Where should I stay and what has to be done? I will be in Boston for Saturday afternoon and Sunday with my wife. Where should we stay and what should we do? I haven’t been to Boston since the mid-90’s so have no clue as to what is central or where is good to stay.
stay at the long wharf marriot. it’s right near faneuil hall, aquarium, tons of bars, and the north end. boston has changed a ton since the 90s, particularly this area where the big dig went in.
theres lots to do, depends what kind of scene your into.
stay at the fairmont, you can probably get it for $130 a night via travelzoo.com it is close to all the shopping areas, and a very close walk to the center of it all.
by all means, stay at copley if you’re into your wife dragging you around gucci, coach, nieman marcus, etc
agree…copley. But only b.c thats where Boondock saints was filmed.
It is a small city and if you are living in a city (Downtown, Backbay, Fenway etc), you will be able to go anywhere in the 15-20 minutes. Museums, Theatres, Faniuel Hall (Historic place), North End (Italian District), Freedom Trail etc are very close to each other. It has been very cold recently so dont expect much weather wise.
Not expecting much weather wise, hasn’t been much better in NY. Just want a place that is moderately central in the city. Figure we will have a nice dinner and a few drinks. Relax etc.
i just looked expedia: park plaza, the taj (used to be the ritz, very convenient location), eliot, lennox, westin coply (in the mall if wifey is a shopper), fairmont copley all good options, all in the $175-225ish range on expedia- maybe other travel sites you can get cheaper. i’d echo everyone else- stay at one of those in back bay, close to shopping, can walk around in boston common, good for a night in town. dinner- make a reservation at carmen or terramia in the north end if you like italian, you won’t go wrong, cab it there and walk around the north end a bit- go for a coffee afterwards at cafe vittoria or a little dessert at mike’s pastries. you will have done the 1 day boston touristy loop just fine with this… if it was nice out and you were really ambitious, you’d walk the freedom trail to your dinner (it prob would be a 30 min walk or so, but you just follow the red line on the road, i’m sure your concierge could give you a map). enjoy!
Thanks for the ideas.
banni, have you worked as a tourist guide before? You know so many things…
I was at a conference there last June and stayed at the InterContinental located at 510 Atlantic Avenue, it was beautiful. You need to visit Union Oyster House for the history, but I didn’t think that the food was as good as Kingfish. Giacomo’s was really good too and much cheaper than the aforementioned. I can’t speak much about the nightlife, we went to several bars and the only one I remember the name to was Cheers, which was far too commercialized. The Sam Adams Brewery Tour is pretty far from everything else, but that was my favorite touristy thing that I did. I am biased because I’m a huge Sam Adams fan.
i don’t know what it is about giacomo’s… i never really thought it was great. the huge line/cash only thing definitely makes it feel like it’s gonig to be amazing. it’s good. i like terramia better. north end you can’t really go wrong though- if you want to sub that instead, sure, good stuff. the intercontinental they just built, it’s VERY nice, but i’m not a huge fan of the location- maybe if you had biz meetings in town. the bar in there is good (it’s right around the corner from my work), they make a good mojito. don’t go to cheers- not worth it- just remember it on the TV show- it’s better that way. i’ve never done the sam adams tour… this bostonian now has something on the to do list soon! as for tour guide- hey, this finance thing really isn’t making anyone much these days, maybe tour guide aspiring CFA would be a good switch?
agree with what every1 said about copley place (fairmont / taj etc.) being a shopping friendly area. 1 more thing, My experience at Hamersley’s Bistro was just too good, their signature chicken dish is the BEST i have ever had. I get it everytime I visit Boston, just like I get thin-crust pizza every time I visit NY.
^ i concur wholeheartedly that and craigie st bistro up in harvard sq prob my fave 2 bistro-type places in town now i’m just getting hungry
me too bannis 
you from boston? i want to move there
there’s another giacomo’s in the south end that never has a line and takes reservations anyway. sort of a pain given that i live right around from the north end one but the food there is awesome. i recommend zuppe di pesce for two. Joe Tecce’s for the north end. i used to intern for sam adams and was not impressed by their tour.
I would actually stay somewhere around the Downtown/Boston Common/Park Street area. Its pretty much the center of the city and everything in Boston is a 15min train ride or 30min walk away. Areas you should checkout: Beacon Hill/Back Bay (take a walk on the freedom trail), North End (great food), Copley/Newbury (shopping), Fenway (kinda of shaddy at night so go during the daytime), Harvard Square, a walk across Boston Common & the Charles River, and a show over at the Theatre District.
I’m going to be in Boston from 11/13-11/16. Any fun cultural or local festivities going down that weekend?
Giacomo’s is very overrated. you can do much better in the north end. I always laugh when i see people standing outside waiting to get in there.