help for Boston travel?

haha said:
This whole thread is odd to me. New York? One day? Boston, 4 days? Just forget the whole thing, get some good DVD travelogs and stay home. You'll see more and be a lot more comfortable.
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I agree . You need at least three to four days in each anything less is too rushed .
 
I was in Boston yesterday for business. Just another affirmation to NEVER DRIVE IN BOSTON! I've driven in nearly every major city in the U.S., but Boston is off that list forever. Yesterday we saw tons of red-light runners and a car blow its horn and go around a car that had the audacity to slow down at a yellow light. The driving is insane and you have to be careful as pedestrian as well.
 
Boston is famous for it's flashing green traffic lights. At least now I know what they mean.

Also note that a left-green arrow does not mean that oncoming traffic has a red light. It just means you are allowed to turn left if nobody is going to hit you.
 
I was driving in Boston last weekend. There are many good reasons that the indigenes behind the wheel up there are called "Massholes."

As for going to NYC, I think you are nuts, but I also fully understand that we do foolish things to please the wife (like hiking 7 or 8 blocks in the full NM sun in 90F weather after a 7 hour drive to get tequila for someone who was not even in the hotel room when I got back, grumble, grumble). If you want to go from Boston to NYC, I would either take Amtrak, look into flights (which can be inexpensive), or find one of the numerous bus companies that do the run several times a day for peanuts. I saw tons of "Bolt" busses making the run, and there are also a slew of no-name Chinatown bus companies that will haul you from Boston to NYC for well under $50 a head. Once in NYC you will find a public transportation system so all-encompassing that it makes Boston's very good system seem like a child's toy. And driving in NYC is a nightmare, especially if you are from out of town.
 
Again, thank you all for your input, I appreciate it.

I think I will gently exercise my marriage management skills and kill the trip to NYC. We'll go to New York City some other time. Again, thanks for the advice, it appears that you have saved us some pain and suffering.

So, it's 5 days in New England with at least 3 in Boston. Maybe instead of NYC, we'll visit other places around Boston.
 
Our Doorman in NYC when asked about the Statue of Liberty said it was a complete waste of money to deal with all the crowds going on the trip to the island just to look up at the statue when you could take the Staten Island ferry that sails right by the statue and price for the ferry is free,takes about half hour to Staten Island where you just get on the next ferry back to NY.
 
If going to NY..

... take the train, the trip from Boston to NY goes along the coastline and is very scenic for the most part. But don't drive, done that, won't do it again.
 
I live 30 minutes south of Boston and I drive into this city quite often to visit my daughter (primarily to haul some stuff from DW and last week it was to help her get rid of bedbugs).

From someone who knows the city inside and out take my advise and take the T or walk and only rent a car if you plan to drive on 93 North to NH or south to Cape Cod or Providence. Parking is pretty expensive unless you park in "early bird specials" lots for $19 a day.

Hotwire has a couple of 3.5 stars hotels in the backbay area for around $100 a night. There you'll be within walking distance to the Boston common, Beacon Hill, Newbury and Bylston streets as well as Fenway Park and only a few stops away on the T from the North end, the waterfront and the museum of science.

BTW for those of you who think the Boston drivers are bad you apparently haven't been to Providence.......
 
I just booked a 3.5 star hotel from Hotwire for Boston and I got the Sheraton in Back Bay which is a nice hotel . I've stayed their before and it is really convenient .
 
Three days in Boston is enough. There are better places the Legal Seafood. Price line for $100 got us into the Marriot on the Harbor. Pick up your car at the airport. See the Cape (2 days), Ogunquit and Bar Harbor, Me (1 day each). A day in Nantucket is fine. Staying over is expensive. Trip Advisor is a good start in planning your trip.
 
Another vote for not driving a car in Boston. I live 60 miles west of the city and only drive there under extreme duress. If I have to use an airport, I fly out of Manchester NH on Southwest. The city street layout is not in a nice grid pattern but was based on following the paths of a herd of drunken cows. Boston (and Massachusetts) drivers are horribly obnoxious and aggressive, but no more so than in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Take the "T" everywhere, and stay in Copley Square and walk. Forget Burlington, there is nothing there but your typical shopping mall.
 
ok, ok, we're not going to NY.

ok, we're not driving in Boston.

FWIW, we'll be staying at a nice place in Braintree. Free parking for our car rental. The T is 2 miles from our hotel. We plan to drive to the T and take the T into Boston. We'll do this for 2 days. See Boston in those 2 days.

Another day we plan to drive to Lexington and Salem. Then we'll leave Boston and drive into New Hampshire and seek our fortune looking for the NE change of colors. Right now, we're debating on driving to Lake Winnipasaukee or North Conway. any thoughts?

thanks
 
Lake Winnipesaukee is nice, take a ride on the "Mt. Washington" which is the boat that tours the lake. I can't be positive, but I believe you can pick it up at least in Wolfboro (southern end) and Meredith (northern end). A web search will reveal the details.

