Boston, MA

BOSTON, MA

TRAVEL LIKE A LOCAL.

VOLUME ONE: 3 DAY TRIP NOVEMBER 2019

CONTENTS QUICK FACTS The most populous city in New England.

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FAMILY FUN Plenty of family-friendly activities

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WHERE TO STAY In such a huge city, it is important to know the different areas

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BEER NERDS Sam Adams Brewery Tour

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FOODIES SO much amazing food, it is hard to narrow it down!

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PUBS Visit the oldest tavern in America!

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FREEDOM TRAIL 2.5 mile path through the city that highlights significant aspects to our history.

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3 DAY ITINERARY Just a sample of all the fun...

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CLOSING REMARKS A perfect long weekend adventure

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QUICK FACTS Boston, MA is the location for 35 colleges, universities, and community colleges. With that being said, you can image the liveliness of the city, the sprawling population of young professionals, and the amount of traffic that comes with move in weekends! Boston is also home to many professional and collegiate level sports teams, making fans extremely loyal and passionate in the city.

Best Time to Visit: June through October

the baseball games, outdoor patio seating at restaurants, and waterfront sightseeing make it worth the trip. The fall weather months are mild in temperature during the day, and sweatshirt weather in the morning, making it very pleasant to tour around the city by foot! Not to mention, who does not want to see a city with fall leaf color!?

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The summer brings in the most tourists and expensive lodging rates, but

WHERE TO STAY If you are a first time visiter and intend on trying to explore as much as possible, Downtown is the place to be. If you want to be in the newer, modern part of town with new and lavish restaurants, stay in the Seaport District. If you want history and beauty surrounded by bricks and row homes, stay in Beacon Hill or across the water in Cambridge.

We explored a lot during the three day weekend and because of that, have come up with a general opinion of the different areas/neighborhoods of Boston: Downtown / Back Bay : A great central location to access everything the city has to offer. Very typical big city feel

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with high rise buildings and business men and women walking the streets. We loved staying in Back Bay at the Revere Hotel. It represented the true Boston culture and history.

Although we were not there during the summer, there is a rooftop pool and bar. Room views were awesome for seeing the city lights at night. Located steps from the Theatre District, Newbury Street, and Copley Square. A couple blocks to Boston Common, and multiple transit stations nearby to take the T anywhere in the city.

Seaport : Recently redeveloped stretch of Boston along the waterline. Be sure to check out the Boston Tea Party ship as you cross over the bridge. Seaport is home to many large and sleek apartments and hotels, restaurants, and bars. We enjoyed this area for nightlife.

Beacon Hill : Known for being one of Boston's most picturesque areas. If you walk through the Boston Common on Charles Street, you will know you're in this area when suddenly surrounded by beautiful Victorian brick row homes, lovingly called brownstones. Charles Street is filled with fun boutiques and antique shops to browse. The gold-domed Massachusetts State House also calls Beacon Hill home. We enjoyed breakfast in this area one morning while admiring the homes.

Fenway : Home to the Red Sox and Fenway Park. Nearly a dozen colleges and universities are located nearby, making it a very academic and cultural district. In the past couple years, new condos and restaurants have been popping up. Nightlife is very prevalent here, especially on Lansdowne Street. Nearby is the Symphony Hall and Museum of Fine Arts.

@reverehotelboston

Choosing to go in November, we felt it was the perfect time of year. We had the fall color to enjoy as every tree was red, yellow or orange! We had cool weather where a jacket was necessary, yet it was not unbearably cold where it was uncomfortable to walk everywhere.

FOODIES Ok, this is my favorite aspect to any vacation, and especially in Boston where we enjoyed some New England classics!

Tatte Bakery & Cafe - found in Beacon Hill. A cozy spot serving breakfast, coffee, pastries, bread, soups, and sandwiches. Be aware that on weekends the line to order can get long and finding a table can be a challenge!

The Barking Crab - waterfront seafood joint with large picnic bench style seating, funky fisherman themed decor, and a lively bar! Known for the lobster roll - you MUST get one of these while in New England. It is delicious

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and worth every penny. We had a lot of fun here, it would be a great spot for a group of friends to get together to watch a game!

Boston Public Market - if you are walking the Freedom Trail, then you will be passing by the Public Market, near Faneuil Hall Marketplace! Tons of vendors live within this market serving up a variety of delicious handcrafted cuisine, fresh produce, flowers and goods - there is for sure something for everyone!

FOODIES Food needs two pages of content because you simply cannot cut it short.

These mentions are all located in Little Italy, which we quickly found to be our favorite area to eat in the City!

Beneventos - best homemade pasta we have ever had! The restaurant is SO small, seating is limited, but that honestly added to the character of eating fresh, authentic Italian food in Little Italy. What the restaurant lacks in space, is made up for in

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their menu. We each got different pasta dishes and they were both incredible!

Antico Forno - Neapolitan style pizza ; amazing! After a long day of walking and walking and walking some more, this pizza really hit the spot. No frills, casual Italian spot.

Mike's Pastry - open since 1946, this bakery is highly ranked for their cannoli's in multiple flavors. There are multiple locations throughout the city, but the original location in Little Italy. This location is always crowded and usually can be spotted from far away as a line spills out onto the sidewalk!

Modern Pastry - Mike's competition, located just a block from each other, this is another long-time bakery in Little Italy specializing in cannoli's, cakes, and pastries. We did not try this one, but based on the line forming here as well, I can assume it to be worth the stop!

