30+ Best Things to Do in Boston, MA: A Local’s Guide

(Updated 2026! With all new spots, recommendations, and a fresh local take.)

Travelers want to know the “hidden gems”. They want to visit a city like a local, go off the beaten path, find new frontiers. I get all that. But who wants to skip the well-known good stuff? That’s why it’s well-known in the first place.

I’ve been born and raised around Boston my whole life. After years living abroad and traveling for work, I came back home and quickly remembered that Boston is one of the most underrated cities in the country: walkable, packed with history, great food, world-class museums, and a hometown crowd that takes its sports and its accents very seriously. Whether it’s your first time here or you want to rediscover the city, this guide pulls together my favorite spots plus picks from a curated group of fellow travel writers who fell hard for Boston too.

Plan your Boston trip at a glance

How long to spend: Three days is the sweet spot for a first trip. You’ll cover the historic core, eat well, and have time to wander. Four to five days lets you fold in Cambridge, a sports game, or a day trip to Salem or Plymouth.

When to go: May through October is peak seasons for lovely weather. Fall (September and October) is my favorite, the foliage is real and the city is at its most beautiful. Spring is gorgeous once the Public Garden and Arboretum bloom. Summer is alive but humid. Winter is cozy if you lean into it (and brutal if you don’t pack right).

Getting around: Walk first, take the T second. Don’t rent a car unless you’re doing a day trip outside the city. Parking is unforgiving and the public transit (locals call it “the T”) covers nearly everything you’d want to visit. From Logan Airport, take an Uber or the Silver Line bus (which is free from the airport).

Where to stay: I have a full neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown in my Girls Weekend in Boston guide, but the short version: South End and Back Bay are the easiest first-trip neighborhoods, Seaport is great if you want waterfront views, North End if you want to wake up in Little Italy. You might also consider Assembly Row in Somerville, Encore Boston Harbor, or Element Boston for something a bit different.

Jump to a section

The Boston classics

• Walk the Freedom Trail
• Boston Common and the Public Garden
• Granary Burying Ground
• Massachusetts State House
• Boston Public Library
• Beacon Hill
• Lenny Zakim Bridge

Where to eat in Boston

• Eat your way through the North End
• Union Oyster House
• Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market
• Omni Parker House (and Boston Cream Pie)
• Time Out Market in Fenway
• Eataly
• Eat your way through Chinatown

Boston museums and culture

• Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum
• Institute of Contemporary Art
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
• Museum of Fine Arts
• Boston theater and music

Boston sports and the outdoors

• Fenway Park
• TD Garden (Celtics and Bruins)
• Charles River Esplanade
• Harbor cruises and Duck Tours

Boston nightlife and speakeasies

• Loyall Counting Room (and the speakeasy scene)
• Cheers Bar

Off the beaten path Boston

• Cambridge and Harvard
• Jamaica Plain
• Somerville (Taza Chocolate, The Burren)
• Brattle Book Shop

Day trips from Boston

• Salem, MA
• More day trips and weekend trips
• How to save with Boston CityPass

Walk the Freedom Trail

If you do one thing in Boston, walk the Freedom Trail. It’s a 2.5-mile red line that connects 16 historic sites across the city, and it’s the best way to get the lay of a very walkable downtown while soaking in actual American Revolutionary history. I’ve walked it since field trips in grade school, and it still holds up.

You can do the whole thing in a half day or stretch it across two days with breaks for food and museums. The trail runs from Boston Common up through Beacon Hill, past the State House, into the North End, and ends at the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. The North End stretch is where I’d plan to be around lunch or dinner because, well, Italian food. More on that in a minute.

A few stops along the trail get their own sections below, including the State House and the Granary Burying Ground.

Spend an afternoon at Boston Common and the Public Garden

These two adjacent green spaces are the heart of downtown Boston, and they sit right at the start of the Freedom Trail. Boston Common is America’s oldest public park (since 1634, no big deal), and the Public Garden next door is the prettier, more manicured of the two.

