Vacation recs in Boston/New England (rental, bridge, reservations, best)

[iowa4430]

Looking at May for a week.

Wondering what would be best to experience Boston and possibly part of New England.

Dont want to spend a ton of travel time but want to see the bucket list things in the area.

We've never been there.

Love food, sight seeing and some history. Wife loves music too.

Any suggestions?

[annerk]

What is your budget? Are there children involved? What are your interests and what are your bucket list items?

[pokeable]

Paul Revere House
Old North Church
Boston Duck Tours
Boston Common (very nice park, actually), including "Make Way for Ducklings"
Newbury Street to shop
Copley Place to shop
Fenway if you are a baseball fan and not a Yankees fan
Museums (MassMuseum of Fine Arts, Harvard)

Sure there are more. Lots of history.

If it's nice out, take a ferry/day trip to Provincetown at the end of Cape Cod.

If you like oysters/seafood, recommend Island Creek (near Fenway) or Neptune (North End, no reservations, get there early!)

[iowa4430]

Originally Posted by annerk

What is your budget? Are there children involved? What are your interests and what are your bucket list items?

Sorry for delayed response, was tied up.

No kids. Budget probably shouldn't be that big of deal for this outside of housing and getting there??

Not sure on bucket list items for that area. Just looking for what others say is their bucket list things so we have some ideas and choices.

I listed a few interests above.

I do want to tour fenway. Like history and food.

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by iowa4430

Looking at May for a week.

Wondering what would be best to experience Boston and possibly part of New England.
...

I assume you are flying into Logan.
Are you renting a car or using pub trans?

Without a rental car, seeing 'part of New England' or even much outside of greater Boston will be difficult.
GL, mD

[pokeable]

Originally Posted by motordavid

I assume you are flying into Logan.
Are you renting a car or using pub trans?

Without a rental car, seeing 'part of New England' or even much outside of greater Boston will be difficult.
GL, mD

You can take a commuter bus (Logan Express) to/from Copley Place, points downtown for $5 per person, each way. Leaves on the 1/4 hour.

Would agree on a car if you are planning to hit other parts of New England

[mels]

Originally Posted by iowa4430

Wondering what would be best to experience Boston and possibly part of New England.

Boston is in New England, and New England covers a large area, from Connecticut to Maine. Is there something more specific you'd like to see outside of Boston (the city) itself? Mountains? Ocean/beaches? Outdoor pursuits (hiking, biking, boating)? Historical stuff? Scenic drives? Craft breweries? Local foods?

Everyone's New England bucket list will be different and I am assuming you will fly into Logan and use Boston as your home base. A little more insight into what you like would be helpful.

[Stylo]

Boston is a great place to start. There are tons of things to do there.

I agree that more insight is needed.

I would say the regions you could focus on are:

1. Coastal New England, from CT to ME, and including islands like Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. There's beautiful coast and charming historic towns from CT (Guilford/Madison > Mystic/Stonington), to Watch Hill/Narragansett/Newport, up to Cape Cod, and the entire coast of Maine.
2. New England Cities. Boston is by far the best place to visit, but honorable mentions to Newport, Mystic, New Haven (Yale), Providence, Portland, Bar Harbor, etc. Outside of Boston, New Haven is arguably the 2nd best stop for food, and has some of the best pizza in the world. Cambridge is a city right next to Boston that also has tons to offer, and a great food scene. All these cities have amazing things to discover, and tons of history.
3. The inland mountains: You can find amazing scenery almost anywhere, but Vermont and New Hampshire are big winners here. Especially the Green Mountains, Burlington area, and the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The latter of which are my absolute favorite.

New England is a relatively small area compared to many states in the country, but the amount of things to do and see is absolutely staggering.

That said, 1 week is short, so you'll need to really focus your goals.