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Need Boston Tour ideas/advice:

ciscogizmo1

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Okay... researching our Boston trip coming up and came up with the following things. Anything I should steer clear of:

Day 1: Duck Tour (I know tourist trap but good for the 3 hour time difference to get our body's on East Coast time) --- Freedom trail as much as we can or check out the Boston Hatorfest. Dinner at Legal Seafood

Day 2: Probably the Liberty Clipper Sunset Sail

Day 3: Ferry to Salem--- explore Salem

Other ideas: Boston Aquarium and Whale Watch Combo; Boston Public gardens aand Swan Boats; JFK Pres Library, Cape Cod; Skywalk Observatory; Boston Tea Party and Ships: USS Constitution; Trinity Church Guided Church; Old South Church; Liberty Clipper Sunset Sail; Musuem of Science; Boston Trolley Tour, Beacon Hill; Paul Revere House;

Is there any MUST dos or things we should avoid?
 

ciscogizmo1

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Faniuel Hall, Martha's Vineyard, Cambridge.
Thanks... I'll look into those places as well. How about Provincetown? I'm trying to avoid renting a car and I see the Harbor cruise goes from Boston to Provincetown. It would be 9 am to 4 pm. Is that enough time?
 

ciscogizmo1

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Anyone ever done the Boston Chocolate Tours?
 

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If you do a search here on TUG, you'll find lots and lots of things to do. Just click on "Search" towards the top of the page and type in Boston. Many Tuggers (both local & visitor) have contributed ideas, places, activities, etc. already, so you have a plethora of information at the ready.

Do not try to go to Martha's Vineyard for a day trip, though. You need more time. Make that a separate trip. JMHO . P-Town would be an all day event even by R/T day ferry (a bit costly).

=
 
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ciscogizmo1

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If you do a search here on TUG, you'll find lots and lots of things to do. Just click on "Search" towards the top of the page and type in Boston. A lot of Tuggers have contributed ideas, places, activities, etc. already, so you have a plethora of information at the ready.

Do not try to go to Martha's Vineyard for a day trip, though. You need more time. Make that a separate trip. JMHO .
Thanks I tried that but I don't get tour ideas. It gives me any thread with the word Boston in it.

Yes, I wouldn't go to Martha's for one day. I've been to Nantucket on a prior trip about 20 years ago and loved it but it was a LONG day...
 

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I can post some info for you in a day or two. Right now I'm packing/organizing for our trip to Nantucket tomorrow.

Please know that I'm happy to help and will do so very soon.
 

Beaglemom3

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Okay... researching our Boston trip coming up and came up with the following things. Anything I should steer clear of:

Day 1: Duck Tour (I know tourist trap but good for the 3 hour time difference to get our body's on East Coast time) --- Freedom trail as much as we can or check out the Boston Hatorfest. Dinner at Legal Seafood

Day 2: Probably the Liberty Clipper Sunset Sail

Day 3: Ferry to Salem--- explore Salem

Other ideas: Boston Aquarium and Whale Watch Combo; Boston Public gardens aand Swan Boats; JFK Pres Library, Cape Cod; Skywalk Observatory; Boston Tea Party and Ships: USS Constitution; Trinity Church Guided Church; Old South Church; Liberty Clipper Sunset Sail; Musuem of Science; Boston Trolley Tour, Beacon Hill; Paul Revere House;

Is there any MUST dos or things we should avoid?


These are all good things to do & see. Depending on how long you'll be......... Cape Cod is a large area to cover. Consider one or two upper Cape towns to see.

John & Abigail Adams' house(s) in Qunicy are a delight for history buffs.

Fenway Park is a must-see even if you're not a Sox fan. It's $10 to tour the park and oh..... what a park it is ! Maybe take a game in, too.
 
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ciscogizmo1

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I can post some info for you in a day or two. Right now I'm packing/organizing for our trip to Nantucket tomorrow.

Please know that I'm happy to help and will do so very soon.
Thank you... Thanks for taking the time. There has to be a better way to search tug. I'm gonna try Google.
 

ciscogizmo1

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These are all good things to do & see.

Fenway Park is a must-see even if you're not a Sox fan. It's $10 to tour the park and oh..... what a park it is ! Maybe take a game in, too.
I did check to see if there was a game the week go and there isn't. Bummer as we would have definitely gone. I'll check out the tour... Now, get back to packing...
 

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SMHarman

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Sign up to Groupon and set Boston as your home town. There are some good deals on harbour tours and it may also give you ideas of things to do.
 

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ciscogizmo1

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Yes, there are at least 2 chocolate tours. We did one of them and didn't particularly enjoy it. Nothing to write home about.

However, the Chocolate Trolley tours, done in the winter time are fun, but pricey.

Over on TS4MS, there are a couple of threads that have a bunch of things to do in Boston. Check out this link: http://www.timeshareforums.com/forums/showthread.php/64664-Boston-Area-Links
Thanks... I'll check out the link.