North Conway is a strip of Rt. 16 dedicated to outlet shopping and traffic snarls (on summer weekends). Plenty of touristy stuff to see in the area, like Mt. Washington (the actual mountain, not the ship....see above). If you decide to drive your car, take the shuttle vans or perhaps even the cog railway to the summit (pricey but a glorious experience), a general rule of thumb is "if you can see the summit from the bottom, it's a good day to go." If the summit is in the clouds, you'll be treated to an overpriced view of your feet. The auto road is on the southern side of the mountain, along Rt. 16 just past Pinkham Notch. The cog railway is on the northern side. To get there, take Rt. 16 out of North Conway, and where it splits with Rt. 302 (traffic lights at the Dairy Queen), follow 302 north through Crawford Notch (spectacular views at the crest), then look for the signs for the cog after the height of the notch.
 
albundyz said:
ok, ok, we're not going to NY.
ok, we're not driving in Boston.
Another day we plan to drive to Lexington and Salem. Then we'll leave Boston and drive into New Hampshire and seek our fortune looking for the NE change of colors. Right now, we're debating on driving to Lake Winnipasaukee or North Conway. any thoughts?

thanks
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Salem is a really cool place. I took a weekend bus trip there 2 years ago. :D

Fall foliage...ooooooooooo my favorite. The maples are glorious when they flame into brilliant reds and oranges.
Here's a site that may be helpful.
New England Foliage Map - Yankee Foliage - Your Source for New England Fall Foliage
I was surprised to see some areas coded yellow for "Turning" already. Turning means very few leaves are changing. We've had plenty of rain, but nighttime temps are the biggest factor.
 
Ok so, I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds here as this is my first post but I want to throw some facts at you.

Copley is very nice, and would be a sweet place to stay; however, you're looking at some jacked up hotel prices. A much much better idea would be to stay somewhere in Newton. The Sheraton over the pike in Newton Corner is very convenient but since it's over the pike, it might be kind of loud. Another choice is to stay at the hotel right next to the Riverside T stop. It may be at the very end of the green line but it's in Newton, it's literally 500 feet from a stop, and it's ridiculously cheap; AND since it's at the very end of the line, almost every single stop up until the Fenway stop is pretty uncrowded and easy going.

As for going to Salem, there is a ferry that heads there and they've got plenty of bikes or mopeds if you're into that thing. The same goes for Martha's Vineyard/Nantucket/most other places on the Cape. If you want to save some cash, the ferry is much cheaper than a rental car and you won't have to drive around with us Massholes.

The foliage IS gorgeous and it's highly recommended to get a car for a day and drive out as far west as you can. Not necessarily all the way to Amherst but halfway there it becomes less cityish (nothing is grosser than driving through a crappy town like Saugus) and more rural with beautiful trees and fields.

Fun touristy things to do are Fenway Park (expensive), checking out the Zakim bridge at night (gorgeous), the science museum, the aquarium, the freedom trail, Copley and the Prudential for shopping, old north church, the north end for overpriced Italian food (that's one of those places that is overhyped but you still have to go there), and grab some seafood in the harbor (No Names is a pretty popular destination for tourists.) There's also Fanueil Hall (which I'll never spell right) and the surrounding area.

Like I said, all of those are pretty touristy but all my visiting friends seem to enjoy it. For the non-touristy things, there's Church (bar, not actual church) in Back Bay and Jim's Deli in Brighton. Both of which are wicked easy to get to via T or bus.

Anyway, hope I could help and enjoy Boston (PS: If you're on the T, and you're not sure it's your stop but you stand in front of the door anyway, you WILL get pushed the hell off :))

PPS: If you see a "roundabout" or "rotary" in Boston.. then you're not in Boston. You're probably in Roslindale or JP or Hyde Park or something.
 
From Boston to NYC, you'll hit Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, and NYC each with its own traffic jams some of which are mere nuisances and some are monumental headaches. There is no scenery to speak of along the way except for a minor bit of northern CT and southern/western MA that's kind of nice, so it's a boring drive to boot. The drive is definitely too much trouble for a one night stay.

Burlington is the burbs, so there isn't much to see. I would bid for a hotel downtown and be where the action is.
 
prence said:
Another choice is to stay at the hotel right next to the Riverside T stop. It may be at the very end of the green line but it's in Newton, it's literally 500 feet from a stop, and it's ridiculously cheap; AND since it's at the very end of the line, almost every single stop up until the Fenway stop is pretty uncrowded and easy going.
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That would be the Indigo Hotel on Grove st. in NewtonNewton Hotels- Hotel Indigo Riverside Near Waltham, Needham, MA- Newton, Massachusetts

I stayed there this past summer,the proximity to the green line was very handy and as the first dozen or so stops are above ground the front seats give a nice view down the tracks. the hotel was inexpensive and had no problems i could remember..
 
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