# Boston: is it worth a visit?



## editor (Dec 3, 2007)

My sum knowledge of Boston is just about the dreadful band and the Tea Party. But there must be more.

So, is it worth a visit? What's there to see (apart from the usual touristy stuff)?

Opinions and advice please!


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## Dubversion (Dec 3, 2007)

never been but my impression is that it's very anglophile and quite college-y. If it's still autumnal (rather than wintery) then that part of the world is apparently really beautiful.


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## sojourner (Dec 3, 2007)

I'd go anywhere I hadn't been, just because I haven't been there yet


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## lemontop (Dec 3, 2007)

I went there a few years ago. One thing I remember clearly is that you couldn't buy booze on a Sunday in the shops. They cover it all up in nets.

There's a red line going through the city that you follow to see all the tourist sites. Made me feel like a kid! It was an ok place but there's not masses to do. We went over to Cape Cod which was fun. There were loads of drag queens dressed like Diana Ross wandering around in the middle of the day.


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## phildwyer (Dec 3, 2007)

Very nice place apart from the weather. Best pub in town is the Ratskeller.


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## catrina (Dec 3, 2007)

I quite liked Boston as a place to live. The North End is home to a second and third generation micro Italy with some seriously good food. The rest is kind of like a mini-London, but it's nice. With the universities comes a lot of old vintage bookshops, although I fear many of them have closed since I left in 2000. There also used to be a great little movie theater in Cambridge, The Brattle Street Theater.

When I was there, there were always tons of good gigs going on, lots of good restaurants and off the beaten path stuff to do. Very pretty in the spring and especially the autumn when the leaves are changing, and a trip out to Cape Cod is always interesting (especially if you can make it up to P-town, or Provincetown). 

And there used to be a vintage clothes shop that sold clothes by the pound (in weight, that is!), $1 for a pound of clothes! The Garment District.

I'm feeling really old writing this since all of my info is probably very dated, but in sum I'd say it's not New York, but it's still worth a visit! 

If you've never seen the leaves change in the autumn in New England, then that is definitely a site to see. Spend a few days in Boston, then drive out to the country, it really is beautiful.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 3, 2007)

Yes. It's one of my favourite cities in the US, along with SF and Chicago. Never been to New York.

Like SF especially, Boston doesn't feel like an 'american' city, the way that places like Minneapolis, or Phoenix do. Because of all the universities and schools of whatever description, it's filled with youth, activity, and ideas. Well worth a visit: make sure you cross the river into Cambridge, as well.


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## Sigmund Fraud (Dec 4, 2007)

I was there a month ago for a couple of days. Small by US standards, feels about the same size as Dublin, despite the impressive waterfront skyline.  I was in NYC a few days before that so it felt a lot less dynamic and much more chilled, but then almost everywhere would.  Cambridge is beautiful and er, if you're a fan of fixed wheel bike action I saw more trick fixies in Boston than NYC and London combined.  Has a strange preppy but left wing / libertarian bent for a US city.  I'd say a visit was worth it but 2 days plenty.  The Amtrak up from NY is about $60 and more fun and picturesque than the stupidly short flight.


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## catrina (Dec 4, 2007)




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## Roadkill (Dec 4, 2007)

I spent a day in Boston a few years ago, during a two-week stay in New Hampshire, and really liked it.  I'd like to go back.


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## bouncer_the_dog (Dec 4, 2007)

Definatley worth a visit. Great bar culture loads of historical stuff, I went on a cool trip around the harbour on a boat and they had a WWII destroyer and a latest spec amphibious assault ship to go around. If you eat fish you are sorted. When I went to visit the university it was like being in a GAP advert!


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## boohoo (Dec 4, 2007)

Go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scituate,_Massachusetts

It's 25 miles down from Boston - I've never been but it was founded by some of my ancestors...


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## Maggot (Dec 4, 2007)

Johnny Canuck2 said:
			
		

> Yes. It's one of my favourite cities in the US, along with SF and Chicago. Never been to New York.
> 
> Like SF especially, Boston doesn't feel like an 'american' city, the way that places like Minneapolis, or Phoenix do. Because of all the universities and schools of whatever description, it's filled with youth, activity, and ideas.


 I'd agree with that, but the unamerican atmosphere is _More than a feeling._


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## Detroit City (Dec 4, 2007)

editor said:
			
		

> Opinions and advice please!


all I know about Boston is that there are a lot of people of irish-catholic descent there and that one never goes there during the winter


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## twistedAM (Dec 4, 2007)

catrina said:
			
		

> I quite liked Boston as a place to live. The North End is home to a second and third generation micro Italy with some seriously good food. The rest is kind of like a mini-London, but it's nice. With the universities comes a lot of old vintage bookshops, although I fear many of them have closed since I left in 2000. There also used to be a great little movie theater in Cambridge, The Brattle Street Theater.