I read the reviews on Yelp and Tripadvisor for the Chocolate tours and nothing great about them. But many of the reviewers listed the stops so, I just wrote them down and we can visit each place when time permits.
 

falmouth3

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If you're going to Boston from Sept - June, you may want to go to the chocolate bar (rather, chocolate feast) at the Langham Hotel in Boston. On the expensive side, but you'll talk about it for years!! They don't do this in the summer. This was included on the Chocolate Trolley Tour we took for my birthday a few years back. I thought I wouldn't want chocolate for at least a week after this gluttony.

http://boston.langhamhotels.com/restaurants/chocolate_bar.htm
 
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paluamalia

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Provincetown

Thanks... I'll look into those places as well. How about Provincetown? I'm trying to avoid renting a car and I see the Harbor cruise goes from Boston to Provincetown. It would be 9 am to 4 pm. Is that enough time?

Not sure if anyone responded to this:
You certainly could see the highlights of Provincetown at those times, but it depends on what time of year you are arriving....July and August are very crowded, so its hard to get a restaurant lunch, you might have to do a pick up lunch. Shopping is great as is sightseeing. There are usually street performers out in the summer, so a bit of a show...usually very tame. There is a trolley tour of about 1.5 hours that shows you all around. There is also a Dunes tour, that is a little longer.
For the rest of the Cape, a car is necessary. The Kennedy Museum is in Hyannis, the commercial center of the Cape. The museum is offering a special tribute to the Kennedy family as this is the 50 year anniversary of President Kennedy's death. Lots of stuff regarding the last Cape Cod summer. Duck tours are also offered in the summer season from downtown Hyannis.
Enjoy your trip to New England..sounds like fun...Salem is a great spot as well. If you rent a car and drive to the Cape from Boston, you might want to stop at Plimouth Plantation near Plymouth, MA. Costumed recreators of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags make it a fun and informative afternoon.
 

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Other ideas: Boston Aquarium and Whale Watch Combo; Boston Public gardens aand Swan Boats; JFK Pres Library, Cape Cod; Skywalk Observatory; Boston Tea Party and Ships: USS Constitution; Trinity Church Guided Church; Old South Church; Liberty Clipper Sunset Sail; Musuem of Science; Boston Trolley Tour, Beacon Hill; Paul Revere House;

Is there any MUST dos or things we should avoid?

We just spent 4 days in Boston. I wanted to do one of the 4 major tours offered, but I realized we could see everything we wanted by ourselves. One morning we explored Beacon Hill, and afterwards I did the Freedom Trail alone with a guided tour ($6) I bought on Livingsocial while my husband returned to the hotel. The tour finished close to the North End, I went there & explored it, including the Revere House and the Old North Church. Don't miss visiting Union Oyster House (in the area), the oldest restaurant in Boston (1826), and very close to Faneuil Hall. From there, I crossed the bridge to Charlestown and did the US Constitution tour (to my surprise, it was free). The Freedom Trail starts at Boston Commons so you can do it all together with the Gardens which is next door. We did a Boston Harbor Sunset cruise from Livingsocial and use the pedicab to go to the harbor. You can also stroll by yourself around the South End and Copley Square, there is a memorial for the victims of the Marathon Bombings.
We did Chinatown and took the T and explored Salem in a previous trip, I think 4 hours in there is enough.
We did the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in our first trip to Boston; you will take at least 4 hours there. For the Cape and the islands, we did a week-long stay.
Try to combine your activities in the harbor on the same day to avoid paying for transportation there, there is a lot of traffic in the area.
We did Harvard Square in Cambridge before going to Maine; plan on having lunch there, it is bigger than I thought.
It was raining, on and off after our second day in Boston, so keep a raincoat and umbrella handy.
 
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hvsteve1

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My wife is rather addicted to duck tours :shrug: so we try to do one everywhere we go. We found the one in Boston to be one of the best, mainly because they don't, as do most tours, run you around town then float in the harbor for a while. This one goes into the Charles River and goes in and out of some interesting areas that get you an actual tour of part of Boston.

The hop on hop off trolleys are a good way to get around central Boston and part of Cambridge. Most of them are pretty uncomfortable with wooden seats, so if you have a bad back, keep that in mind. There is a bus that does a similar run and may be more comfortable with actual shock absorbers and padded seats. Most of these companies throw in a free harbor cruise with their tickets.

If you're at Custom House, you will be able to walk to the harborside, North End, theater district, etc. Boston is very walkable. There are a lot of maps posted and some signs saying how far it is to key locations. I believe I saw a sign in near Chinatown that said it was about a mile to the North End, which means from one end of the central city to the other. Winding streets make it seem larger than it actually is because, unlike New York City, you can't look up an avenue and see a landmark 10 or 20 blocks away.

One thing I don't see mentioned that is very well done is the Holocaust Memorial which is in a park across from the Union Oyster House. It's a very unusual idea with glass towers, representing concentration camps, with six million numbers engraved on the clear walls and steam, representing smoke from the ovens, coming up through grates. Not the exhibits or photographs personalizing the events, but a very affecting display.
 

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If you are a foodie (sp?) don't miss Mike's Pastry www.mikespastry.com (Italian bakery in North End with easy walk from Fanuel Hall/Quincy Market) with the best (generous size) cannoli in many flavors. What a deal at $3.75 for the one dipped in chocolate chips others at reasonable prices. When we were there Saturday it was wall to wall people. There is a small seating area also.
You won't be disappointed.
 
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