Swan Boats: an absolute must with small kids and charming for adults too. They’ve been operating since 1877 and they’re as quaint as it gets. Runs seasonally, mid-April through Labor Day weekend.

Frog Pond: in summer it’s a wading pool, in winter it’s an outdoor ice skating rink. Both are family-friendly Boston staples.

Make Way for Ducklings statue: the bronze ducks from the children’s book are in the Public Garden. Bring your camera if you have kids.

The Public Garden is also gorgeous in spring when the tulips and magnolias bloom, and in winter after a fresh snow. It’s the kind of place you can spend an hour or four.

Stop at the Granary Burying Ground

With Jackie Gately of Enjoy Travel Life

The Granary Burying Ground is a final home to several United States’ founding fathers. When the oldest marker was set in 1666, Massachusetts Bay Colony was under English rule. The markers and famous occupants narrate the birth of a nation.

One marker pays homage to American victims of the Boston Massacre, including Crispus Attucks, who is considered the first killed in the American Revolution. Others commemorate Revolutionary War heroes who signed the Declaration of Independence: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Robert Treat Paine. You’ll also find Paul Revere’s headstone; the patriot rests centuries after his famous ride. Perhaps the most debated grave is Mary Goose’s, who may or may not be the real “Mother Goose.”

Allow about a half hour or more to linger here under the elms. The carvings of death heads and rhyming epitaphs on slate are works of art themselves. Entrance is free.

Eileen’s note: This is one of the most famous stops on the Freedom Trail and worth seeing with your own eyes. Standing in front of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere’s final resting places is a quiet, surprisingly powerful moment.

Tour the Massachusetts State House

With Jenn Coleman of Coleman Concierge

If you’ve ever been to the Boston Common, you’ve probably seen the iconic golden dome of the State House. If it looks like the Capital Building, there’s a reason. Charles Bulfinch, America’s first professional architect, designed both structures. It looks beautiful from the outside, but did you know that you can tour the State House for free? No wonder it’s a featured stop on the Freedom Trail.

The architectural overload continues once you walk through the massive front doors. Looking overhead, you’ll see stained-glass ceilings sparkling with an inner luminescence. Marble statues, floors, staircases, and archways surround you, and historical paintings and murals adorn the walls. When you visit the Massachusetts State House, you don’t only see a masterpiece of Federal architecture, you also walk through a beautiful slice of history.

Take in the Boston Public Library

The Boston Public Library’s McKim Building on Copley Square is one of my favorite quiet pockets in the city, and you absolutely don’t need to be a reader to appreciate it. The building opened in 1895 and is a National Historic Landmark, with a grand staircase, marble lions you can say hello to on the way up, scholarly murals on the walls, and Bates Hall (with its 50-foot-high barrel vault ceiling) at the top.

A few practical notes. They offer free guided tours of the art and architecture, but the spots fill up fast, so book ahead online if you want to do one. There’s also a free downloadable audio tour if you prefer to wander at your own pace. The interior courtyard is one of the prettiest sun-warmed spots in the city, and sometimes there are music performances out there in the warmer months. The Newsfeed Cafe and the Map Room Tea Lounge inside are both lovely for a coffee or a tea cocktail.

Sitting in the courtyard with a coffee on a sunny day is one of my favorite quiet Boston activities. It’s also free, which never hurts.

Stroll Beacon Hill

You’ll walk through Beacon Hill on the Freedom Trail (the State House is technically in it), but it’s worth a separate slow morning of its own. The neighborhood is ridiculously photogenic: red-brick mansions with black shutters, gas lamps, cobblestone streets, and the kind of historic charm you imagine when you imagine Boston.

Acorn Street is the tiny cobblestone alley that gets called the most photographed street in America. It really is that pretty. Go early morning or weekday for the best photos without other people.

Louisbourg Square is where some of Boston’s priciest real estate sits, including the former home of John Kerry.

Charles Street is where you’ll want to spend an actual hour or two. It’s lined with antique shops, indie boutiques, florists, a great Tatte Bakery location, and Beacon Hill Books & Cafe, an enchanting independent bookshop with a tearoom upstairs that’s worth a visit on its own.