Good post...i spent a week in an apt in the North End and ate myself silly...just kept going to the delis.
Spent most of my time though in Cambridge and whatever the next "city" along is. some seriously good music venues over that way; my fave being the Med Bakery and TT's.

Overall I quite liked Boston except for the driving though it's never been in my faves list which today stands at;
1. Chicago
2. Portland, OR
3. Austin
4. Pittsburgh
5. Nashville


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## editor (Dec 4, 2007)

Thanks for all the feedback. I definitely fancy taking the train over now!
Anyone got any recommendations for a one-night stopover hotel/B&B.


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## Gavin Bl (Dec 4, 2007)

we thoroughly enjoyed a visit to Boston, if you can go in the Fall and do some leaf-peepin' too then that would be really great.

Check out the status of the 54th Massachussets Regiment (as per the film Glory), and Harriet Ross Tubman (organised slave escapes), and the big park in the middle of town - forget the name, graveyard of the patriots, the big market by the water front, pizza from Ernestos in Little Italy, lots of nice historic stuff, and some nice bars.

We did a road trip about 7 years ago - 

NY -> Niagara Falls -> Toronto -> Quebec -> Leaf Peepin' staying in Burlington VT - > Boston -> NY

Fab trip


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## Detroit City (Dec 4, 2007)

editor said:
			
		

> Anyone got any recommendations for a one-night stopover hotel/B&B.


The Beacon Inn

There's another place called Fawlty Towers but you don't want to stay there


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 4, 2007)

Maggot said:
			
		

> I'd agree with that, but the unamerican atmosphere is _More than a feeling._




Owww!


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 4, 2007)

twisted said:
			
		

> Good post...i spent a week in an apt in the North End and ate myself silly...just kept going to the delis.
> Spent most of my time though in Cambridge and whatever the next "city" along is. some seriously good music venues over that way; my fave being the Med Bakery and TT's.
> 
> Overall I quite liked Boston except for the driving though it's never been in my faves list which today stands at;
> ...



Portland?


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## Detroit City (Dec 4, 2007)

Johnny Canuck2 said:
			
		

> Portland?


Portland, OR is gorgeous....but it rains a lot.   Below is pic of downtown Portland with Mt. Hood in background


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 4, 2007)

Detroit City said:
			
		

> Portland, OR is gorgeous....but it rains a lot.   Below is pic of downtown Portland with Mt. Hood in background



My opinion of Portland was formed on a trip once where I left SF and drove north, stopping there for the night. When I woke up, I was in a city of pasty white americans wearing white raincoats on a rainy day, having been in warm and sunny SF the day before. It also looked like all the good looking people had moved away, probably to SF.

I've been through there a few times since: true, the physical setting is very nice, with the Willamette and the mountains, but the city itself is boring, imo. If you want a rainy city that has some life, go to Seattle, or come to Vancouver.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 4, 2007)

Detroit City said:
			
		

> Portland, OR is gorgeous....but it rains a lot.   Below is pic of downtown Portland with Mt. Hood in background



p.s. note the similarity with Vancouver, backdrop-wise.


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## chico enrico (Dec 4, 2007)

editor said:
			
		

> My sum knowledge of Boston is just about the dreadful band and the Tea Party. But there must be more.



nah. that's about it mate. 

and it's cold as fuck.


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## twistedAM (Dec 4, 2007)

Johnny Canuck2 said:
			
		

> My opinion of Portland was formed on a trip once where I left SF and drove north, stopping there for the night. When I woke up, I was in a city of pasty white americans wearing white raincoats on a rainy day, having been in warm and sunny SF the day before. It also looked like all the good looking people had moved away, probably to SF.
> 
> I've been through there a few times since: true, the physical setting is very nice, with the Willamette and the mountains, but the city itself is boring, imo. If you want a rainy city that has some life, go to Seattle, or come to Vancouver.



I actually enjoyed it a lot more than my visits to Seattle. Downtown was a bit sterile but there were loads of good bars and music venues on a nearby drag and further up the hill were a load of bookstores, kooky little cafes and weird arty shops.
Fekt like a small town in a way whihc i quite like in a biggish city.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2007)

twisted said:
			
		

> I actually enjoyed it a lot more than my visits to Seattle. Downtown was a bit sterile but there were loads of good bars and music venues on a nearby drag and further up the hill were a load of bookstores, kooky little cafes and weird arty shops.
> Fekt like a small town in a way whihc i quite like in a biggish city.



Interesting. I can't think of any way that Portland has anything over Seattle.

A friend of mine, an american who'd been living here a long time, moved down there with his family. After five years, they came back to canada. They said that people there were just too strange. They couldn't handle it. They'd become canadians, I guess.


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## twistedAM (Dec 5, 2007)

Johnny Canuck2 said:
			
		

> Interesting. I can't think of any way that Portland has anything over Seattle.
> 
> A friend of mine, an american who'd been living here a long time, moved down there with his family. After five years, they came back to canada. They said that people there were just too strange. They couldn't handle it. They'd become canadians, I guess.



