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Travel guide
Boston
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June, September to October
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Welcome
Boston, in a few days
The city where colonists tipped the tea into the sea in 1773 is best explored on foot, along a line of red bricks that links sixteen sites of the American Revolution over 4 km. Around it lie brick streets with gas lamps, an Italian quarter, two first-rate art museums, the country's oldest baseball park and Harvard across the river.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Freedom Trail free · half a day to a full dayA 4 km line of red bricks running from Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument, linking sixteen sites of the Revolution, from the Old State House to the frigate USS Constitution.
- Late afternoon · Beacon Hill free · about 2 hA hill of Federal-style brick houses, cobbled pavements and gas lamps still burning day and night, with Acorn Street, Louisburg Square, the antique shops of Charles Street and Bulfinch's State House.
🛏️ Where to sleep · The Verb Hotel ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€260 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · North End free · 2 to 3 hThe city's oldest residential neighbourhood, Italian since the late 19th century, home to the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church, with espresso, cannoli and saints' festivals in August.
- Afternoon · Fenway Park · about 1 h (tour)Major League Baseball's oldest ballpark, opened in 1912 and home of the Red Sox, famous for its 11-metre Green Monster wall, its manual scoreboard and its wooden seats from 1934.
🛏️ Where to sleep · The Verb Hotel ↗€260 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Museum of Fine Arts · half a dayOne of the largest museums in the United States, with nearly 500,000 works and outstanding Japanese, Egyptian and Impressionist collections, plus Copley, Sargent and Paul Revere in the Art of the Americas wing.
- Late afternoon · Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum · about 2 hA Venetian-style palace around a flowering courtyard, where works by Titian, Botticelli and Rembrandt hang exactly where the collector placed them, beside the empty frames of the unsolved 1990 theft.
🛏️ Where to sleep · The Verb Hotel ↗€260 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Harvard and Cambridge free · half a dayAmerica's oldest university, founded in 1636, with Harvard Yard open to all, its museums and the bookshops of Harvard Square, plus the contemporary architecture of MIT two stops away.
🛏️ Where to sleep · The Verb Hotel ↗€260 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Boston Harbor Islands · half a daySome thirty islands at the mouth of the harbour, reached by seasonal ferries from Long Wharf, including Georges Island and its granite Fort Warren and Spectacle Island with its beach.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €240 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June, September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/boston
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.