For more on Beacon Hill bars and brunch spots, see my Bougie Boston guide.

Admire the Lenny Zakim Bridge

With Heather Trimm of Trimm Travels

I fell in love with Boston. Various factors contributed to these feelings and interestingly enough, the Zakim Bridge was one of such factors. The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge is one of the widest cable-stayed bridges in the world and was named by the Travel Channel as one of the World’s Top Ten Bridges.

Opened to the public in 2003, the bridge is named after civil rights activist Lenny Zakim and the American colonists who fought the British in the Battle of Bunker Hill. At 1,432 feet long, the bridge crosses the Charles River and lights up the Boston skyline.

For fantastic night shots, photograph the bridge from Revere Park as well as from behind the Bobby Orr Statue on the TD Garden side of the river.

Eat your way through the North End

The North End is Boston’s Little Italy and one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city. It’s the closest thing you’ll find to wandering Europe’s historic streets while in the U.S., and the Italian food is real. Several stops on the Freedom Trail are here too, so you can knock out a lot of history while planning an excellent lunch or dinner.

A few of my picks:

Modern Pastry over Mike’s Pastry. People can fight me on this. The cannoli at Modern is fresher, the line moves faster, and the chocolate work is better. Both are walking distance from each other on Hanover Street, so try them both and decide for yourself.

Cafe Vittoria for a slow espresso, a homemade pastry, and an espresso martini in the evening. The original cafe in the North End is one of the most charming corners of the neighborhood.

Pizzeria Regina for old-school Boston pizza. Coal-fired, around since 1926, no frills, a real institution.

For sit-down dinners and the elevated North End: I cover specific picks (Neptune Oyster, Little Sage, Cantina Italiana) in Bougie Boston.

In summer, the North End hosts a series of Italian feast festivals on weekends (the Feast of Saint Anthony in August is the biggest). Locals pile into the neighborhood for live music, processions, and street food. If you’re around then, don’t miss it.

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Slurp oysters at Union Oyster House

With Talek Nantes of Travels with Talek

Union Street Oyster House on Boston’s Union Street is steeped in history. The restaurant has been delivering meals since 1826, making it the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the U.S. The current building has had many lives: a boarding house, a textile warehouse, and a printer (the first newspaper in the United States was printed there). But it’s as a premier seafood establishment that it really found its calling.

The restaurant has dark narrow corridors and low ceilings. At the circular wooden bar where thousands of oysters are shucked and eaten daily, there’s a sign stating that Daniel Webster ate there almost daily when he visited the city.

The Union Oyster House isn’t all about history, however. It’s all about the food. You can get seafood and fat, fresh oysters shucked in front of you accompanied by a cold local craft beer.

Wander Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market

Faneuil Hall sits in the middle of the city as a classic stop on the Freedom Trail. The marketplace consists of four structures: Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, North Market, and South Market, and it’s where you can try a bunch of iconic Boston dishes in one place. Lobster rolls, clam chowder, Regina’s Pizzeria, all under one roof. Street performers work the front of Faneuil Hall for tips, and there are often pop-ups and seasonal events (the holiday tree lighting is lovely).

My honest take: worth a visit, but not worth lingering too long. Walk through, grab a chowder or a lobster roll, take a photo of the Christmas tree if you’re here in December, and then keep moving. The food is fine but you’ll eat better elsewhere in the city.

Step inside the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum

The Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum is a classic Boston stop, kitschy and cute, and especially fun for kids. Located at 306 Congress Street on the harborfront, the museum is interactive: visitors get roles, reenactors lead a colonial town meeting, and the tour moves out onto a full-scale restored 18th-century ship where you join the (very theatrical) mob to throw crates of tea into the harbor. Exhibits are multi-sensory, some are holographic, others include original artifacts.

The visit ends in Abigail’s Tea Room where you can order baked goods, sample the five teas thrown overboard at the original Boston Tea Party, or just grab a Sam Adams beer (because, Boston). It’s a great morning activity, and the harborfront location makes it easy to walk to the Seaport or hop a harbor cruise afterward.

