BOSTON GREAT ITINERARIES

BOSTON IN 4 DAYS Clearly every traveler moves at a different pace. One might be content to snap a pic of the Bunker Hill Monument and push on; another might insist on climbing the obelisk’s 294 spiraling steps and then studying the adjacent museum’s military dioramas. Nevertheless, in four days you should be able to see the city highlights without feeling rushed. If you’re lucky enough to have a few vacation days to spare, you can put them to good use exploring nearby communities.

Day 1: Hit the Trail About 3 million visitors walk the Freedom Trail every year—and there’s a good reason why: taken together, the route’s 16 designated sites offer a crash course in colonial history. That makes the trail a must, so you might as well tackle it sooner rather than later. Linger wherever you like, leaving ample time for lunch amid magicians and mimes in Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Next, make tracks for the North End, where you’ll find Old North Church and Paul Revere’s former home (Boston’s oldest house, it was constructed almost 100 years prior to his arrival). After wandering the neighborhood’s narrow Italian- tinged streets, fortify yourself with a gelato and keep going across the Charlestown Bridge. You can see the USS Constitution and climb the Bunker Hill Monument (a breathtaking site in more ways than one) before catching the MBTA water shuttle back to Downtown.

Day 2: Head for the Hill Named for the light that topped it in the 1800s, Beacon Hill originally stood a bit taller until earth was scraped off its peak and used as landfill not far away. What remains— namely gas street lamps, shady trees, brick sidewalks, and stately Brahmin brownstones—evokes old Boston. When soaking up the ambience, don’t forget to take in some of Beacon Hill’s “official” attractions. After all, major sites from Boston’s various theme trails, including the Massachusetts State House, Boston Athenaeum, African Meeting House, and Granary Burying Ground, are here. Afterward, stroll over to the Common and the Public Garden. (Both promise greenery and great people-watching.) If shopping is more your bag, cruise for antiques along Charles Street, the thoroughfare that separates them. In the evening, feast on affordable chow mein in Chinatown or go upscale at an über trendy restaurant in the Theater District.

Day 3: Get an Overview From the Back Bay you can cover a lot of Boston’s other attractions in a single day. Start at the top (literally) by seeing 360-degree views from the Prudential Center’s Skywalk Observatory. Once you understand the lay of the land, just plot a route based on your interests. Architecture aficionados can hit the ground running at the neoclassical Public Library and Romanesque Trinity Church. Shoppers, conversely, can opt for the stores of Newbury Street and Copley Place (a high-end mall anchored by Neiman Marcus). Farther west in the Fens, other choices await. Art connoisseurs might view the collection at the sprawling Museum of Fine Arts or the more manageably sized Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Quirky, carnivallike Fenway Park beckons baseball fans to the other side of the Fens. Depending on your taste—and the availability of tickets— cap the day with a Symphony Hall concert or a Red Sox game. 1 Day 4: On the Waterfront Having spent so much time focusing on the old, why not devote a day to something new in the burgeoning Seaport District? Begin at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) on Fan Pier. Boston’s first new art museum in almost a century boasts a bold cantilevered design that makes the most of its waterside location. It makes the most of its art collection, too, by offering special programs that appeal even to little tykes and hard-to- please teens. Of course, keeping kids engaged may prove difficult given that the Children’s Museum is close by. Check out its innovative exhibits or continue on to that old waterfront favorite, the New England Aquarium. Highlights include the Giant Ocean Tank, hands-on tidal pools, an engaging sea-lion show, and scores of happy-footed penguins. Outside the facility you can sign up for a harbor cruise, whale-watching trip, or ferry ride to the Boston Harbor Islands.

BEYOND BOSTON PROPER

Day 1: Explore Cambridge From pre-Revolutionary times, Boston was the region’s commercial center and Cambridge was the ’burbs: a place more residential than mercantile, with plenty of room to build the nation’s first Englishstyle, redbrick university. Not surprisingly, the heart of the community—geographically and otherwise—is still Harvard Square. It would be easy enough to while away a day here browsing the shops, lounging at a café, then wandering over to the riverbank to watch crew teams practice. But Harvard Square is also the starting point for free student-led campus tours, as well as for strolls along Brattle Street’s “Tory Row” (Longfellow lived at No. 105). There are also fine museums here, including the newly reconfigured Harvard Art Museum, which brings together the best of the university’s vast collection, and the family-friendly Natural History Museum. End your day in true Cantabrigian style by taking in a concert or lecture at the handsome Sanders Theatre.

Day 2: Step Back in Time You only have to travel a short distance to visit historic places you read about in grade school. For a side trip to the 17th century, head 35 mi southeast to Plymouth. The famed rock doesn’t live up to its hype. But Plimoth Plantation (an open-air museum re-creating life among Pilgrims) and Mayflower II are well worth the trip. A second option is to veer northwest to see Revolutionary-era sites in Lexington (now a well-to-do bedroom community). Start at the National Heritage Museum for a recap of the events that started the whole shebang; then proceed to Battle Green, where “the shot heard round the world” was fired. After stopping by Minute Man National Historic Park, continue to Concord to tour the homes of literary luminaries like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Conclude your novel excursion with a walk around Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau wrote one of the founding documents of the ecology movement.

Day 3: A Shore Thing Anyone eager to taste the salt air or feel the surge of the sea should take a day trip to the North Shore towns of Salem and Gloucester. The former has a Maritime National Historic Site—complete with vintage wharves and warehouses—that proves there is more to the notorious town than just witchcraft; while the latter (America’s oldest seaport, and after The Perfect Storm perhaps its most identifiable one) demonstrates that men still go down to the sea in ships. Prefer to just beach yourself? Nature lovers flock to Crane Beach in Ipswich, about an hour north of Boston. Part of a 1,200-acre wildlife refuge, it includes 4 mi of sand rimmed by scenic dunes. For a quick sand-in-every-crevice experience take either the MBTA’s Harbor Express ferry south to Nantasket Beach in Hull or the commuter train north to Manchesterby- the-Sea’s Singing Beach, where the sand has such a high silica content that it actually sings (or at least squeaks) when you walk on it. Alternatively in summer get a taste of the beach-bum lifestyle with a day in Provincetown. Boston Harbor Cruises runs fast ferries to the colorful artists’ hub at the tip of Cape Cod. Once there race across nearby dunes, get back on the water and watch for whales, or soak up some rays at Race Point, a Cape Cod National Seashore beach. For a bit of culture head to the East End’s growing number of renowned galleries or inspect the architecture along Commercial Street. Properly sunned and relaxed, return to Boston on the evening ferry (or plan ahead and book a cottage for the night).