There was a quirkiness about the place I liked. Hard to sum it up but I like the weird/quirky things about the US, hence the inclusion of Nashville on my list.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2007)

twisted said:
			
		

> There was a quirkiness about the place I liked. Hard to sum it up but I like the weird/quirky things about the US, hence the inclusion of Nashville on my list.



Chacun a son gout 

Hell, who am I to talk: I like LA. I would have moved there years ago, if I didn't have kids. It's life up close and personal.


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## twistedAM (Dec 5, 2007)

Johnny Canuck2 said:
			
		

> Chacun a son gout
> 
> Hell, who am I to talk: I like LA. I would have moved there years ago, if I didn't have kids. It's life up close and personal.



Yeah I prefer LA  over SF.


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## Johnny Canuck3 (Dec 5, 2007)

twisted said:
			
		

> Yeah I prefer LA  over SF.



I feel really at home in SF. It has a lot in common with Vancouver. Otoh, LA is more exciting, more of a challenge.


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## Detroit City (Dec 5, 2007)

twisted said:
			
		

> Yeah I prefer LA  over SF.


LA is bullshit....I lived in Pasadena for a year.   Most of the residents are full of themselves.


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## MikeMcc (Dec 5, 2007)

twisted said:
			
		

> Yeah I prefer LA over SF.


what!  Tourist-wise LA can keep you busy for 3 - 4 days. I could spend weeks in SF looking at all the touristy bits.


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## D (Dec 5, 2007)

twisted said:
			
		

> Yeah I prefer LA  over SF.



why?


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## Stanley Edwards (Dec 5, 2007)

editor said:
			
		

> My sum knowledge of Boston is just about the dreadful band and the Tea Party. But there must be more.
> 
> So, is it worth a visit? What's there to see (apart from the usual touristy stuff)?
> 
> Opinions and advice please!




Fuck no. Most unfriendly city I have ever visited.

Boring as ditch water (or, is it dish water? Never got a good answer to that question, but I'm willing to put my money on ditch water).

One of the biggest waste of time visits I ever made in the States.


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## Meltingpot (Dec 6, 2007)

chico enrico said:
			
		

> nah. that's about it mate.
> 
> and it's cold as fuck.



I stopped off there when changing planes on the way West in December 1984, and it was about 40^ F, so not too bad.


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## pseudonarcissus (Dec 6, 2007)

I met my first urbanite in Boston....Mation lived there for a year.

Nice city, good transport for the US, New England is lovely in the fall


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## mhendo (Dec 7, 2007)

editor said:
			
		

> So, is it worth a visit?


Absolutely worth a visit. I really love the place. A lot of the good stuff has already been mentioned, including the North End with its lovely Italian restaurants (somewhat overpriced) and old-fashioned coffee shops and delis.

Public transit is pretty good, with a subway and streetcar system that will take you to most parts of the city. The last time i visited was a couple of years ago, and i believe they've hiked the prices a little bit since then. 

While the massive number of colleges and universities do give it sort of a "college town" feel, you get both the good and the bad. On the upside, there's plenty to do; on the downside, there's lots of self-obsessed undergrads everywhere, jamming the public transport while talking on their cellphones.

Be careful crossing the street. Boston drivers are notoriously bad, homicidal even. Of course, Boston pedestrians aren't too much better, and will blithely step out in front of speeding traffic as if they own the place. The whole process of crossing the road is some sort of high-stakes death match in Boston.

If you fancy a bit of culcha, i highly recommend the Museum of Fine Arts. It's easily accessible by public transit, and its collections are fantastic. It's a bit pricey ($17), but if you go after 4pm on Wednesdays it's free (although often very crowded).

As others have said, some excellent bookshops, especially for antiquarian and scholarly and academic books. Cambridge is a good bet for that sort of thing.

You can pretty much rule out any possibility of "fall color" if you're going this month. That far north, the leaves were probably all gone a few weeks ago. Even here in Baltimore, a few hundred miles to the south, there are no leaves left on the trees after recent windstorms and then snow swept through. New England has had a cold start to the winter, and all the trees will be bare.


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## lang rabbie (Dec 9, 2007)

Yes, but you probably won't see the city at its best at this time of year, unless you are looking for photogenic combinations of snow and old red brick rowhouses.

December weather can sometimes be crisp and sunny, but be aware that the weather can change in a few minutes to thick, thick fog which rolls in faster than you can run to the nearest coffee shop.

It is worth walking the city centre parts of the touristy Freedom Trail, but combine them with an exploration of the rest of the North End's "Little Italy".

The main tourist drags are not good for vegetarians, but you may lapse when confronted with seafood chowder on a cold winter day.

If you are not all "kulcha'd" out by the MFA, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an eclectic mix in an amazing house.

I'm not the best placed person to advise on leftfield locations, but Jamaica Plain was on the interesting cusp between third generation immigrant communties and boutiques of crap for hipsters the last time I visited.   

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