See the city from the water (harbor cruises and Duck Tours

Boston was built on the water, and the best way to feel that is to get out on it.

Classic harbor cruises run year-round in various flavors: sunset, dinner, brunch, and historic narrated tours. I particularly love the Spirit of Boston dinner cruise which I’ve done twice and is a fun group activity.

Boston Duck Tour: yes, it’s touristy. Yes, it’s the kind of thing locals scoff at. And yes, it’s actually a blast, especially with kids or a group. The amphibious vehicles drive through downtown and then splash into the Charles River, and it’s a surprisingly good way to see how connected the city is to its harbor and waterways.

Ferries to the Harbor Islands run seasonally from Long Wharf and are an underrated half-day option. Spectacle Island has hiking and swimming, and Georges Island has Fort Warren ruins to explore.

Visit the Institute of Contemporary Art

With Sarah Fay of Travels of Sarah Fay

One of the best-kept secrets in Boston is watching the sunset over the Boston Harbor from The Institute of Contemporary Art in the Seaport District. The ICA has cascading stairs you can sit on while you take in the view of the seaport on a beautiful day. On First Fridays, a monthly occurrence, you can have a drink with friends, dance the night away under the stars, and every month there’s a different theme that allows you to see the exhibits in a new light. Also, on Thursdays from 5pm to 9pm you can visit for free. Easily accessible by public transport and walking distance from Downtown Boston.

Eileen’s note: The ICA is great for all ages and works as either a serious art stop or a casual sunset hangout depending on your mood. The Seaport neighborhood around it has expanded a lot in the last decade with pop-up shops, bowling at Kings, and some of the best seafood and rooftop bars in the city.

See the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is my favorite museum in Boston, especially in spring when the courtyard comes alive and everything’s in bloom. The museum is a combination of beautiful art and incredible architecture, created by a socialite who collected rare manuscripts and works of art and then built a four-story palace to house it all.

You’ll need at least an hour to scratch the surface. The rooms are staged to mimic aristocratic Bostonian life at the turn of the 20th century. The most popular highlight is the Courtyard, an open-air atrium with art, plants, and water features. Peek out the upper-floor windows to take in the Courtyard from different angles.

The other thing the Gardner Museum is famous for: the largest unsolved art heist in history. In 1990, thieves dressed as police officers stole 13 works of art, including pieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Manet. The empty frames still hang in the museum where the paintings used to be, waiting. It’s an eerie, fascinating detail.

Explore the Museum of Fine Arts

With Catherine D’Cruz of We Go With Kids

Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts is the fourth largest art museum in the U.S. and has a permanent collection of approximately 450,000 works. The Museum features the world’s largest collection of Japanese works outside of Japan, the Art of the Americas wing, significant European impressionist paintings, and some of the most treasured Chinese works of art. Highlights include Monet’s Water Lilies and Chihuly’s Lime Green Icicle Tower. As one of the world’s most renowned art collections, this is definitely a paradise for art lovers.

Eileen’s note: The MFA and the Gardner are conveniently right near each other in the Fenway area, so you can pair them in one museum day if you’re so inclined. Honestly, even one of them is enough for a day. Build in time for a long lunch in between.

Catch a Red Sox game at Fenway Park

Fenway Park is the oldest ballpark in the United States (since 1912) and an absolute must-do if you’re visiting in baseball season. I love catching games here, and bleacher seats are often easy to grab last minute if you’re flexible.

[IMAGE: Fenway photo if exists]

It’s a bit of a hike from downtown but easy to reach via the Green Line. Plan to pair it with dinner around Fenway. I love Hojoko for Japanese-inflected dinner and cocktails, and it’s named after the former iconic Howard Johnson’s building it lives inside (a deep cut for old-school Bostonians).

If you’re traveling with teens specifically, here are my favorite tips for visiting Fenway with teens.

See the Celtics or Bruins at TD Garden

If you’re here outside baseball season, Boston is a passionate basketball and hockey town. Celtics and Bruins games at the TD Garden are loud, fun, and very on-brand for the city.

