Boston Area Info (Cambridge, Revere, Gardner: sale, hotels, house)

[SoCalMomma]

I have received so much wonderful info already, but I need some more advice..

We are going on a college search roadtrip this summer. Part of our tour is in the Boston area

1. Museums: Boston seems to have tons of museums & the aquarium. Which are the best?

2. Hotels: I have reservations at 2 places & I cannot decide which would be better overall. Please help! Radisson in the Theater District on Stuart St. Its $250/night including parking & breakfast. Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square. Its $260 per night. Parking is $25 per day and no meals included. Its not all about money, I want to be in a good area, with lots of things within walking distance. I want to be comfortable and safe Its just my son and I going on this trip, so we dont need a HUGE room, but we'll be there 3 nights so we'd like some room to spread out a bit. The Radisson seems to have larger rooms, and a pool, and the price is lower. The Commonwealth looks really neat and that area looks like there is a lot to see & do, but I'll have to pay to park the car. Any suggestions???

3. Universities: We are, as I said, on a college tour. Which colleges/universities in the Boston area do you suggest we go look at. We have already planned to see MIT & possibly Boston College. What schools in the area are breathtaking to see (old historical bldgs, etc)?

4. Places to eat: I already have some suggestions, but if you could list your favorite places, and what sort of restaurant it is, why its special .. that would be great!

5. We'll only have 3 days, what things would you consider a 'MUST SEE' ???

Thank you so much!

[ChunkyMonkey]

Hi SoCalMomma and welcome to Boston. Just a few tips:

1. Museums: Really depends what you are into. MFA- if you are into American, European, Egyptian art. They currently have a great Hopper exhibit. Gardner-You should visit just to see the beautiful atrium. It is a rather unique museum as it used to be a house. ICA-cool architecture right on the water, but small collection. Harvard Museum of Natural History-got to check out the glass flowers here. Way cool. Children's Museum, Museum of Science, Aquarium-Great if you have smaller kids.

2. check out tripadvisor.com for reviews of the hotels. The theatre district is essentially downtown, while Kenmore Square is near Back Bay. Kenmore Square is probably a better neighborhood.

3. Should check out Harvard for the architecture. There are also 60 other universities in the area. The other big ones are Tufts, Boston University, Northeastern.

4. One of my favorites is Elephant Walk in Porter Square. I think there is one in Boston somewhere on the green line. It is Cambodian/French food. I love it because it has such complex flavours and I know I can't make it at home because I bought their cookbook.

5. Freedom Trail, USS Constitution, neighborhood walks and all the historical buildings, etc. (North End, Public Garden, South End, Back Bay, Beacon Hill), Gardner Museum

Good luck.

[maggiekate]

the parker house you might wish to check out. It is within walking distance and the t to lots of places. you could also check out Wentworth, Northeastern and B U even Suffolk

[eevee]

for hotels, I'd personally choose the Radisson just because of it's location. if you are going to be doing a lot of traveling in and around the city, the theatre district has the best T access. you can walk to the Common/garden (which is also very nice to visit and relax in) and take the green line to Boston University (outbound "B" line), Boston College (also outbound "B' line), Northeastern (outbound "E" line), or some of the smaller specialized schools like Berkeley School of Music (outbound any train but the "E" line) and Mass Art (outbound "E" line). you can also walk to nearby Emerson College.

from the theatre district you can also walk to Downtown Crossing and catch the red line (take it outbound to Harvard and MIT and inbound to UMASS Boston) or the orange line (which also goes to Northeastern)

the hotel near Kenmore Sq. is ok (note, I've never been inside these hotels; just is all just based on their location), but your choice of transportation is limited (really only have the option of the "C" or "B" line), there are mostly nightclubs in this area (didn't sound like you wanted to go bar hopping), and, most of all, Fenway Park is nearby. if you want to catch a game, this is good, but most likely, you'll just have to deal w/ potentially drunk sports fans as they pour out from the local bars. this hotel is convenient to BU (it's on the actual campus), so if BU is your school of choice, pick this hotel

