Ronsangel Posted July 16, 2013 #1 Share Posted July 16, 2013 We will be driving to Boston (well Cambridge) on Friday from Ontario, Canada, and are leaving Sunday on the Carnival Glory. Decided to stay in Cambridge at the Kendall Hotel as Saturday morning will start at the MIT Museum (hubby's request). From there, we were thinking about purchasing tickets for the Old Town Trolley to see Boston, but are wondering if anyone has opinions or ideas for a better way to see the town and spend the day? Not looking for anything in particular...not baseball fans, not history buffs...just want to feel like we saw Boston. Might do some shopping. Definitely want some yummy food. Any suggestions for what to do on our one day in town before we sail out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvscruising2007 Posted July 17, 2013 #2 Share Posted July 17, 2013 For me Boston is about the history. So for you a hop-on hop-off option would probably suit your needs best You can enjoy the sights, get off and on as you wish. Fannuiel Hall and Quincy Market are interesting as well. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiserking Posted July 17, 2013 #3 Share Posted July 17, 2013 If it's yummy food you're interested in, take a stroll down to Faneuil Hall. This is a wonderful marketplace with dozens of food stalls, restaurants and interesting shop and places to discover. http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/ Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizG12 Posted July 17, 2013 #4 Share Posted July 17, 2013 if you're not against taking public transportation, take the train from the hotel (if I looked up the right hotel, you're walking distance to the train - www.mbta.com ) to Park St - you'll be walking distance from Downtown Crossing (shopping), the State House (not sure if/when they have tours), the Boston Common & Boston Gardens (not the same place where the hockey & basketball play), Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, City Hall (not sure about tours). Quincy Market has restaurants, and across the street (more or less) is the North End which is the Italian district. Copley Square (also easily accessible on the train, but not a short walk from Park St) has the John Hancock tower (the tall glass building if you've seen pictures of the Boston skyline) and the Prudential (the other tall building). The Prudential has a shopping center, and I think they've re-opened the viewing station near the top of the building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronsangel Posted July 17, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Great suggestions...thank you all! All of those places are certainly ones we've looked at and heard of. Thought a hop on, hop off might be easiest to get around while learning a little something at the same time. Looks like the T is pretty easy to navigate though, so might give that a shot. Appreciate all of your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizG12 Posted July 17, 2013 #6 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Boston is a walking city - if you take the train to Copley Square or the Prudential (basically opposite sides of the same "square") you can walk between the two, then walk a couple of blocks to Newbury St. Walk down (and shop :) ) Newbury St. You'll end at the Boston Gardens. Walk through there, see the swan boats (maybe ride the boats), walk through Boston Common. Go across Tremont and down one of the small streets to Downtown Crossing. Head left to Government Center, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market. Then walk across to the North End, and take the train back to the hotel. if you don't want to walk that much (it's going to be hot this weekend!), you can pick up trains in Copley, the end of Newbury St, Park St, Downtown Crossing, Government Center... You're probably not going to be more than a couple of blocks from a train station at any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arusha Posted July 17, 2013 #7 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Faneuil Hall Marketplace is strictly touristville. If you definitely want some yummy food, go to Boston's North End neighborhood. Signed, A native Bostonian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardToPort Posted July 17, 2013 #8 Share Posted July 17, 2013 We will be driving to Boston (well Cambridge) on Friday from Ontario, Canada, and are leaving Sunday on the Carnival Glory. Decided to stay in Cambridge at the Kendall Hotel as Saturday morning will start at the MIT Museum (hubby's request). From there, we were thinking about purchasing tickets for the Old Town Trolley to see Boston, but are wondering if anyone has opinions or ideas for a better way to see the town and spend the day? Not looking for anything in particular...not baseball fans, not history buffs...just want to feel like we saw Boston. Might do some shopping. Definitely want some yummy food. Any suggestions for what to do on our one day in town before we sail out? Hi London! Cambridge, Ontario here. I cruised out of Boston in June with my Dad and we spent a weekend. If I only had a day here's what I'd do. Take transit downtown to the Faneuil Hall area and walk to the water. Across from Legal Seafoods is the water taxi area. Grab the water taxi that goes to the Charlestown Navy Yards and go see the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) and take a walk up to the Warren Tavern, a very famous bar where Paul Revere once spoke. Have a beer, maybe walk to Bunker Hill. All told this won't take more than 2-3 hours. Then water taxi back to Boston. The water taxi is only $3 pp each way but offers beautiful views of the harbour. Once back in the harbour area go to Faneuil for a little shopping and a cold drink and / or a bite to eat. They have amazing street musicians that you can see from a bar called "Dick's". People watch and soak it in. You can't beat Legal Seafoods for dinner and they have a "casual", sushi and "fine dining" restaurant in the same building so there's something for everyone. In Saint John walk up the hill to the market area and have a bite to eat and a beer at Billy's Seafood, It's my favourite maritime haunt and regulars can be very entertaining. Safe travels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronsangel Posted July 18, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Thanks everyone. Leaning toward taking the T and winging it since it seems pretty easy to get around. We don't live in a subway city, so a little nervous about knowing where we're going and when we need to switch lines, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Thinking about walking around Cambridge first ... mostly MIT ... then taking the T into the Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market area, and deciding what to do from there. Sounds like the North End is the place to end our evening for dinner, then we just need to find the T to take us back to our hotel! Worst case....let's say we're exhausted and lost...would a taxi from the north end to cambridge be crazy expensive?