My family of 5 (& my parents) are headed to Boston in June. We're planning to spend 3-4 days there.

Our itinerary consists of all the normal hot spots:
Fenway, Freedom Trail tour, Old North Church, The Union Oyster House, Bell in Hand Tavern, USS Constitution Museum, walk down Newbury Street, North end for some Italian food, Bunker Hill Monument, Sam Adams Brewery tour, The Paul Revere House, Acorn Street, USS Constitution Ship.


Are there any must-see / must-do things we left out?

Also - Hope someone can give me some tips on Martha's Vineyard...I don't know much about it and we're trying to determine if we should extend for a fews days to visit the island. Any must-see / must do things we should consider if we go there? If we don't go to MV, we may venture to Portland, Maine for a couple of days.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you!

We visited Boston and Martha's Vineyard almost 25 years ago.

We loved Boston. I'm a history buff so I found Boston fascinating. We liked Fenway Park more than Wrigley Field. Once the people on our row at the Redsox game heard my west Texas drawl they paid for all my beer.

We spent 3 or 4 nights in Martha's Vineyard. That's a place I don't care to visit again. People were very pretentious, especially when they heard me talk. Food was OK but nothing memorable.

One day I want to return to Boston. There is great Italian food in the area of The Ole North Church and Paul Reveres House. I believe that area of town is called North Beach.

SW AG80 said:

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We visited Boston and Martha's Vineyard almost 25 years ago.

We loved Boston. I'm a history buff so I found Boston fascinating. We liked Fenway Park more than Wrigley Field. Once the people on our row at the Redsox game heard my west Texas drawl they paid for all my beer.

We spent 3 or 4 nights in Martha's Vineyard. That's a place I don't care to visit again. People were very pretentious, especially when they heard me talk. Food was OK but nothing memorable.

One day I want to return to Boston. There is great Italian food in the area of The Ole North Church and Paul Reveres House. I believe that area of town is called North Beach The North End.

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Fixed. If you like Italian food there are too many great places there to list.

I'm with you though, I wouldn't waste my time with Martha's Vineyard. I would head north and look at Salem, Gloucester and maybe Newburyport. Portsmouth NH is another fun town to visit.

Was just there with family in September. Don't miss Concord & Lexington for the historic battle sites and Louisa May Alcott's house. A baseball game at Fenway Park was a highlight. Portsmouth, NH was a delight.

I wish we'd had time to get to Newport, RI and see the houses there. Not that far.

I like all the places you mentioned -

Should also include
Kennedy Pres library
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (*)
We did UFO brewery
We did the basic tour at Fenway one year
And then did the game day VIP "on-field batting practice" version of the tour which was worth it

The Gardner Museum was a surprise - next door to Boston Modern Art museum I thought we'd stop in the Gardner for a few minutes and expand our Art knowledge then shift over to Modern and fill up the afternoon - never got out of the Gardner …. Spent 5 or 6 hours and never got to the top floor - too much cool stuff to look at


One of the most dramatic paintings I've ever seen
Huge 12X8 foot

Skip MV and go to Portsmouth, NH and take the coastal highway (1 I think?) up through Maine- York, Ogunquit, and Kennebunkport. Cute towns with shops and restaurants- a beautiful drive. A trip out to Walker's Point was a highlight 10+ years ago.

Next to Union Oyster House which had great clam chowder is the Green Dragon Tavern which Boston Tea Party was discussed and organized. Huge amount of Freemasons met there and Sons of Liberty I think as well.
Shots were pricey however.

Wicked Good Ag said:

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Next to Union Oyster House which had great clam chowder is the Green Dragon Tavern which Boston Tea Party was discussed and organized. Huge amount of Freemasons met there and Sons of Liberty I think as well.
Shots were pricey however.

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Not to take away from the coolness of that area but the original Green Dragon Pub where the pre revolution meetings took place was demolished. As I said its a really cool area. The Green Dragon, The Purple Urchin, The Bell in Hand, The Union Oyster House, The Boston Holocaust Memorial is across the street. The Olde State House, Boston Massacre site and Faneuil Hall are a couple blocks away. Another cool place id the Black Rose, a traditional Irish Pub.

Mike's Pastries
Artu Italian on Prince St (right around the corner from Mike's)
Chinatown
North End…check out the skinny house nearby at 44 Hull St
Old North Church


Salem is a waste of time

Are you going with kids?

Mine enjoyed the Boston Tea Party Ships, and Old Ironsides was a hit even with my then 3 year old. JFK's Presidential Library is in Boston - We alway seem to visit and not make it there, but family has mentioned it's pretty cool

I've been going to the Boston/Cape Cod MA area since a child and never made it to MV because it's sometimes hard to find accommodations in the summer or super crowded. They are in school until Mid-June so depending upon when you go the crowds will likely be lower. You might consider Plimoth Plantation (it's called something else now- can't remember exact name) in Plymouth right as you're entering Cape Cod. Plymouth Rock is there, and the Mayflower II. My kids enjoyed these because they are living history style so interactive with people dressed in historical similarities including natives, instead of museum style with tons of reading.

If you consider Cape Cod I could give a lot of other suggestions. Woods Hole on Cape Cod is pretty cool with a place to learn all about the shark studies/research they do there with all the Great Whites I thinK Chatham has the big Shark Conservatory. There is also a smaller JFK Museum in Hyannis - it was pretty interesting but visited that years before we had kids so might not be ask kid friendly if you're traveling with kids.

Depending upon when in June you might be able to catch a few Cape Cod baseball games. Likely no Ags if they are in Omaha

Thank you all. I think we're passing on MV. I believe we're headed up to Maine instead.

The Cheers Bar is a tourist trap, but we went just so we could say we did. I had by birthday dinner there.

Go by Boston Gardens and take a picture next to "Flying Bobby Orr"

Emmet's is a great pub with traditional pub fare and live music on weekends