FREEDOM TRAIL Highly recommend basing your sightseeing off of this 2.5 mile route through the city. It really is the best way to see everything in a day and get tons of the culture and history!

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Bunker Hill 15

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Little Italy 12

West End

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Beacon Hill

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Back Bay

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Financial District Downtown Crossing 8

Theater District

1. Boston Common

9. Old State House

2. Massachusetts State House

10. Boston Massacre Site

3. Park Street Church

11. Faneuil Hall

4. Granary Burying Ground

12. Paul Revere House

5. King's Chapel & King's Chapel Burying Ground

13. Old North Church

6. Boston Latin School Site / Benjamin Franklin Statue 14. Copp's Hill Burying Ground 7. Old Corner Bookstore

15. USS Constitution

8. Old South Meeting House

16. Bunker Hill Monument

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@thefreedomtrail

FAMILY FUN The city of Boston is a great family oriented metropolitan area, and a perk to it all, is that many of the fun activities are just as fun for the adults!

Fenway Park - home of the Red Sox baseball team since 1912! This ballpark is nostalgic and the fans are serious. Be aware that the parking can get tricky and expensive, and traffic getting into this part of the city on game day can be overwhelming. BUT there is always traffic driving in Boston, it is worth it! Fenway Park has tons and tons of food options, be sure to get an iconic Fenway Frank! Tours are also offered at Fenway, so if you're interested in a 60 minute guided tour offering history of the ballpark itself, the players, and a view from the top of the Green Monster, this one is for you!

ranked and fun for all ages. The exhibits include a 9,000 gallon floor-to-ceiling tank filled with the colorful and vibrant fish of the Indo-Pacific coral reef, a seal exhibit, a giant 4-story ocean tank, penguins, sharks, sting rays and so much more.

Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum voted the #1 best patriotic attraction There are general admission tickets and even packages with other awesome sightseeing tours throughout Boston offered via this link. The general tour ticket includes a guided tour of the 18th Century vessel replica, walking the decks, laying eyes on one of the two remaining tea chests from the Boston Tea Party, and actually throwing tea overboard!

Boston Public Garden - "Make way for Ducklings" The public garden is beautiful and a great place to take a stroll, especially early morning before everyone else is awake! Admire the unusual plants and landscape, the monuments and fountains that can be found all over, the duckings statue of course, and the swan boats which are still operated today!

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New England Aquarium - a classic family day activity, the New England Aquarium is highly

BEER NERDS Sam Adams Brewery Not located within the city limits per say, but a short ride on the T will get you to one of America's most well known breweries with a long history behind the name. It is definitely worth the train ticket because parking is limited and it is only a short walk away from the Stony Brook station on the Orange Line.

Tours are free and worth it for sure. We learned about the beer making process, heard tons of fun facts about the history of Sam Adams, sampled some classics, and went back into their brewery to check out the brew fermenters, barrels, and bottling areas! Afterwards enjoy a

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cold one outside around the fire pit or inside at the beer garden picnic tables!

PUBS The city of Boston is full of history right? Well it just would not be the full experience without checking out at least one pub while there!

Bell in Hand Tavern - America's oldest tavern, first pour in 1795 Located across the street from the Public Market and near the Union Oyster House, another famous and nostalgic place to experience, the Tavern is right in the heart of history.

The Bell in Hand was so awesome that we went two nights in a row! The first night there was a live band, it was crowded and people were having a great time. The second night a Patriots football game was on, and fans were rowdy and cheering loud, it was fun to experience! We

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sat at the bar, a copper counter top, so of course I was pleased.

Moral of the story is that there are tons of pubs with history, no frills, great beer, and great people. Even if you do not end up at Bell in Hand, going into one for a drink needs to be on your list!

3 DAY ITINERARY Day 1 Breakfast at Tatte's Bakery & Cafe Freedom Trail - do it while you have fresh legs!

Dinner at Beneventos in Little Italy Bell in Hand Tavern for drinks Day 2 Boston Tea Party Ship Tour Lunch at The Barking Crab Baseball game at Fenway Park

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Day 3 Morning walk at Public Garden Sam Adams Brewery Tour Dinner at Antico Forno, ending the night with Mike's Pastry!

CLOSING REMARKS Such a historic, lively destination with great food and more sightseeing to do

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than your legs could possibly handle in one weekend!

We really loved our time in Boston. The weather was incredible, the fall color was everywhere, and we ate real good! Exploring Little Italy and seeing the multitude of quaint restaurants was really fun and made it hard to choose where to go, but we learned that you simply cannot go wrong no matter where you end up!

The culture of Boston is like no other. I have never seen so many proud locals. Whether it is watching sports at the pub, going on a guided tour of the USS Constitution, or simply just checking in at a hotel, the Boston pride is prevalent, and that was something special to experience.

If there is anything to take away from One Backpack Traveler, it is that Boston is one of our favorite big cities that we have traveled to so far. Very clean, safe, and full of history.

Boston, MA is a must! Do not be afraid to take the T everywhere you can, it is so much faster than taxi or ride share, and your little legs won't be able to handle it all by foot! If you're interested in visiting and feel like there's something I missed, please let me know. I am always looking to add and adjust so that everyone can Travel Like a Local.

Cheers,

One Backpack Traveler

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