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sail7seas Posted July 18, 2013 #10 Share Posted July 18, 2013 (edited) Thanks everyone. Leaning toward taking the T and winging it since it seems pretty easy to get around. We don't live in a subway city, so a little nervous about knowing where we're going and when we need to switch lines, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Thinking about walking around Cambridge first ... mostly MIT ... then taking the T into the Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market area, and deciding what to do from there. Sounds like the North End is the place to end our evening for dinner, then we just need to find the T to take us back to our hotel! Worst case....let's say we're exhausted and lost...would a taxi from the north end to cambridge be crazy expensive?? In the evening, after dinner, a taxi from North End to your hotel should not cost much more than $10 - $12 plus tip. Could be less. :) Edited July 18, 2013 by sail7seas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronsangel Posted July 18, 2013 Author #11 Share Posted July 18, 2013 In the evening, after dinner, a taxi from North End to your hotel should not cost much more than $10 - $12 plus tip. Could be less. :) Oh wow...that's not expensive at all! Ok, how about to/from Faneuil Hall? Would that be much more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sail7seas Posted July 18, 2013 #12 Share Posted July 18, 2013 From Fanueil Hall to North End is five minute taxi ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronsangel Posted July 18, 2013 Author #13 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Wow, I had no idea things were so close together! Can't wait to find our way around on Saturday!! Thanks to all of you for your info and help :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted July 18, 2013 #14 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Thanks everyone. Leaning toward taking the T and winging it since it seems pretty easy to get around. We don't live in a subway city, so a little nervous about knowing where we're going and when we need to switch lines, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Thinking about walking around Cambridge first ... mostly MIT ... then taking the T into the Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market area, and deciding what to do from there. Sounds like the North End is the place to end our evening for dinner, then we just need to find the T to take us back to our hotel! Worst case....let's say we're exhausted and lost...would a taxi from the north end to cambridge be crazy expensive?? If you do the North End, you will think that the only thing they do there is eat out and bake. There are more restaurants there than you can shake a stick at, and I've never been to a bad one. If you are looking to take some nice Cannolis or Italian cookies onboard for embarkation lunch/snack, there are quite a lot of bakeries centered around Hanover Street. Mike's is where the tourists go, Modern is where the suburbanites go because Mike's is full of tourists, but Bova's (couple of blocks off Hanover) is where the locals all go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitemare Posted July 18, 2013 #15 Share Posted July 18, 2013 If you do the North End, you will think that the only thing they do there is eat out and bake. There are more restaurants there than you can shake a stick at, and I've never been to a bad one. If you are looking to take some nice Cannolis or Italian cookies onboard for embarkation lunch/snack, there are quite a lot of bakeries centered around Hanover Street. Mike's is where the tourists go, Modern is where the suburbanites go because Mike's is full of tourists, but Bova's (couple of blocks off Hanover) is where the locals all go. Nice summary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gubby Posted July 18, 2013 #16 Share Posted July 18, 2013 We were in Boston a couple of years ago for 2 days before a cruise. We walked the Freedom Trail then and toured old Ironsides. It was such a lovely time that lately we have been talking about returning. After reading all these posts, I think that the time has come and we will drive to Boston in early September. Thanks all for rekindling some wonderful memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted July 18, 2013 #17 Share Posted July 18, 2013 We were in Boston a couple of years ago for 2 days before a cruise. We walked the Freedom Trail then and toured old Ironsides. It was such a lovely time that lately we have been talking about returning. After reading all these posts, I think that the time has come and we will drive to Boston in early September. Thanks all for rekindling some wonderful memories. Great time of the year. If you are over in Charlestown again, I highly recommend the Warren Tavern for either lunch or dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizG12 Posted July 18, 2013 #18 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Wow, I had no idea things were so close together! Can't wait to find our way around on Saturday!! Thanks to all of you for your info and help :) bring an umbrella, they're predicting scattered storms. By the way, most banks close early on Saturday (noon, 1pm) and not every bank does foreign to US money exchanges, so if you need to change dollars, either get there early, or make sure your bank cards works in the US. (When we went to Canada, using the machines to get Canadian dollars had lower fees than changing US$ to Canadian inside the bank. I don't know if it's the same going the other way.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevesan Posted July 19, 2013 #19 Share Posted July 19, 2013 (edited) If you do the North End, you will think that the only thing they do there is eat out and bake. There are more restaurants there than you can shake a stick at, and I've never been to a bad one. If you are looking to take some nice Cannolis or Italian cookies onboard for embarkation lunch/snack, there are quite a lot of bakeries centered around Hanover Street. Mike's is where the tourists go, Modern is where the suburbanites go because Mike's is full of tourists, but Bova's (couple of blocks off Hanover) is where the locals all go. "Leave the gun, take the cannoli".:p Edited July 19, 2013 by Stevesan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harris.margaret9 Posted November 28, 2013 #20 Share Posted November 28, 2013 That sounds like a solid day in Boston. You will get to see the city and learn a lot. For shopping, go to Harvard Square and Newbury St., both accessible from where you are staying. For more details and planning assistance, go to the Mass Vacation website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitemare Posted December 2, 2013 #21 Share Posted December 2, 2013 That site is not really helpful if you're looking for original ideas and/or good prices. Not sure why you keep posting this, margaret, especially in dormant threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted December 2, 2013 #22 Share Posted December 2, 2013 That site is not really helpful if you're looking for original ideas and/or good prices. Not sure why you keep posting this, margaret, especially in dormant threads. Well said..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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