The secret trick of the trade to Dim Sum at China Peal is to go at 11:00am on Saturday. No waiting, guaranteed, but plenty of activity. Sadly, I don’t get down to Chinatown often enough to make another recommendation.
I recommend Giacomo’s in the North End. It’s right on Hanover Street, about halfway down. Be warned though, the place is tiny, popular, and cash only. Sadly, I don’t get down to the North End often enough to make another recommendation (Other than I suggest -not- going to Mike’s Pastry. I think they’re way too sugary, heavy, and overrated.)
If you’re up by Harvard, my recommendation is L.A. Burdick on Brattle Street. They’re a chocolatier, but also have a sort of cafe. Try the Iced Chocolate. Mmm.
Everyone else has pretty much got you covered for the other stuff.
You might have a bit of the wrong idea about Blue Man Group. I know they have a show in Vegas, and it’s probably big and spectacular, but the one in Boston is in a fairly small theater.
Don’t let that put you off. It’s better that way. The show is about surprises and subtleties as much as spectacle. I hope you enjoy it; I’ve seen them a few times and would go again.
Bartley’s, actually. Good burgers, not expensive, and worth it for the student-hangout vibe.
Having visited almost a year ago (for almost three days), I’ll second some recommendations:
We did the Freedom Trail & had fun. It’s touristy because it hits many of the historical sites you might want to see anyway. We stayed across from the Commons & near the Public Gardens (lovely during the day), so it didn’t take much walking; we did it in half a day, if that.
Finale - the dessert restaurant - is wonderful! I believe they also sell “real food”, but we didn’t bother. The two of us shared a Magnanimous Molten platter both times we went. Yumyumyumyumyum. Finagle-a-Bagel cracked me up - it’s the Home of the Bagel Buzzsaw - & the bagels were as decent as non-NYC area bagels can be.
I forget the name of the place we ate in the North End; it was a little pizza place we found because we passed a firehouse & I asked the firefighters where they go for a cheap, good meal. We also hit Mike’s, but we weren’t impressed. It’s a crapshoot - some swear by Mike’s, some suggest Modern or Bova’s. If you decide to go to Mike’s, know that it’s a zoo - the very picture of organized chaos - because it’s a tourist stop.
The T isn’t that difficult to navigate so long as you hang onto a map ; it’s also very clean & fairly cheap; I was impressed. Ask your concierge to get out his pen and circle stuff on said map & you’ll be fine.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask for directions/recommendations; we found people we ran into (mostly businesspeople,due to our location) to be very friendly & helpful.
Again, I have nothing against Blue Man - it’s a fun show and you will almost certainly have a great time. I just wanted to offer something a little more Boston-specific.
And Mr. Bartley’s…oh, yes! Amazing burgers! Can’t believe I forgot to mention that earlier.
If you’re a geek, you might want to consider the MIT Museum on a day when you’re going to be in Cambridge anyway. Their collection of famous hacks (pranks) is fun - the police car that was on top of the Great Dome, that sort of thing. A classic MIT hangout is Mary Chung’s in Central Square - order the suan la chow show. You can’t get anything like it outside of Boston, at least not anywhere that I’ve found. (Warning - it is spicy, sometimes very spicy, depending on which chef is on duty that day.)
Toscanini’s ice cream is also my favorite, across the street and down a block from Mary’s.
Hm, looks like they may not have the hacks on display right now, but take a look at the current exhibit list and see what you think. It’s a small museum, but often has fascinating stuff.
Cool! I was looking at the map and Museum of Natural History appears to be much farther out than the others. I was wondering if there was anything else to do in the vicinity.
The Natural History Museum is in Harvard Square, which is just a Red line Train away. The trip will take you 15-20 minutes. You can see Harvard campus (Havahd Yahd) and some great stores and restaurants in Harvard Square. There’s a Finale and Burdicks for dessert, as well as the Bartley’s or John Harvard’s Brew Pub, you can catch some folk music at Passim’s, several great bookstores, and a nice general scene.
Excellent! I think that is the Saturday plan. Potentially we will go to see U2 3D that evening simply because it is close to the hotel and open. We do not have IMAX where I live (and we rarely get the chance to see a regular movie in a theatre either).
I left a message yesterday morning to try to reserve tickets at Ghosts and Gravestones for Friday night, but no one has returned my call. Perhaps they don’t want to call long distance. I think if I don’t hear back by end of day, I will see if the hotel concierge can help.
Spouse and I are still hammering out Thursday and Friday. Thursday was going to start with a Duck Tour, then MOS, then Blue Man Group. Given that the tour is 1.5 hours and it is spring break, and we’ll need to leave in time to get to BMG for 5pm. Is that enough time for MOS?
If we don’t do that, we could take a Duck Tour from Prudential Centre, do the skywalk observatory, some shopping/browsing and BMG on Thursday and save MOS and potentially MFA or Isabella Gardner for the next day.
Yeah, just remember, even though the things on your list aren’t right next to each other, they’re all at most 30-45 minutes away from each other by T. Less if you splurge for a taxi.
So you really don’t need to be that careful about planning things in one area only; there’s no reason you couldn’t (for example) see the MFA in the afternoon, then hop on the T for a few stops to the theater district.
The Museum of Science is great, but I don’t think you’ll spend all day there. They do have an IMAX theater, though, so you might want to check and see what’s playing, and possibly plan your day around a movie there. [Another possible evening activity, too]
If your shopping is on Newbury Street, then all of this will be right in the same neighborhood. There is also a an observatory on thop of the Hancock building. I also know of a fantastic restaurant in that neighborhood, but you’ll probably have to sell a kidney to afford it. But damn, it’s amazing.
We’ve got a pass to Skywalk Observatory on top of Prudential. I had a suggestion to go to Top of the Hub to share an appetizer or dessert so we can enjoy the view without a massive bill.
I finally received a call back from Ghosts & Gravestones - no go. Any other suggestions for an evening activity? Are stores or any attractions open after dinner? We’re going to see an IMAX show on Saturday - looking for something for Friday.
One bit of advice about the Observation ticket you’ve got – I took an out-of-town griend to one of those after dark, and he was disappointed. He had no idea what the geography was, so he couldn’t figure out what he was looking at. Hit the Skywalk during the day (or at dusk, so you can see the view by day before you see the lights going on).
Thank you! I think currently the plan is to do the Duck Tour earlier largely so we have a general idea of the geography before we start heading off to attractions.
My next big project is to figure out the subway stops for everything. I’m a wee bit worried we’re going to end up going in the wrong direction
I’m sure you’ve already seen this map. The four transfer stations are considered the center of the system. At all the other stations, the platforms are labeled “inbound” or “outbound”.
If you’re at one of those four center stations, they’re labeled with the last station in each direction. (For example, if you’re in Park Street trying to get to Harvard Square, look for the Red Line platform to Alewife.)
If you’re taking a line that branches (and you’re going past the point where it branches), look for a letter or station on the front of the train. For the MFA or the Gardner, take the Green Line E branch. (And the Green Line are streetcars, so you can always ask the driver at the front, too.)
That’s about all you should need. I promise, we don’t make it any more difficult than it has to be.
