A weekend in Boston: A travel guide

By Saskia Perez-Cooke, North Carolina State University, United States.

Visiting Boston has been one of my favourite trips during my year abroad at North Carolina State University. Just a short hour-and-a-half flight from Raleigh, it’s an ideal weekend getaway for anyone studying at NCSU or anywhere on the East Coast. It is one of more historic cities in the US and unlike many other US cities, incredibly walkable so felt almost like a European citybreak!

Where to stay:

We chose to stay in Beacon Hill, which is a historic neighbourhood that felt very similar to an English town. Importantly it is just a short walk from Boston Common, major train stations, Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall etc.

But other great areas to stay in are:

• Back Bay- also very central and close to Boston Common with easy access to Newbury Street for shopping and dining options.
• Chinatown and South End- may be more affordable as 10 minutes south of the center but still really well connected to all of the city.

Getting around:

Boston is far smaller than I expected and all extremely walkable. But we did visit in February so to avoid the cold as some days it was even -8 degrees we did use the MBTA Subway (the ‘T’) to avoid freezing walks.

Unlike other US cities, Boston is super pedestrian-friendly and has plenty of bike lanes. I would actually advise not to get any Ubers in the central areas as there are so many road closures, walking is so much quicker!

Free things to do:

Arguably Boston is one of the more affordable cities in America not necessary in terms of restaurant prices or ticket entrance prices but more so how many free activities you can do (most of them in walking distance).

• Boston Public Library- a pretty, historic library.
• Massachusetts State House (the State Capitol).
• Boston Common- the oldest public park in the US.
• Newbury Street- a scenic shopping street with shops and cafes.
• MIT and Harvard- these a short train ride away in Cambridge and lots of the campus is open to the public.
• The Freedom Trail- a 2.5 mile trail across the city featuring significant places from the American Revolution.
• The North End (Little Italy)- a very walkable charming Italian neighbourhood near the harbour.

I hope this post about what I most liked about Boston inspires your Boston itinerary if you do go! It is one of my favourite (if not favourite) US cities 🙂 One final tip though is be mindful of the season of when you visit, Boston has extreme seasons and even in late February we experienced snow and freezing temperatures. If you want a sunny weekend away anytime from April-October would be better!