khu

A nice walk is to start off at the Boston Commons and then head towards the Public Gardens - when you come out on the otherside, walk down Commonwealth and see all the different sculptures and have a great view of all the historical mansions squished together. When you get to the end of the Commonwealth mall (commonwealth continues on) you have the choice of either taking a right on Mass. Ave. and cross the Charles River (there is also a nice bike/pedestrian path that runs along the river) into Cambridge and seeing MIT or taking a left and head down Mass. Ave.

-If you take a left, you'll pass Newbury St. which is a popular place to "explore...there are private art galleries/food places...I recommend Tapeo (though they take a while sometimes) - and lots of expensive shopping. But there is usually something for everyone

I love walking all over cities, so I would definitely recommend walking Boston. It's really easy and you'll have a chance to explore places you might not have had you not walked by! - plus you learn the city faster

-visit Charles Street, around the Public Gardens - cafes, bars,... just a quaint corner of older Boston.
-Boston Aquarium if there is rain!

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AJLynn

Boston's beautiful in the summer, you guy will love it. I don't think the Hancock observatory is open anymore - they "temporarily" closed it after 9/11/01 and I don't think they've re-opend it.

Anyway. Walk around downtown. Go to the North End for food - Mike's Pastry on Hanover St. makes the world's best cannoli (really, I've done studies - get the regular ricotta with no chocolate) and for lunch, Umberto's across the street is a distinctive Boston experience. They only serve lunch, and they make a limited supply of food each day, so get there before 1. If you're there on a Sunday, go to Chinatown and have dim sum at one of the big restaurants there. (Imperial Seafood, Dynasty and China Pearl are all good but I prefer Chou Chou City. I might have misspelled Chou.) Go to Cambridge and see MIT and Harvard. When at MIT, the List Visual Arts Center is okay but hit-or-miss depending on what the show is, but the MIT Museum is interesting - it's a bit north on Mass Ave on the right - and of course there's IM Pei, Steven Holl, Frank Gehry and Elial and Eero Saarinen work to see. They say Harvard is nice too.

Go to a Legal Seafood for New England Clam Chowder.

Brian Cassil

Great tips everyone! I think I'll just print this whole page and take it with me to follow some of the suggestions.

I'm really looking forward to enjoying some of the seafood there, unfortunately my wife hates seafood but she'll just have to deal with it for a couple of days cause I'm getting some lobster and chowder.

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"writing notes is quieter."

dbarc

same here - I just saw the fatal keyword 'chowder' myself having settled in for a late night at the office to clear the decks - not what I needed to read!!

Thanks for the tips guys - just the sort of insider knowledge I was after.

FOG Lite

As a former Cantabrigian I can recommend a couple buildings to see in the Boston area. I'm afraid I'm not too up on the bar scene since I've been gone for a few years, but I'll take a stab at that as well.

Buildings-
Cambridge Harvard
-Corb's Carpenter Center in Harvard Square
-Gund Hall, home of the GSD
-Sever Hall by H.H. Richardson
-Holyoke Center and Science Center by Sert

Cambridge MIT
-Stata Center by Gehry
-Kresge Auditorium and Chapel by Eero Saaranin
-Baker house by Alvar Aalto
-Simmons Hall by Steven Holl

Boston
-Hancock Tower, I.M. Pei
-Trinity Church, HH Richardson
-Boston Public Library, McKim, Meade and White
(These three for a fantastic Public Square.)
-Federal Reserve Building, Hugh Stubbins
-The "Pregnant Building" in the financial district (for the sheer WTF-ness of it)
-Boston City Hall
-The under construction ICA by Diller Scoffidio

There are plenty more buildings of interest, but these are a good starting point.

For art I would recommend the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum and the MFA, the Gardner museum has a wonderful courtyard that's not to be missed. The Fogg at Harvard is not bad either.

I would also recommend the Freedom Trail if its not too hot that week. But the Duck tours are a lot of fun as well. Boston is a very walkable city, nothing is ever that far apart and most of the time a stop or two on the subway is all you need to take. Driving in Boston is incredibly frustrating however. Unless you're planning on leaving the city I would actually recommend leaving the driving to a cabby or public transportation.

The North End is a great place to go for dinner, plenty of good Italian food and yummy, yummy cannoli. A walk down Newbury street to do some shopping is also nice. Plenty of good noshing there as well.

Hope you have fun!

(Oh yeah, Red Sox are sold out forever so you are going to pay through the nose if you really want to see them. Bleacher seats run to $40 face value, double or triple that from a scalper.)

raterry

I grew up just south of Boston in Scituate, MA till I moved to Orlando 10 years ago and all I really wanted/needed to see was the Sox. My wife, my awesome wife bought me two tix in the grandstand behind the Sox dugout for the Aug. 3rd game against Cleveland for my birthday. I think she got sticker shock cuz she's used to paying for tickets for the Red Sox play the Devil Rays in St. Pete.

FOG Lite has you guys covered. I'd recommend because they are at least semi touristy- ****'s Last Resort Restaurant/Bar and
Fanueil Hall should get another mention. Check out the Black Rose a decent Irish Pub.

For those who want the Fenway feeling but can afford it tix, there are a couple bars there-Cask n' Flagon and Boston Beerworks where you can watch the game and absorb some of the local fanaticism or you can get tix there from scalpers but not sure the price.

Whatever you do, enjoy your stay!
-=Rob

Geoffc

Old Ironsides was pretty damn cool.

http://www.ussconstitution.navy.mil/

crz_06

You wanna see 'bad' architecture, check this one out. Worst detailing ever, especially on curvelines where the materials changes.

You can really see his is an artist, and not an architect. I mean, it looks like he really doesn't care for details.

But anyway, you guys have fun, and Yes Boston is great.

AJLynn

With Gehry you have to just look at the big picture I think it's a fantastic building, but for its faults - lack of machine room space ("But I thought the computers were going to go on the desks..."), detailing, and an interesting seminar room where the wall articulation spirals up to the skylight, and it's said that when they first started using it a lecturer became disoriented and fell over.