will be spending three nights there next week - near Boston Common.

Things to do, restaurant recs are appreciated.

We've been told we have to do a Duck tour. Would like to take in a Fenway Park tour as well.

Faneuil hall. Harvard. Catch a Sox game. North Church

Freedom Trail

Sam Adams

We did a Duck Tour last summer while in Boston. You feel like a dumb tourist, but it's actually a pretty good way to get a feel for the city, where things are and what you might want to go back and visit in person. I recommend going on your first day so you can go see things you just caught a glimpse of on the tour.

YES for the Freedom Trail. We did it all in one day and it was exhausting, but so great. Take the ferry back across to the city from Charlestown. Great views of the city from the water.

YES to Fenway! (Rangers beat the Sox when we were there!)

Other fun things:
* Grab a beer at Bell in Hand, longest running bar in U.S.
* See JFK's favorite booth at Union Oyster House (food is just okay).
* Visit the New England Holocaust Memorial. Dare you not to cry.
* Check out Copley Square's two gorgeous churches and the public library.
* Wander around Faneuil Marketplace.
* Dinner at the Black Rose (touristy, but it was really good, and great music too).

Red Sox will not be playing next week, I think the OP knows this

missed the next week part....Still, walk around Fenway. Beer Works (on Brookline right across from Fenway and the Souvenir Shop) has some decent beers.

thanks - good stuff here.

anyone ever had the lobster roll at Neptune?

Trying to take a tour of Fenway if open...yep, Sox out of town in warmer climate.

Here are a couple of restaurant recs:

Legal Sea Foods is a Boston institution. Several locations around town.

Stephanie's on Newbury is great too....might be a good place to try after spending some time on Newbury street.

+++ for the Freedom Trail. In addition to other places listed, I thorougly enjoyed the JFK Library (and I'm not a huge fan).

Go to the area where the North Church is. North Beach, I think. It is the Italian area. Go eat some good Italian food.

The North End, that is what they call Little Italy

Whale watching tour and original Cheer's bar.

We did a week in boston last year and had a great time.

A few activities that we did:

Boston ghost tour - it was cheesy but a lot of fun. They basically just drove us all around boston telling us ghost stories in different cemeteries at night. We just walked up to their storefront and signed up for it that night. The storefront was right by the big park in the NE part of the town. Sorry I dont remember a lot of specifics but it was a couple of years ago.

Gondola ride down the river. We were there for our anniversary, so I wanted something romantic. It wasnt all that expensive and I cant remember the website I booked it through, but it shouldnt be hard to find it if you wanted to do that. It was a great relaxing experience.

Tour of Harvard and MIT. Both were pretty cool schools, although Harvard was more fun to look at than MIT. It was fun watching all the students around campus.

We paid for a tour one day of the first half of the Freedom trail. It was cheesy (again) but a lot of fun. The guide was dressed in old attire and spoke with an accent, but was really funny and made sure everyone had a good time. It was well worth it to pay for the tour. We did one day on the trail by ourselves and it wasnt near as much fun (or as informative) as just paying the 20 bucks for a guide.

Day trip to Salem. We rode the ferry from Boston to Salem and stayed there all day. It was pretty neat, but pretty much a tourist trap. I could have done without that day in the trip. Everything was way overpriced and the museums were cheesy and boring.

Everywhere we ate was great except the oyster house. I didnt like their food too much. Legal seafood was ok but pretty expensive. We really just enjoyed going to the hall and finding something random to eat.

We stayed at the Omni Parker House, which is the oldest continuously functioning hotel in the US. It was pretty neat but expensive. The room was TINY. The Lobby is really cool, so if you are in the area, I would go check it out. Also, their boston cream pie is awesome.

Overall we loved the city. It is a really cool place to visit.

[This message has been edited by Rule Number 32 (edited 3/14/2011 9:44a).]

If you're looking for a hotel, I recommend the Marlowe in Cambridge.

http://www.hotelmarlowe.com/

[This message has been edited by army01 (edited 3/14/2011 11:49a).]

Did a year fellowship in Boston. Great city to visit. Spring weather is usually pretty crappy though... cold and dreary, so dress warm and bring an umbrella.

As for seafood, Legal is a chain, and is good, but I would recommend you try The Daily Catch. Faneuil Hall has a few places with really good clam chowder as well.

You absolutely have to go to the North End. You can pretty much pick any restaurant on Hanover St and get great Italian food. My favorite is Giacomo's (pronounced Jock-uh-moes if you ask anyone where to find it). It doesn't open until 5, ONLY TAKES CASH, and only has like 12-15 tables. People will wait in line for 45+ minutes for a table, and it's worth it. One that's a little off of the more crowded areas is Massimino's, and is also excellent. It's closer to the Garden. Hit Mike's Pastries or Bova's (a nurse who grew up in the North End said Bova's is the best bakery in town) for dessert.
Pizaria Regina is the best in town, also in the North End.

Other very good restaurants:
The Barking Crab. Popular place, lots of people to watch, and good.
No Name Restaurant. On the fish pier, fried seafood, VERY relaxed feel.
Grill 23. High-end steaks. Picked by Men's Health or something as one of 5 best steak restaurants in US while I was there.

Almost forgot... you'll probably need some help translating the dialect:

http://www.universalhub.com/glossary

We went to Giacomo's as well while we were there, but felt that it was a waste of time. We showed up at 4 and were not in the first group to be seated, so we didnt get to sit until almost 6. We did end up sharing our table with 2 other people on vacation, which was a little awkward at first but turned out to be fun. The food was ok but nothing special. Overall we just felt it wasnt worth spending our entire evening waiting for the food that really wasnt that great. Maybe we caught them on a bad night or something though. We only heard about it because we asked some of the locals in the neighborhoods while we were out walking around.

I recommend going out to Harvard and checking that out. We did whale watching and that takes 1/2 day, but it was great. Saw a lot of whales. Went to Bell in Hand go there for a beer. Do North End. I also like the trolley tours to see the city pretty quickly, get on/off, as you wish.

USS Constitution

The North End is cool to wander through. Wish I had eaten there

Maroon - yes, had the Lobster Roll at Neptune. Worth every penny.

Fenway Tour is great! Also, about 30 minutes out of the city is site of shot heard round the world and Walden Pond. Being a literature and history guy, I loved those two and they are about five minutes from each other...if you like such things.

Fenway area is liking walking through a time machine.

I also second the Freedom trail.

Swan boats are cool.

Take the T to Harvard and walk around a bit is also cool. If you do that, eat at Bartleys. Awesome.

[This message has been edited by TempleAg97 (edited 3/21/2011 5:42p).]

Anyone have suggestions on where to stay? I will be there for 6 nights, so I can't afford $250-$300/night for a room. I don't mind staying out of the city if I can walk to a train station that will take me where I want to go in under 45-60 minutes.

I know I'm late to the party, but I'd recommend staying at the Omni. It was very affordable and a really neat historic hotel. Such as, JFK proposed to Jackie at the restaurant there, JFK announced his candidacy there, Malcom X used to be a bellboy there, the Boston Cream Pie was invented at their restaurant... and Laura Bush used to order up lobster rolls from the restaurant for Thanksgiving at the White House. We loved it. :-) It's also within walking distance to Legal Sea Food by the water and the start of the Freedom Trail.

ETA go to Sam Adams. It's cheap, you get 21 oz of beer and you learn about the brewing process and you get to keep your tasting glass.

[This message has been edited by aggieabby06 (edited 3/10/2012 3:44p).]