Boston in a day

[latebuyer]

Due to prohibitive hotel costs, i plan to spend just one day in Boston before cruise.what would you recommend as highlights? Would you recommend hop on hop off bus%?

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, latebuyer said:

.what would you recommend as highlights?

If you can walk well do the Freedom Trail. It will give you a very good overview of a lot of the major historic sights and you'll spend time in the city's historic core. Afterwards go have dinner in Back Bay or Copley and you will have had a reasonably decent one day overview of Boston. Not enough to do everything but a decent survey. 

 

3 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Would you recommend hop on hop off bus%?

No. Boston is extremely walkable, more than most cities, so if you can walk reasonably well just cover the Freedom Trail. 

[latebuyer]

Thanks! How long does it take to walk the freedom trail?

[latebuyer]

Thats ok i read its 90 minutes. I'm actually wondering as a canadian how interested i will be in this stuff.

[1025cruise]

2 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks! How long does it take to walk the freedom trail?

Depends on how many stops you make. I would allow 4 hours.

[canadjineh]

We were there in Boston in Sept/23 for a Maritime/East Coast cruise.  There didn't seen to be much on offer in Boston except for the US Freedom trail (we weren't interested) and I walked around the area near the ship for about an hour, but there was nothing to see except big commercial warehouses - commercial port.  I ended up taking a taxi to Museum of Fine Arts - Boston which was totally worth it.  It definitely wasn't a walkable distance away, though.  Don't know if I'd bother with Boston again.  Been there twice now... everything worth seeing is a distance away from your ship.

[latebuyer]

Thanks for art gallery suggestion. I see they have the largest collection of monet paintings outside france! I’m definitely going.

[Nitemare]

17 hours ago, latebuyer said:

Thats ok i read its 90 minutes. I'm actually wondering as a canadian how interested i will be in this stuff.

90 minutes would be if you walked it for exercise. 4-6 hours is a better estimate if you are actually going to look at all the historic sites along the route.

 

If you just want a walk, I'd suggest the Charles River Esplanade or Castle Island

[dreams_of_travel]

Is there an easy way to get downtown that doesn't involve a ship excursion?  I've looked on the maps, and the only public transport I see is a bus that may connect with the T. I suppose a taxi would do just fine. 

[Traveling Library]

29 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Is there an easy way to get downtown that doesn't involve a ship excursion?  I've looked on the maps, and the only public transport I see is a bus that may connect with the T. I suppose a taxi would do just fine. 

When you get off the ship and walk around the big white building (Boston Design Center) and either take the bus (Silver Line) to South Station. From South Station you can change to the Red Line (subway) to Park Street where the Freedom Trail starts or stay on to Harvard (best view of Boston and Cambridge) when the trolly goes over the Charles River. Or get off at Park Street and walk thru Boston Common to see The Embrace and on to the Public Garden to the Swan Boats, Cheers, and the Mark Way For Ducklings statutes. If you want to Uber walk around the Boston Design Center to DryDock Ave. look for street numbers 23 or 25 and call the Uber from there. DryDock Ave is two way so the Uber can make a U-turn and avoid the chaos at the port. From the port you can easily walk to the Harpoon Brewery if you want an adult libation. 

[dreams_of_travel]

This is exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you! I’m hoping to meet up with a friend on port day. 

[princeton123211]

On 6/1/2024 at 10:47 PM, dreams_of_travel said:

I suppose a taxi would do just fine. 

An Uber is going to be the quickest and easiest. 

[dreams_of_travel]

1 hour ago, princeton123211 said:

An Uber is going to be the quickest and easiest. 

But where is the adventure? 😉 I’ll consider all the options. Thanks for your comment. 

[princeton123211]

4 hours ago, dreams_of_travel said:

But where is the adventure? 😉 I’ll consider all the options. Thanks for your comment. 

Personally I think a city bus is where dreams go to die, not necessarily the start of an “adventure”. But that could just be me.

