Look out America, i am coming to Boston on Friday for a week. Who is from there who could tell me some top night spots to go to in order to get extremely rat arsed and make a fool of myself?
OK… something I know a bit about. Boston. Having grown up 45 minutes away in New Hampshire, I can give you some good recommendations on stuff to do…
First of all, take the ‘T’. Lots of Boston is easy to walk around, and you could easily (well, it would take a while) walk from BU to Charlestown and not go through a bad part of the city. However for quick access to anywhere, take the nations first Subway. Quick and convenient service to anywhere you need to go
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Red Sox game. If you are even a casual baseball fan, i recommend taking in a Sox game before they move to the new Fenway Park. Eat an Italian Sausage before the game, grab a few Fenway Franks inside the park, drink some swill-type beer, and enjoy the game. Besides, Fenway is in Kenmore Square, which puts it near some decent clubs, so if you want to go out after the game… *Green line – Kenmore stop *
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Food. There is GREAT (if somewhat pricey) Italian food up in the North End. I highly recommend visiting one of the many italian restaurants. The Fisherman’s Wharf near Southie has some good seafood restaurants also. * For North End take the Green Line to North Station stop. For Fisherman’s Wharf take Blue Line to Aquarium*
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Shopping. Boston has some GREAT shopping areas. The two I would recommend are Fanueil Hall Marketplace/Quincy Market and Newbury Street. Fanueil Hall has several huge galleries, as well as Quincy Market which is by far the best food court you will ever find anywhere. Newberry Street is the place to go for haute couture or the like. Nifty little boutiques, trendy little Eurotrash coffeeshops, generally an all around cool place to wander around. Generally the whole street goes from run-down (near Kenmore Square) to ulta-chic (near Copley Square). A great shopping area overall. And there is always Downtown Crossing, with it’s huge department stores, though this place lost a LOT of it’s appeal when Jordan Marsh was bought out by Macy’s. Still, you can visit the original Filene’s Basement, which is just about located IN the subway station. For Fanueil Hall take Blue Line or Green Line to Gov’t Center, walk down the “brick hill”. For Newbury Street take Green Line to Copley or Kenmore. For Downtown Crossing take the Red or Orange line to Downtown Crossing.
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Historical/educational sites. Boston is a GREAT city if you are a history buff. In the North End is Copp’s Hill Cemetary and Paul Revere’s House. There’s all kinds of stuff Downtown, like the Old North Church, The Old State House, Old City Hall, and lots of stuff with “Old” in the title. If you want to spend a day seeing all of the great Revolutionary War-era history in Boston, there’s a red line painted on the ground. This line is called “The Freedom Trail” and will take you to every major historical site in the city. It’s a fun walk, and I definately recommend taking a day or so to walk the whole freedom trail. There’s also the New England Aquarium (if you like Aquaria) and the Boston Museum of Science, which is just the BEST museum around. *For the start of the Freedom Trail, take Red or Green Line to Park Street Station, head up Park Street to the State House for the start of the tour. For the Aquarium, take the Blue Line to Aquarium. For the Museum of Science, take the Green Line to Science Park. * As an aside, following the Freedom Trail is a GREAT way to see the whole city, since it goes to many of the places I’ve already pointed out.
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Nightlife. Bostons got some great pubs and clubs. If it’s nightclubs you’re after, two great areas are Landsdowne Street (Behind Fenway’s Green Monster) and Harvard Square in nearby Cambridge (and don’t try to park the car in Harvard Yard. You’ll get a nasty parking ticket!). There’s some great pubs downtown if you’re looking just to sit back and toss back a few beers. Union Street is the place to go for these, including The Bell in Hand (America’s oldest pub… been in continuous operation since the 18th century!) The Purple Shamrock, The Black Rose, Clarke’s… Some great bars all around Quincy Market. If you absolutely must see the Bull and Finch (the inspiration for Cheers) it’s located at the north end of Boston Common, next to the State House on Beacon Street. But it’s way too touristy for my taste, and while a nice bar, looks NOTHING like the Cheers bar, so don’t expect to find Normy’s stool there. * For Landsdowne Street take the Green Line to Kenmore Square. For Union Street take the Blue Line to Gov’t Center. For Harvard Square take the Red Line to Harvard *
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Other Stuff. Go ahead, ride the Swan Boats in the Public Garden. Chill out with a picnic lunch on The Common. Wander around all of the neat colleges in Back Bay. Rumor has it you can still get homemade blueberry muffins from the old Jordan Marsh (now Macy’s). There’s always lots of fun stuff to do around Beantown. You just have to know where to look!