The Garden area itself is a little generic, but the North End is walkable from there, which means you can do a pre-game cannoli at Modern or a post-game dinner at one of the Italian spots.

Walk or run the Charles River Esplanade

With Anna and Trevor of Delightful Travellers

We frequently go for runs when visiting a city. It’s a great way to explore while burning off the calories of all those delicious meals. Boston happens to be one of our absolute favorite running cities, mainly because of the Charles River Esplanade. Here you’ll find paths for running, walking, and biking, plus boaters and kayakers along the river and the canals that run alongside it. It’s a perfect escape from the busy city.

We usually start our run in the middle of the city, making our way through the Boston Common and Public Gardens. From there it’s a short jaunt to the river. The running route is so lively and scenic that distractions aren’t needed.

Eileen’s note: The Esplanade also hosts the Boston Pops and Hatch Shell free concerts and movie nights in summer. The annual July 4th concert and fireworks here are iconic.

Eat at the Omni Parker House

With Cat of For Two, Please

For foodies, one place you must not miss is the Boston Omni Parker House Hotel. This historic hotel, standing tall at the foot of Beacon Hill along the Freedom Trail, is the place where Boston Cream Pie was first created. Although it’s named a pie, in reality it’s a 2-layer butter sponge cake filled with thick custard and chocolate fondant on top. The texture is so silky smooth that every bite is melt-in-your-mouth perfection.

While you’re at Omni Parker House, grab a drink at The Last Hurrah, named a “Great Whiskey Bar of the World” by Whiskey Magazine. The prize-winning bar has a comprehensive list of cocktails and martinis. If you have a sweet tooth, order the Boston Crème Pie martini for a complete Boston experience.

Visit Time Out Market in Fenway

[Update: As of January 2026, Time Out Market was almost closed by its original operator, then saved at the last minute by Samuels & Associates, the longtime Fenway developer who originally helped bring it to the neighborhood. As of this update, it’s still open. Worth confirming hours before you go.]

Time Out Market Boston is in Fenway’s historic Landmark Center (which served as a Sears, Roebuck and Company warehouse from 1929 to 1988). The 25,000-square-foot market houses 15 food stations run by some of the best chefs in the city, two bars, and a large patio.

It’s a hike from downtown, but if you pair it with a Red Sox game or a concert in the Fenway area, it’s a really nice day-or-night out. The food mix is varied (from Ms. Clucks Deluxe to Cusser’s Roast Beef to Lala’s Neapolitan-ish Pizza to Union Square Donuts), so it works well for groups where everyone wants something different.

Indulge at Eataly

With Jessica Serna of MyCurlyAdventures

Eataly is an Italian foodie wonderland. If you’ve never visited Italy, you’ll find paradise in Eataly. Eataly Boston is a 3-story Italian marketplace with restaurants, bakeries, fresh pasta counters, and more. The fresh pasta, bread, and fish counters are filled with goods and the cheese counter is ranked as one of the top in Boston.

The options are endless and will make you want to go home and cook up your own Italian feast. They even have a marketplace section where you can get imported goods from Italy. It’s easy to spend hours wandering around and eating around Eataly.

Eat your way through Chinatown

Boston’s Chinatown is one of my favorite under-the-radar neighborhoods for food, festivals, and a real local crowd. It’s right next to the Theater District and easy to fold into a downtown afternoon or evening.

Empire Garden is the standout. The dim sum is excellent, and the restaurant lives inside a hundred-year-old former theater, so the interior is beautiful in its own right. It’s the kind of place where the room is as good as the food.

Shojo is the trendier pick, with creative Asian-fusion dishes and great cocktails. Good for date night or a younger crowd.

Bakeries: May’s Cake House for incredible matcha crepe cakes and Asian-style fruit cakes. Worth the stop.

Pho Pasteur for proper Vietnamese pho, and there are several other excellent pho and dumpling spots throughout the neighborhood.

Chinatown is also where Boston’s best food festivals happen, especially around Lunar New Year (late January or February) and the Mid-Autumn Festival. If you can time a visit, do it.

