Visting Boston for a Week in June (Cambridge, Quincy: car rental, coupons)

[SYS]

I'm planning on visiting Boston for about a week in early June to give a "historical" tour of Boston for my wife and two boys. I used to live there but about two decades ago when I was a single.

Could anyone give me suggestions for an economical way for a family to stay a week? I'm not planning on renting a car.

[sobo16]

You definitely don't need a car, so that is a savings right there.

For hotels, try looking a little further out in the suburbs within walking distance to a T stop. Hotels are likely cheaper in Cambridge or in the close-in suburbs than they are in the city core.

Here is some help with things to do:

Free things to do around Boston - Boston.com

[MikePRU]

Walking the Freedom Trail is free and that should take a good day or so. A tour at the Sam Adams brewery is also free with free beer samples (free root beer for the kiddies). They're out in JP but accessible by T.

[SYS]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I plan on doing the Freedom Trail and retracing other significant historical sites out of the Freedom Trail boundaries. I also plan on visiting places like Walden, Emerson House, Alcott and other literary roots. I'd like to take my kids to Plymouth Plantation and Mayflower, etc. Since I'm not planning on renting a car, I'd have to rely on some companies that specialize in giving bus tours?

[Beachcomber4]

Definitely take advantage of Groupon, Restaurant.com and other discount websites. You might even want to spend the $20 on an Entertainment Book as there are lots of 2 for 1 coupons for both restaurants and attractions. You might find a 1 or 2 day car rental is cheaper than paying for a bus tour down to Plymouth. I don't think any historic Boston tour is complete without a trip out to Lexington and Concord (my kids still talk about their tour of Buckman Tavern and all they learned 6 years later) and it would be worth the drive.

Enjoy!

[SYS]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber4

Definitely take advantage of Groupon, Restaurant.com and other discount websites. You might even want to spend the $20 on an Entertainment Book as there are lots of 2 for 1 coupons for both restaurants and attractions. You might find a 1 or 2 day car rental is cheaper than paying for a bus tour down to Plymouth. I don't think any historic Boston tour is complete without a trip out to Lexington and Concord (my kids still talk about their tour of Buckman Tavern and all they learned 6 years later) and it would be worth the drive.

Enjoy!

Oh, I definitely have Lexington and Concord in mind. For those out of Boston and some suburbs areas, I think you're right that I look into renting a car instead of a tour bus....

[Cantabridgienne]

I would rent a car for the day for Lexington and Concord.

[AnonChick]

Don't forget Harvard Square and Faneuil Hall. And for a more quirky kind of historical tour, you can include both in a tour of the T. You start out by getting to Park Street Station, red line. That is the first subway station in the United States, and there's a plaque your family can read that gives a little info about it. Walk through the tunnels there to the Blue line and upstairs and out to Government Center, and walk from there down the steps to Faneuil Hall. Take an hour or so to get through that...

and through Quincy Market, and under the road through the walking tunnel, into the North End. Once there, find a spot for a pizza and a canolli.

Head back under the tunnel and into the T again, and shoot down the Red Line to Harvard Square. You can easily spend a couple of hours there just walking around and enjoying the street performers - this is best done in the early evening on a Saturday.

If the weather's cooperative, you could sit in the park outside Grendel's Den and people-watch while you chow down on a Grendel's salad.

Take the Red Line from Harvard Square back to Downtown Boston area, or return to your hotel - by this time it'll be solidly in "evening."

Most of these spots are shopping-oriented, but there's nothing saying you have to actually buy anything. A lot of the fun of this kind of day-trip is the adventure itself.

Another day needs to involved the swan boats in Boston Public Garden, a walk around the Boston Commons, then walk up Beacon Hill, back down around the other side to the Chinatown district, and all along Newbury Street. Cut up Mass Ave and circle back on Comm Ave, stop at the Pru for a trip to the top, then take the T back to Downtown (since everyone will be tired from all that walking). That very short route is definitely a full-day adventure.