2 days in Boston

Hello,

My boyfriend and I will be spending 2 days in Boston on our trip to the USA in September. We are from Sydney, Australia,

Given our limited time, i%26#39;d love some suggestions about the best things to do while we are there. I would like to do perhaps a tour that takes in the major sights (are there any good ones?), and maybe a walking tour of the freedom trail?

I am also interested in literary history - we will be in Mass. for 6 days in total, and i hope to see some of the authors homes while we are there. Is Concord far from Boston, and is it worth driving through after we leave Boston?

Cheers, and thanks in advance!

2 days in Boston

There are many walking tours offered for the Freedom Trail. The Feedom Trail is a must when visiting Boston. There are also The Boston Duck Tour and 80 minute fun, narrative tour that takes a dip in the Charles River and the Old Town Trolley tours that offer on and off boarding to hit all the major sites in Boston. I just walk up the 294 steps at the Bunker Hill monument, toured the USS Constitution, and the visited USS Constitution Museum, yesterday, with my children and they really enjoyed it.

Due to your interests Concord is definitely worth a visit. It is only 30 minutes away from downtown Boston.

Here are a few places that might interest you while you are here.

http://www.louisamayalcott.org/

http://www.7gables.org/

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/

http://www.rwe.org/emersonhouse/

http://www.wayside.org/www/history.html

2 days in Boston

Yet again, so many typo%26#39;s (I wish TA would allow editing.) so sorry..

There are many walking tours offered for The Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a must, when visiting Boston. There are also other alternative tours, The Boston Duck Tour, an 80 minute fun narrative tour, that takes a dip in the Charles River and the Old Town Trolley Tour, which offers: on and off boarding, to hit all the major sites in Boston. I just walked up the 294 steps at the Bunker Hill monument, toured the USS Constitution, and then we visited the USS Constitution Museum, yesterday, with my children. They really enjoyed it.

You should definitely rent a car and get out to Concord - it is not very far and will give you a good idea of a typical New England town. I have entertained a number of friends from Oz over the past 30 years and have a good sense for what you might find interesting. Chances are, you%26#39;ll be struck by how lush our vegetation is and will thrill at the site of our exotic wildlife. With any luck, you will see chipmunks, and maybe even smell skunks.

Be sure to take the subway to Harvard Square and walk around Harvard Yard.

Harvard Yard to see the exotic wildlife. :-)

(I used to have a joke with a Russian immigrant friend who arrived in the U.S. with her precious fur coat--gray squirrel--that anytime she needed a hat to match, I knew where to go....)

And yes, do take the time to go out to the charming little town of Concord.

You might also be interested in this organization%26#39;s activities:

literarytrailofgreaterboston.org/index2.html

If your literary interests also include the books of such more modern authors as Dennis Lehane and Robert Parker, the sights and sites decribed are possible to see as well.

This is all fantastic information, thank you all.

We have a car for 6 days while in Mass, so we will be driving from NYC to Boston, (any good stops along the way?), then from Boston through Concord and up to Salem, then from Salem along the Mohawk trail...thats all i have so far. :) But i can%26#39;t wait to see the house of Lousia May Alcott and the house of 7 gables in Salem.

I have no idea what Harvard Yard is! But will be sure to look it up. :)

There was mention of the lush greenery - yes, unfortunately NSW has been suffering terrible drought lately, and much of country has dries up quite terribly. So it will be a treat i%26#39;m sure to be driving through such a rich area in comparison. Your wildlife is also MUCH different, we dont have squirrels here and i want to see one! And other wildlife as well.

If there are any other towns that are worth seeing, or sights that are ';must-see'; - do let me know.

(One other thing - we love a good drink over here, and i hear Boston has many fine pubs - any recommendations are welcome!)

If you are planning on a drive to Concord, don%26#39;t miss Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. You%26#39;ll find the graves of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, Louis May Alcott, and their families all in the same general area. A local map at the Concord information center will help. Then, visit the Old Manse. A home in Emerson%26#39;s family where Hawthorne and his wife Sophia honeymooned, here, Hawthorne wrote Tales from an Old Manse and Thoreau planted a garden in Nathaniel and Sophia%26#39;s honor. Afterwards, take a walk through the Concord Library. Lots of Transcendentalist memorabilia there. On your way out of town, stop by Walden Pond for a swim if it%26#39;s still warm enough, or a stroll around the pond.

Have fun!

My mention of Harvard Yard and Harvard Square was something of a non-sequitor based on memories of places I have taken Australians in the Boston area. Harvard Yard merely refers to the campus of Harvard University, which is right next to Harvard Square. Take the Red Line to the Harvard stop. If you%26#39;re interested in literary history you should definitely at least see Harvard College. Harvard Square used to have some kind of crazy concentration of bookstores per capita (I think there used to actually be some such statistic) although I don%26#39;t know if that%26#39;s necessarily still true.

Depending on when you are here exactly (in September) you might want to drive a little bit further North. Actually if you are planning to take the Mohawk Trail out to Williamstown (a good idea) you could then just drive north to Bennington and possibly further up to Burlington (Vermont), possibly then returning to Boston via interstate 89 from Burlington.

More great suggestions, thanks so much. There is alot to cram into two days (in Boston), but i think a walking tour or two will be in order, hopefully one of the freedom trail, as well as a trip to Harvard. I hear the duck tour is (cheesy) but fun, we have one in Sydney too. Also, the swan boats? They seem sweet, i think they%26#39;d appeal to the romantic in me. The parks in general seem lovely.

Thanks Buttonbox, Concord is without a doubt on our list of places to visit, so we will drive through once we leave Boston, before heading to Salem for the night. Hopefully we can arrange perhaps for a guided walk, so we can visit all those places you mentioned! The Old Manse sounds like a must (again, the romantic in me).

Depending on time, we might be able to explore more of the area you suggested, Thomas144. We will be there mid September, around 13th onwards, so we hope to see some nice colour beginning in the trees, which i hear is so spectacular over there. We are staying the night in a place called High Pocket Farm in Colrain (i think its Colrain?), so i hope to do some trail riding while i%26#39;m there.

I think thats about all there will be time to do, our two days is packed, now we just need good places to eat and we%26#39;ll be set i think.

High Pocket Farm looks nice (I just looked at the website). My son goes to college just to the north of there in Marlboro, Vermont; I know the area pretty well, although I had never heard of Colrain, Massachusetts. Mid-September might be a little early for the Fall colors that far south - you might consider driving up Interstate 91 into Vermont after your stay in Colrain and then connect to Interstate 89, possibly going as far north as Burlington, VT (going towards the West) or hooking a right heading towards New Hampshire.

Depending on your final destination, you could spend a day driving from Colrain up to St. Johnsbury, VT, and then down to Boston - you should get some good leaf-peeping opportunities at that time of year. Driving to Hanover, NH to see Dartmouth College (gorgeous campus) can be a good thing to do.

Hi Thomas144 - we are actually driving down from Colrain to NYC - our next stop will be Chicago, so we will fly out of NYC. We were thinking of stopping in Hartford on the way down, but if we have some time first to go north for a day or so than we definately will.

Not too sure what else there will be to see on the drive back to NYC, but we%26#39;ll see how we go.

I was keen on High Pocket Farm because you are able to ride their horses whilst staying there. I love to ride, and the landscape will be very different to what i am used to, so it should be a good experience.

I am also looking forward to Salem, for the history of the place, and want to find a decent, historical walking tour to do while there.

So much to do, so little time :)