Take in Boston theater and music

Boston’s theater scene is intimate and often classic, which means you can see Broadway-caliber shows in venues that feel a lot more personal than New York. The Theater District (right next to Chinatown) hosts touring Broadway productions, Boston Pops, ART (American Repertory Theater in Cambridge), and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

But the music venue scene is where I really nerd out. A few specific picks:

Paradise Rock Club in Allston is small, classic, and has hosted huge names (U2, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay all played here early in their careers). Throwback vibe, great sound, intimate.

Roadrunner in the Fenway area is the newest big-name venue, good for bigger acts across all genres.

House of Blues Boston is right next to Fenway, good mix of names.

Leader Bank Pavilion in the Seaport is open seasonally in summer, an outdoor venue on the water. Lovely setting for a warm-weather concert.

Hatch Shell on the Esplanade hosts free concerts and movie nights in summer, including the iconic July 4 Boston Pops show.

Historic venues: The Orpheum Theatre (one of the oldest in the country, opened in 1852) and the Cutler Majestic Theatre (103 years old) primarily host performance arts but also bring in concerts.

Have a Cheers nostalgia drink

With Sarah Carter of ASocialNomad

The bar where everyone knows your name is a famous institution in Beacon Hill, Boston. Founded in 1969 as the Bull & Finch pub, this bar is best remembered as the exterior for the bar made famous in the NBC sitcom Cheers, which ran between 1982 and 1993. The interior was never used in the TV show, but you’d never know that when you step through the door and are met by life-size cutouts of your favorite stars. There’s been a replica Cheers Bar at the Faneuil Hall that you can visit too. But there’s something special about heading to Beacon Hill and raising a glass to Sam, Diane, Cliff, Norm, and Carla.

Eileen’s note: Worth a stop for the photo and the nostalgia. Not where I’d plan to spend more than a drink.

Try a Boston speakeasy (the Loyall Counting Room is new so fun)

Boston has a quietly excellent speakeasy scene, and I recently checked out Loyall Counting Room, a new spot inside the InterContinental Boston. The whole place is themed around Boston history during the American Revolution, and the in-house mixologist tells you the lore behind each cocktail. The vibe is fun without being too gimmicky, and the short rib arancini are excellent.

Pair it with one of the other speakeasy-style spots I’ve covered in Bougie Boston (Yvonne’s in the Financial District is a particular favorite) for a proper cocktail crawl.

Spend a day in Cambridge and Harvard

A short ride on the Red Line gets you across the river to Cambridge, where you can wander Harvard’s iconic campus. The buildings are beautiful, the Yard is impressive, and the surrounding Harvard Square neighborhood has bookstores, cafes, and indie shops.

Specifically worth knowing: the Harvard museums are free at certain hours (check the current schedule before you go). The Harvard Museum of Natural History has the famous Glass Flowers exhibit, which is incredible to see in person.

While you’re across the river, a few Cambridge musts:

The Middle East in Central Square is the iconic Boston-area nightclub, music venue, and bar all rolled into one. It’s been a local institution for decades and books a great mix of indie, rock, hip-hop, and world music. Casual, lived-in, and the real deal if you want a slice of how the city actually goes out.

Toscanini’s for some of the best ice cream and gelato in the entire Boston area. The burnt caramel flavor is famous for a reason. It’s worth crossing the river for.

Off the beaten path: the neighborhoods tourists miss

A quick note before this section: in Boston, some of these spots are technically part of the city of Boston (like Jamaica Plain), and others are their own cities right next door (Cambridge and Somerville are separate municipalities, even though most people think of them as Boston). Logistically, they’re all accessible on the T, so for trip-planning purposes I treat them as part of greater Boston.

Brattle Book Shop (Downtown Crossing)

In the heart of downtown, but easy to miss. The Brattle Book Shop is one of America’s oldest and largest used book shops, with two floors of general used books, one floor of rare and collectible signed editions, and an outdoor lot of $1, $3, and $5 carts that’s open year-round (weather permitting). They host a fun summer popup sale that’s worth timing your trip around if you’re a book person.