[Nitemare]

15 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Personally I think a city bus is where dreams go to die, not necessarily the start of an “adventure”. But that could just be me.

If the "bus" in question is the MBTA Silver Line, it's not really a bus.  Although there are a few MBTA bus lines that do go from the port area to downtown and they are all quite tame.  I've taken them multiple times.  As long as you have the proper fare (check the website) there should be zero adventure

[Crusin Karen]

Where do I get the HOHO bus? And tickets? I’m coming in on Enchsnted Princess mid September. TIA

[princeton123211]

21 hours ago, Crusin Karen said:

Where do I get the HOHO bus? And tickets? I’m coming in on Enchsnted Princess mid September. TIA

The HoHo bus goes to the port and you can buy tickets onboard. 

 

That being said, Boston is a town much better done on foot than bus. The roads are narrow and a lot of the things worth seeing are better visited by walking.  

[dreams_of_travel]

Followup post:  I did take the Silver Line bus ($2.40 cash, exact change, not possible to use a tap enabled credit card.  Supposedly that is coming "soon")  to South Station where I met up with a friend to go into town.  She had an extra Charlie Card, which I loaded with enough for a one way fare to the Museum of Fine arts to see some of the exhibits.  I ended up taking an Uber back to the ship from the Museum which was not as cost effective as the metro, but was more a convenience for me. 

[tarrenel]

I see Fenway Park does tours and we were thinking about going there. From the port what is the easiest way for 7 people to get there? 

[TheOldBear]

49 minutes ago, tarrenel said:

I see Fenway Park does tours and we were thinking about going there. From the port what is the easiest way for 7 people to get there? 

The MBTA web site has a trip planner feature

The 'most direct' route starts with the silver SL2 line, changing to the green B or D trollies. There are other options, possibly with less walking. Base fare is $4.80 round trip.

[1025cruise]

2 hours ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Followup post:  I did take the Silver Line bus ($2.40 cash, exact change, not possible to use a tap enabled credit card.  Supposedly that is coming "soon")  to South Station where I met up with a friend to go into town.  She had an extra Charlie Card, which I loaded with enough for a one way fare to the Museum of Fine arts to see some of the exhibits.  I ended up taking an Uber back to the ship from the Museum which was not as cost effective as the metro, but was more a convenience for me. 

Correct, our transit system is still in the dark ages. But they are working on upgrading to allow tap credit cards. 

[iheartminniemouse]

43 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Correct, our transit system is still in the dark ages. But they are working on upgrading to allow tap credit cards. 

Sounds like you are from Boston.  Is the silver line doable with luggage from the airport to the area of the Yotel Boston, which is on Seaport Blvd?

It seems like that area of Seaport Blvd is also walkable to the downtown area.

Thanks.

Barb

[1025cruise]

I live in the region, so am not 100% familiar with the Seaport area. It appears the Yotel is right across from the Courthouse stop. The Silver Line to/from the airport has luggage racks. It was designed to transport people to/from the airport. If you get off at Courthouse, you should be right at the hotel.

[Nitemare]

3 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

The MBTA web site has a trip planner feature

The 'most direct' route starts with the silver SL2 line, changing to the green B or D trollies. There are other options, possibly with less walking. Base fare is $4.80 round trip.

B, C, OR D trolley will get you there.  They all take the same route to Kenmore Square station before branching off from there.  Kenmore is a bit closer tot he ballpark than the Fenway Park station is, which is only on the D line.

[iheartminniemouse]

2 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I live in the region, so am not 100% familiar with the Seaport area. It appears the Yotel is right across from the Courthouse stop. The Silver Line to/from the airport has luggage racks. It was designed to transport people to/from the airport. If you get off at Courthouse, you should be right at the hotel.

Thank you!  That was the information I was getting from the maps and wanted to be certain since we have never traveled to Boston.  Looking forward to our 2 days of touring the area before the cruise departs!  

Barb