Quite a lot of just nice, pretty average things to do in Boston without there being once single thing that I’d say was absolutely stand out and a must-do when you’re visiting. Like Boston itself, the things to do are alright, but nothing you’re going to get too excited by.
Faneuil Hall Marketplace – I founds this a bit weird first time I went here. It’s got a few upmarket shops mixed in with some older run down ones and some spaces that are vacant and seem abandoned. I went here on a Saturday afternoon and there were quite a few people here. Nothing unbearable and gave it a bit of a buzz. It’s separated into 3 main rows and a few hundred metres long so you can easily just walk up and back. One row is a bunch of food stalls, serving up mostly American and westernised Asian food. There’s Uniqlo, the Gap, Urban Outfitters, Victoria’s Secret, Sunglasses Hut and the like and a few buskers and street performers, one of which I heard asking the crowd to give them $20 or $40 – ridiculous! As with a lot of things to do in Boston, if you’re around the area, it’s worth checking out but not really worth travelling more than 10-15 minutes for.
Washington Street – If you walk about 10 minutes South West towards Boston Common, Washington Street around Macy’s has a bunch of different shopping and restaurants. It’s a nice walk through downtown Boston and again, nice to see but don’t think you’re going to be blown away. If you have small kids might be a bit far but for most kids over 4, the walk is only a few kilometers so should be fine.
Prudential Center (Mall) – If you keep walking southwest passed Boston Common, about another 20 minute walk you’ll reach the Prudential Centre, another area quite famous for shopping in Boston. We only went in the actual mall, which was pretty average at best. Ate at Wakamama, which is a Japanese chain restaurant, and that was the most westernised Japanese food I’ve ever tasted anywhere in the world. Popular with locals though so you might like it if you’re a honky. If you’ve been to Tokyo, Osaka or anywhere in Japan, you’ll know what I’m talking about. All around this area is shopping, so I guess if you’re done with all the touristy things to do in Boston and after a bit of shopping, start here and just walk around.
Harbor Walk – Not sure exactly where it officially starts and ends but I started a run at our hotel, ran to the Institute of Contemporary Art and basically followed the signs back to Battery Wharf Hotel. It’s about 7-8km, but you can do a few kilometres walking and most likely you’ll have had enough. It’s nice getting out in some fresh air (coming from Hong Kong), but the harbour area is not that pretty and there’s not a single sea creature that can be found near the shore, which Grobbler was most upset by. If you live in Asia, you’ll appreciate this more, but if you live in the West or come from any harbour city, this isn’t going to be that awesome. Still, I’d probably recommend this as one of the things to do in Boston as there’s a few good things to see along the way, notably the New England Aquarium, Boston Tea Party and Boston Children’s Museum, as well as a lot of ok restaurants.
Boston Duck Tour – After a couple of very nice warm days of weather of 25-27 degrees, the weather dropped to 15 degrees and doing this tour was absolutely freezing. It’s a rather boring, unspectacular tour of a few parts of Boston made bearable by the very excellent tour guide on board. He provides some surprisingly wry and witty jokes along the way which goes over most people’s heads and not the typical corny, tacky attempts at humour that are usually found on most tours like this. The feature is the going into the water bit, which is not anything special and in reality is also rather ho-hum when you actually do it. If you’re 50/50 whether to do the tour, only go if the weather is nice. You get preselected seats and can’t choose, we got the back seats which actually are the best I think, but when booking online there’s no way to choose so it’s really luck. Rated as one of the best things to do in Boston, but I don’t get too excited, the tour guide was the best thing about it.
Harvard Square/Harvard – For adults, the grounds and surrounds of Harvard are nice and it’s worth heading over to take a look, even if you don’t have any connection to Harvard. Harvard Square is just a bunch of shops, one particular good book shop and a massive merchandise shop selling branded paraphernalia. We ate at a horrible (and I mean HORRIBLE!) Hong Kong Chinese restaurant which was terrible and regretted it immediately. Not even the ducks or Geese by the river cared for it. It’s nice walking walking through Harvard campus, so make sure you give that a go. Not one of the best things to do in Boston with kids, but adults will enjoy it.
For more things to do in Boston with kids, check out Toucan’s Tips for Boston. To find out any more information on things to do in Boston in general, feel free to email us or ask us on Twitter.