Landsdowne Street is wall to wall nightclubs. Plenty of people making fools of themselves there. 
This site, {url=“http://www.newbury.com/guide.htm/main.htm”]underground guide to Boston may be of interest, even though it foolishly recommends against walking alone at night through the Combat Zone. I’ve done it after midnight and lived to tell the tale. Nothing is as exhilerating as staring Death in the face and surviving.
I mucked up the link, obviously. http://www.newbury.com/guide.htm/main.htm
LOL! I’m going to Boston tomorrow! Party time! whooooohoooo!!!
“Survey-style” questions such as this are best served in In My Humble Opinion. I’ll move the thread.
Oh, and the best thing to do in Boston is leave.
jayron, thank you very much for that wealth of information, greatly appreciated!! thanks for the links and other stuff too guys!!
oh and sorry Manahttan, i’m getting better though at posting in the right place!!!
I live in Boston, though it’s been a few years since I did any serious bar hopping.
What atmosphere are you looking for?
Here are some good drinking streets.
College people + dancing = Lansdowne street (take any line but the E to Kenmore Square, follow the crowd)
College people + a few townies - dancing =
A. Boylston street between Hynes Convention Center and Copley. Pour House, Whiskeys, Cactus Club (is that its name?), Dad’s Diner (is that its name?), several others. Back Bay Brewing company. Further down, past Copley is the Rattlesnake. Take green line to Hynes Convention Ctr and walk down Boylston.
B. Brighton Ave/Harvard Ave intersection. Sunset Grill, Harpers Ferry, The Kells, plus others. Take the green line B train to Harvard Ave - if I’m wrong about this, someone let me know. I can never remember what’s on the C and what’s on the B!
College people + some dancing = The Alley, green line Boylston St stop. Avenue C, plus several others.
Young Professionals = Charles Street. The sevens, a couple of others? Red Line Charles St stop.
Young professionals + some townies + some college = Faneuil Hall/Haymarket. Purple Shamrock, The Rack, Commonwealth Brewing Co, others.
College people + grad students + professionals = Harvard Square. Red line to Harvard Square stop. Shay’s, Brew Moon, John Harvard’s, Bow and Arrow, Hong Kong (have a scorpion bowl, share it if you can). Up Mass ave towards Porter Square: Cambridge Common, Christopher’s. All mellow except Bow and Arrow and Hong Kong. Down Mass ave from Harvard, towards and including Central Square: The Cellar, the Can Tab, Phoenix Landing, The Plough and Stars.
If you’re looking for a place college people don’t go, I probably can’t help.
Also, I finished grad school a few years ago, so some of my info may be out of date. I don’t go drinking in the same style I used to!
Look on http://boston.citysearch.com/ for each of these bars and see if they sound appealing. If you have specific questions, let me know.
I should specify at which of the places I mention above I have actually made a drunken fool of myself, in case this helps you make a decision. I find I rarely make a fool of myself while wearing pants, so dress accordingly.**
Dad’s Diner
Avenue C
The Kells
Harper’s Ferry
Bow and Arrow
Hong Kong (more than once - I caution against challenging your neighbors to Scorpion Bowl races)
The Can Tab Lounge
I’d offer you a guided tour, but I’ll be on the Cape this weekend.
**I was recently informed by an English co-worker that in the UK pants = underwear. In the US pants = trousers. Though I can see how going without underwear might encourage foolish behavior, too.
Outer or inner arm? Near the fingers (Provincetown), the elbow or shoulder (Bourne)? 
Chatham.
I’m not too familiar with the geography of the Cape,
but I think Outer arm, near the elbow. How close am I?
Perfect! My Cape hangouts are Falmouth and Woods Hole.
piig, you can’t fool me. You’re only coming to Boston to try to get some of your tea back from the harbor.