Boston

A red brick line in the sidewalk leads through Boston to the sites of the American Revolution, from the cemetery with Paul Revere's grave to the oldest commissioned warship still afloat in the world. A trip to Boston combines history with college-town flair, harbor life, and some of the best seafood in the U.S. For a city break in New England, this compact city, easy to explore on foot, makes an ideal base.

Cradle of the Revolution

In 1630, Puritan settlers under John Winthrop founded the city on a hilly peninsula. Boston became the center of resistance to the British Crown: the 1770 massacre in front of the Old State House, the 1773 Boston Tea Party, when colonists dumped chests of tea into the harbor, and Paul Revere's ride in 1775, which warned the militias of the approaching British. In the 19th century, large parts of the Back Bay were filled in, and Irish immigrants shaped the city politically. With Harvard and MIT in neighboring Cambridge, Boston is now a world center for education, medicine, and biotechnology.

Sights in Boston

The Freedom Trail links 16 historic sites over roughly 2.5 miles: Boston Common, the oldest city park in the U.S., the gold-domed Massachusetts State House, the Old State House, Faneuil Hall with Quincy Market, the Paul Revere House, the Old North Church, where lanterns signaled the start of the uprising, and finally the USS Constitution in Charlestown. Next to Boston Common lies the Public Garden with its swan boats. Fenway Park, the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, with its green wall known as the "Green Monster," is a place of pilgrimage for sports fans. At the Seaport and along the Harborwalk promenade, you can experience the harbor, and ferries run to the Boston Harbor Islands.

Museums and Neighborhoods

The Museum of Fine Arts in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood holds an outstanding collection ranging from Monet to Egyptian antiquities. Right next door is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in a Venetian-style palazzo, also famous for the unsolved art heist of 1990, after which the empty frames still hang on the wall. The Institute of Contemporary Art at the Seaport and the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum round out the offerings. Beacon Hill, with its gas lamps and cobblestones, is the most photogenic neighborhood, while Back Bay impresses with brownstones along Commonwealth Avenue, Newbury Street, and Trinity Church beside the glass skyscraper 200 Clarendon, formerly the John Hancock Tower. The North End is the Italian neighborhood, Allston and Brighton are student-oriented, Dorchester is diverse with Irish pubs and Vietnamese restaurants, and East Boston has a strong Latin American character.

Eating in Boston

Boston's restaurants thrive on the Atlantic and on tradition. The lobster roll, lobster meat in a buttered bun, and creamy New England clam chowder are musts, along with oysters from Cape Cod and fried clams. Boston baked beans, cooked with molasses, earned the city the nickname "Beantown." In the North End you'll find cannoli from long-established pastry shops and Hanover Street lined with trattorias. Boston cream pie, a sponge cake with vanilla custard and chocolate glaze, is the official dessert of Massachusetts. In the evening, locals gather in Irish pubs or the breweries at the Seaport.

Sports and Universities

Boston is a sports city with heart: the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots all have loyal fans, and the Boston Marathon on Patriots' Day in April is the oldest annually run marathon in the world. With more than 50 colleges and universities in the region, the city feels young and international. For many visitors, a stroll through Harvard Yard in Cambridge or a tour of the MIT campus with its experimental architecture is part of the trip.

Getting Around, When to Go, and Day Trips

Logan International Airport is in East Boston, just a few minutes from the center; the Silver Line and the subway's Blue Line, water taxis, and shuttle buses connect it with Downtown. The "T," the oldest subway system in the U.S., serves the city and Cambridge. The best times to visit are May and June and the fall, when the foliage changes color across New England; winter is cold and snowy. Day trips lead to Cambridge for Harvard and MIT, to Salem with its witch history, to Lexington and Concord, to the Cape Cod peninsula, and to the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.