City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 1350 Massachusetts Ave.
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 105 Brattle St.
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 580 Mount Auburn St.
4. Harvard Art Museums
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 495-9400
Address: 485 Broadway
Insider Pick:
Description: For an intimate look at an outstanding collection of great art, Harvard’s Sackler Museum building provides an ideal (if temporary) setting. Noteworthy works by Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh, a Rembrandt, and a Titian are arranged in altogether fascinating ways. The “Re-View” exhibition focuses on highlights of the museum’s wide-ranging holdings, including pieces from its American, Asian, and Islamist collections. Meanwhile, across the street, the Fogg Museum’s Quincy Street building undergoes a Renzo Piano–designed expansion and renovation that is scheduled for completion in early 2014 and will ultimately reunite Harvard’s art museums under one roof. The museum is closed Sun and Mon.
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 26 Oxford St.
6. Mit Museum
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 253-5927
Address: 265 Massachusetts Ave.
Description: Art and science converge at the MIT Museum. The exhibit “Gestural Engineering: The Sculpture of Arthur Ganson” features ingenious kinetic machines—really sculptural art in motion. Before there was Siri, there was Kismet; you can visit early MIT artificial intelligence prototypes at “Robots and Beyond.” Be sure to see some of MIT’s holographic images. The museum has the largest and most comprehensive hologram collection in the world and there is always a selection of pieces on display. How you see the work depends on your movement and position. Fascinating.
7. Sanders Theatre
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 496-4595
Address: 45 Quincy St.
Insider Pick:
Description: Located in Harvard’s Memorial Hall, this fabulously ornate theater is an atmospheric backdrop for a wide range of performances, including undergraduate choirs and orchestral groups as well as professional classical music ensembles, such as Boston Baroque and the Boston Chamber Music Society. Sanders’s best-known annual event is the Christmas Revels, a joyous celebration of midwinter solstice traditions from around the world woven together through song, dance, and storytelling. Revels’s signature piece, “The Lord of the Dance” (a variation of the Quaker hymn “Simple Gifts”) takes place just before intermission and has the audience joining hands with the cast dancing through the aisles.
8. Charles Riverboat Company
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 225-0894
Address: 100 Cambridgeside Place
Description: Boston fronts water on two sides: along the Boston Harbor and the Charles River. A 60-minute cruise on the Charles River is a pleasant way to get oriented to the city while enjoying a live narrative about the sights along the river. The cruise passes by Beacon Hill, the Esplanade, Fenway, Boston University, MIT, and Harvard. The awning-ed boats are basic with big windows and room for everybody to enjoy the view. Snacks and drinks are available on board for purchase. The season runs from May through Oct. From June through Aug there is also a daily sunset cruise.
9. Karma Yoga Studio
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 547-9642
Address: 1120 Massachusetts Ave.
Description: This Cambridge studio is Zen-like, a light-filled oasis of serenity offering a variety of classes with an emphasis on the spiritual side of yoga as much as the physical. Vinyasa is the main tradition, but all major styles of yoga are available. Small class sizes and a professional group of teachers and wellness practitioners attract a loyal crowd. You can work up a sweat, too—there is a fully equipped fitness space here as well. After class enjoy a cup of herbal tea in the cafe.
10. Charles Hotel Ice Skating Rink
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 864-1200
Description: For wintery charm, there is nothing more enjoyable than ice-skating on an outdoor rink in the city. Every winter the Charles Hotel converts its outdoor plaza to an ice-skating rink that is open to the public. At 3,000 square feet, it’s a small oval and uncrowded compared to nearby Kendall Square. Here, the ice is kept in very good shape.
11. Community Ice Skating @Kendall Square
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 492-0941
Address: 300 Athenaeum St.
Description: Strap on some ice skates for a few turns at this charming outdoor oval in Cambridge’s Kendall Square neighborhood. The facility offers skate rentals and lessons and daily public skating. When you need a rest, grab a cup of hot cocoa from the snack bar. Après skate, there are lots of restaurants nearby including Aceituna Cafe and Redbones Rib Shack.
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 344 Huron Ave.
13. Havana Club
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 312-5550
Address: 288 Green St.
Description: Put on your dancing shoes and salsa the night away at the Havana Club, which takes place on Friday and Saturday nights at the Greek American Political Club in Central Square. Salsa novices come for a dance lesson from 9 to 10 p.m. before the crowd (300 dancers a night is fairly typical) turns out. Lessons are free and are included as part of the cover charge, and there’s a cash bar. When you are ready to try out your skills on the dance floor, you’ll find a friendly, mixed crowd of young and old from all corners of the globe who come together to have a good time dancing—it is all very Cambridge.
14. Middlesex Lounge
City: Cambridge, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (617) 868-6739
Address: 315 Massachusetts Ave.
Description: Jammed nightly with a diverse crowd of Harvard Business School students and twenty-something night owls, Middlesex is the perfect balance between a comfy local bar and a hipster hangout with creative cocktails and interesting takes on bar food, such as 10 tiny tacos and jerk chicken sticks. The setting is minimalist and features low moveable benches and a DJ who spins some of the best music around—old-school funk and ’90s hip-hop.