Best way to get around Cambridge for one week? (rental car, rental)

[jdtribe]

I’ll be in Cambridge for a week for training. I’ve never been there before but it sounds like I should avoid a rental car if possible. My hotel is on Monsignor O'Brien Highway between McDonald and Lechmere Square. My class is on Main St near the Longfellow Bridge. So it’s a little over 1 mile between my hotel and class. My class will be all week 9-5ish and I might walk back in the evenings if the weather is nice. In the mornings I’d like some transportation.

What’s are the best options to get to class on time in the mornings and a ride back in the evenings if the weather isn’t nice?

- Taxi (if so which company)
- Uber/Lyft
- Some other form of public transportation?

Any other suggestions?

[495neighbor]

Rental car definitely not worth it. You can walk between those two points along First Street. It is about a 15 minute walk for most people. Taxi as a backup.

[charolastra00]

Either your hotel can call a taxi/give you a list or you can use Uber/Lyft if you prefer. But I really think that as long as it is not raining, you should be fine walking!

[goyguy]

Ditto about walking - when I worked at an office opposite the Galleria mall, just down the street from Lechmere, I routinely "hoofed it" to and from the Red Line station at the foot of Main St.
The mall has available, no questions asked, a totally free shuttle bus from and to the same Red Line station (Kendall.)
For yet a third option, there's the privately operated "E-Z Ride" bus that runs from North Station through the MIT campus en route to an office-heavy neighborhood beyond. The nearest stop for you would be at First and Cambridge St's within sight of Lechmere. A week-long training class sounds as though it's sponsored by a company. If so, inquire. They might have an arrangement with E-Z Ride as my former employer did, wherein you're given a sticker you affix to your ID badge and get to use the service at no charge. For me it was a life-saver on some will-I-make-it-on-time mornings and bad-weather days.

[semiurbanite]

There is also a bike share system called Hubway I think you can get a multi-day pass. There should be spots near both the hotel and in Kendall where your training is.