Getting from Westin Waterfront to Freedom Trail (Boston, Braintree: hotel, transfer to)

[CountryBeth]

Hi everyone! I'm new, but a friend suggested I come here looking for information. I wanted to tell you I've scanned your posts for visiting Boston and wanted to thank you. They've been most helpful!

Anyway, we'll be staying at the Westin Boston Waterfront. While dh is as a conference, I'll be taking a 15-1/2 year old and 12-1/2 year old to different places in Boston. We want to do the Freedom Trail. According to the hotel information, it's about 1.6 miles from the hotel. Shouldn't be a problem. I also notice that the trail is about 2.5 miles long and it looks as if it ends away from the hotel.

So, my question is, is there a bus that would take us back near the hotel at the end of the Freedom Trail? If so, can you tell me what number/color or whatever I'm looking for and where to catch it? And, would it be better to start at the end and work our way backwards so we are closer to the hotel?

Cost for the bus if it's doable? I'm assuming taxis abound in the area. If a bus is not available, what can I expect to pay from the end of the trail to the hotel?

Thanks for all your help!

[WannaGoHome]

Hi there :-) I would suggest that you grab a map of the public transportation. It's worth it. From your hotel, you can get onto the Red Line (Inbound towards Alewife) and get off at Park St. This will pop you right smack dab at Boston Common, which (if I remember correctly) is the beginning of the trail. :-) To get to South Station, you would just go up Summer St. towards downtown (that's the easiest way to describe Boston. Walk towards the buildings or away from them. Haha.) You'll walk over a little bridge and past the Children's Museum and it'll be right there. It's by Summer St. and Atlantic Ave.

To get home, you have a few options, depending on where you stop. If your last stop is the Bunker Hill Monument, you can take the Community College T back (Orange Line-Inbound towards Forest Hills). Then you can either get off at Downtown Crossing and walk back to your hotel. Or if it's raining/you're exhausted, you can transfer to the Red line Outbound towards Mattapan or Braintree and get off at South Station.

For a cab, it's $2.25 for the first 1/8 of a mile and then $.30 for every other 1/8th of a mile. I'm not sure how many cabs there are in Charlestown though. I'd say to go for the T. It's really cheap/easy if you have good directions (which I'd like to think mine are pretty good haha). Here's a map of the freedom trail which shows the T-stops I mentioned and also a map of the T in general. Good luck and Cheers!

http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/maps/...on-nps-map.pdf

http://www.math.harvard.edu/location...bos_subway.png

[CountryBeth]

Thanks so much! I'll print that out pronto.

[holden125]

Don't forget the Silver Line! One block from the hotel is the World Trade Center station the Silver Line, which you can take 2 stops to/from South Station for the Red if you are not up to walking there, or walking back from South Station or Downtown Crossing. It's on the subway map WannaGoHome provided.

You might also want to check if the hotel has a South Station shuttle.

A taxi ride would be about $15 but taxis don't particularly abound by the Bunker Hill monument at the end of the Freedom Trail to my recollection. It's a residential area. To get back I'd count on public transportation.

You could call a taxi company to come pick you up but they may charge a bit more.

Boston Cab, (617) 536-5010
City Cab, (617) 536-5100
ITOA, (617) 825-4000
Metro Cab, (617) 782-5500
Town Taxi, (617) 536-5000