Jamaica Plain (JP)

Jamaica Plain is one of my favorite neighborhoods, and it’s where I’d send a visitor who wants to feel like they’re seeing the city outside the tourist core. It’s about a 20-minute ride on the Orange Line from downtown.

Ula Cafe is the activist community hub of the neighborhood, with great food and strong vegan and vegetarian options. It’s Black-owned, woman-owned, and veteran-owned. Excellent breakfast and lunch, popovers worth a detour, and the kind of place where the staff and the regulars feel woven together.

Next door: there’s a great Scottish restaurant called The Haven that pairs well with a JP afternoon.

Franklin Park Zoo is also in the area and a solid family stop with kids. It’s smaller and more wandering-friendly than some big-city zoos.

JP also has a great low-key bar and restaurant scene scattered through the neighborhood, particularly along Centre Street.

Somerville

Somerville is its own city, just north of Cambridge, and it’s been one of the most up-and-coming parts of the greater Boston area for the last decade. Easy hop on the Red Line to Davis Square.

Taza Chocolate Factory Store and Tours is one of the most fun, under-the-radar tours in the city. Taza makes stone-ground organic chocolate, and you can walk through the factory, taste samples, and shop direct. Great group activity, great gift-buying stop.

The Burren in Davis Square is the classic Irish pub of the neighborhood, with Irish music sessions up front and a big stage in the back for local band gigs. The kind of place locals actually go.

Saloon is right nearby and the move if you want craft cocktails done properly. A nice pairing to the Burren’s casual energy.

Sacco’s Bowl Haven is a candlepin bowling alley (a New England specialty, small balls and pins, very different from regular bowling) and a perfect rainy-day group activity.

Day trip to Salem, Massachusetts

With Stephanie Craig of History Fangirl

When people think of the history of Massachusetts and witch trials, they typically expect to trek out to Salem. However, you needn’t go that far just to get a bit of this history. There were actually witch trials in Boston, and there’s a memorial to Goody Ann Glover, who was an Irish immigrant executed for witchcraft before there ever were Salem Witch Trials. Many experts believe that it was this Boston trial that inspired the girls in Salem to begin making their claims. Considered a Catholic martyr, she refused to reject Catholicism and was also a victim of prejudice against native Irish speakers. You can visit the plaque marking her execution on Salem St. across from the Boston Common tourist center.

Eileen’s note: Salem itself is a great day trip from Boston, especially in October when the city goes all-in on Halloween. It’s about 45 minutes by car or about an hour on the commuter rail from North Station. For more day trip options, see my Best Day Trips from Boston guide.

More day trips and weekend trips from Boston

Boston is also the launching point for some of the best New England trips:

• Plymouth, Massachusetts: A Local’s Guide (Pilgrim history, beaches, breweries)
• Newport, Rhode Island Girls Trip (90 minutes south, mansions and Cliff Walk)
• Boston to Maine Road Trip (Portland, Camden, all the lobster)
• North Conway, New Hampshire (White Mountains, year-round)
• Stowe, Vermont (foliage and inns)
• Provincetown (Cape Cod’s tip)

How to save: the Boston CityPass

If you’re hitting several attractions, the Boston CityPass bundles tickets for major sites (the Aquarium, Museum of Science, View Boston, plus rotating others) at a significant discount, and you can space out your activities over a 9-day window. Worth doing if you’re planning to hit three or more big attractions.

Want more Boston?

This guide is the wide lens on Boston. For deeper dives on specific angles, here’s where to go next on Pure Wander:

• Girls Weekend in Boston: A Local’s Neighborhood Guide for hotels, brunch, rooftop bars, and spa picks neighborhood by neighborhood
• Best Day Trips from Boston for the full list of regional escapes
• Boston to Maine Road Trip: The Complete Itinerary for the classic New England road trip
• Plymouth MA: A Local’s Guide for the easiest day trip from Boston
• Encore Boston Harbor Review for the casino-and-spa option
• Assembly Row in Somerville for the up-and-coming hotspot
• How to Spend a Perfect Day in Boston with Teens for the family angle

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