cambridge, you can get to almost any restaurant in downtown Boston, or the North End or South End very easily, so don%26#39;t limit yourself too much in choose places to eat. If you are interested in a unique dining experience, not necessarily seafood, and want to stay in Cambridge, consider Helmand, near Lechmere Sq. It%26#39;s an Afgan restaurant and very nice.

Even though you want to avoid museums, I have to put in a plug for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum if you can fit it in.

Because of its novelty factor, the Ducks tour attracts a lot of youth groups and families with kids %26amp; teens, and there is more ';corn'; to it than the trolley tours, which also don%26#39;t provide you with duck call kazoos. Whether you%26#39;ll get into the spirit of it or be sitting there rolling your eyeballs, thinking it%26#39;s lame rather than fun, is a matter of personality -- and you know yourself better than we do :-)

You can%26#39;t hop-on/hop-off the Ducks and the trolley tours%26#39; narration is a little less ';superficial'; imo, with Old Town Trolley being the best of the bunch. Since you don%26#39;t have to tour with kids in tow, I think you%26#39;d be better off skipping the Ducks this time around -- unless you want the entertainment aspect.

And if the whale watching isn%26#39;t important to you, you might also seriously consider ditching the idea of buying either card and simply purchase a 2-day pass from Old Town Trolley, supplementing that with your other must-do%26#39;s: a guided tour of the Freedom Trail and a visit to Charlestown to see the USS Constitution, the Navy Yard -- and Bunker Hill which just recently reopened to visitors after a year-long hiatus; take advantage of National Park Service%26#39;s special offerings such as the multi-media presentation at the Navy Yard Visitors Center re: Bunker Hill.

Note too that unlike any of the other tours, OTT takes you into Cambridge and over to Fenway Park. Even if you%26#39;re not a rabid baseball fan, the guided tour of Fenway is fun -- and the Red Sox are certainly a quintessential part of Boston!

boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/ballpark/tour.jsp

Isabella Stewart Gardner%26#39;s mansion is indeed intriguing. Arriving there when it first opens on Saturday AM %26amp; having an early lunch in its cafe would be a serenely lovely conclusion to your time in Beantown. But, I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll have a great time no matter what you do!

if ur in the area ill second alanm%26#39;s suggestion for harvard yard - pop into Leavitt and Pierce smoke shoppe and check out their weird expensive lighters and cigars and look at the really old harvard memorabilia hung up on really prestigious dark wood wainscotting - uniquely boston

Hello!

I haven%26#39;t read all of your responses - looks like you already got a lot of great info.

I have stayed at the Omni Parker House - it was fine and a very good location. (the Boston Cream Pie, there, was a dissappointment)

My husband and I%26#39;ve been to Boston several times and I%26#39;ve traveled all over the city by myself %26amp; felt safe. I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll have any problem.

The only thing with those of us who like to get up early, is sometimes things don%26#39;t open until 10 (?) - so just check opening times before you set off.

Yes - do the Freedom Trail - Frank %26amp; I did it in a little less than a day (minus the ship, which I did later - and there was an hour wait for that)

Unique:

The Mapparium in The Mary Baker Eddy Library;

200 Massachussetts Ave www.marybakereddylibrary.org 10 am Tues-Sun

The Gibson House w/ tour; 137 Beacon St www.thegibsonhouse.org

Dinner - walk to The North End (Italian) %26amp; brouse the menus posted outside each restaurant

Just about everywhere has fish.

The subway%26#39;s great.

Oh, and if you had time; I took a bus to Marblehead (a small fishing village north of Boston) and loved it. (there %26amp; back easily in 1 day; check the bus schedule though)

Hope I helped. Enjoy!

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