if you choose the Radisson, I suggest checking to see what's playing in the nearby theatres. you may be able to snag some cheap tickets from scalpers for sold out plays (Blue Man Group is nearby, and a must if you haven't seen it yet!). there's shopping in nearby Downtown Crossing (the famous Filene's Basement), and some dining options in the South End

so, based on my own personal advice (take it, leave it, or change it), I would stay at the Radisson, try to get some discounted tickets to any local plays (check for the play times and hang around right before the show starts. there are always desperate people standing nearby trying to sell extra tickets), check out some schools (can't say which schools as I don't know the intended major, but I listed the biggies above), and check out the museums others have listed below (ditto the Gardener Museum-it's beautiful plus, it's near Northeastern and the MFA, so you can knock those 3 off your list in one afternoon)

welcome and good luck

forgot to add: I REALLY suggest relying on the T. just park the car somewhere (again, the Radisson may be the best choice due to the free parking) and ride the trains. all the good things to do in Boston are T accessible, so there's no need to drive on Boston's congested streets. plus, there's no guarantee of parking at your destination. for the best bargain, grab a visitor pass (I think they have a 3 day one. check the MBTA website for price and sale locations). this gives you unlimited rides of the buses and trains

[SoCalMomma]

Thanks to all of you for the advice & tips.

I was leaning towards the Commonwealth, but now maybe not. I definitely dont want to be around a bunch of bars - its me and my 16 year old son who will be on this trip. I am glad to hear that the Radisson has easy access to all the other places - its hard to tell that by simply looking on a map.

I will definitely do the Gardener Museum (I have it on our list). We want to see some of the Freedom Trail, and the USS Constitution for sure.

Are the historical bldgs in one area, or are they spread out all over the city? Is there one area that we could visit that would have a large concentration of things - or do we have to cover many areas?

My son is only interested in MIT & Boston College to actually attend, but we want to see some other schools, just to SEE them - the beauty, the buildings, etc. Which would you suggest to SEE - not really do a full on tour - just for scenery?

Thanks a bunch!

[FinkieMcGee]

1. Go to the MFA and The Museum of Science. You could probably skip the Museum of Science, but the MFA is really nice.

2. I don't know of any hotels, but if you're looking at staying exclusively in the Boston/Cambridge area I WOULD NOT bring a car. I can't emphasize this enough. You will hate driving around Boston/Cambridge unless you've driven through there before. You'll be much better off taking the T/walking everywhere. If you need to get to the hotel you can just take a cab.

3. Harvard if you just want to wander around you should check. Harvard Sq. is ok as well.

4. I went to Northeastern, so I'd suggest you check it out! The campus is actually very nice considering it's in the city, and if your son is going into engineering it's a solid school. The architecture is very new, so I dunno if that's what you're looking for. It's right across from the MFA.

5. As far as places to eat: I was in college a couple months ago, so I'm not exactly up for fine dining. A couple places I could suggest would be Betty's Wok and Noodle (it's around the NEU area on Huntington St., and it's a pretty respectable sit-down place) and Anna's Taqueria (there are a couple of Anna's in Boston and around Davis Sq.; best burritos in boston hands down)

[eevee]

umm, I can't think of any really scenic colleges, other than Harvard. a lot of the schools in Boston tend to be spread out among multiple buildings, sometimes several blocks apart (like BU is stretch all along Comm. Ave). very few schools here have the typical set up of building surrounding grassy quad. Harvard is pretty scenic, and there's a castle of sorts (nothing huge) near BU (I believe it's owned by BU and may be where events are held.), that's really nice.

most of the main historical building are in downtown Boston. the old state house, the site of the massacre, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, etc, are all mostly in the downtown Boston area and parts of the North End. the starting point of the Freedom Trail is the common, near Downtown Crossing. it passes by most of the places mentioned above. I can't think of too many places outside downtown Boston to visit (off the top of my head, the only place I can think of is the JFK Museum near South Boston, on the JFK/UMass red line stop).

if your son is interested in MIT, you should check out the MIT museum. I haven't been there in a while, but I remember it as being very fun (the last time I was there, they had an exhibit on artificial intelligence and another of optical illusions). it's not directly on the main campus but about a mile or so away