Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Five Days in Boston Area?
DH and I will be in MA for five days this July (Wed-Mon) for a friend's wedding. We arrive Wednesday night and got a great deal to stay at the Westin Copley Place Wednesday night and Thursday night so we can explore that area. We are heading down to New Bedford for the rehearsal Friday afternoon. Then the morning wedding and brunch reception Saturday. The festivities will be over by early afternoon.
I'm looking for advice: should we also stay Saturday night in New Bedford (is there much to do?) or head right back up to Boston? Our flight is at noon on Monday, so we'd like to stay somewhat close to the airport Sunday night but I'm not sure what to do with the rest of our time Saturday afternoon/evening and all day Sunday and where to stay. The SoWa Open Market looks like fun Sunday. Any advice?
*Generally, our travel style is wander/explore/snack along the way.
Thanks!
Re: Five Days in Boston Area?
I love the SOWA Open Market. Brunch at Stella a couple of blocks away followed by some artisan shopping is a great Sunday to me.
I don't know anything about the New Bedford area, sorry. There's tons to do around Boston proper though, just depends on what you want to see. The Freedom Trail might be good for you to explore given the travel style you describe. The MFA currently has a Chihuly exhibit (I've seen it in AZ and it's amazing; haven't been to the one here yet). You could also go whale watching, wander around the Beacon Hill/Boston Commons/Newbury St. area, check out Fenway Park, Harvard Square.... Anyway, here's my usual list for people new to the city:
Duck Tour - http://www.bostonducktours.com. Fun tour that provides a good overview of the city and its history via an amphibious vehicle. Book tix in advance via the web site
Freedom Trail - This walking tour will take you through most of the historic sites of Boston. You can do a guided tour or I've heard there's a downloadable iPod tour so you can do a self-guided thing.
Public Gardens/Boston Common ? Not such a great visit in the winter, but otherwise nice. There's a Make Way for Ducklings bronze statue here that the kiddies might like if you have them.
Beacon Hill/Charles St. ? Quintessential old New England neighborhood with great architecture and quaint little boutiques to shop in. Just a few minutes walk from the Common.
Newbury Street (shopping) ? Just across the street from the Commons. Great for people watching and grabbing a bite to eat too.
Sam Adams or Harpoon Brewery tours
Faneuil Hall ? Historic area now full of shopping and restaurants.
North End ? our Little Italy. Pretty much any restaurant here will be good. Mike's Pastry's cannolis are famous but be prepared for a huge crowd. Modern is another local bakery favorite
Fenway Park - take a tour
Museum of Science - great exhibits and a domed IMAX theater that's amazing and shows lots of great documentary-style films.
JFK Museum
Children?s Museum ? Really fun for the kids
Art museums ? We have top-notch art museums: Museum of Fine Arts (where the Chihuly exhibit currently is), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art
Whale Watch Tour ? You can leave from the Aquarium downtown or, if you have a car or are willing to take the commuter rail, go up to the one in Gloucester and check out the neighboring Rockport area (very quaint seaside town).
Harvard ? Campus is pretty and Harvard Square is fun to walk around (get chocolate at Burdick's and a slice of Sicilian-style pizza at Pinocchio's).
SoWa market is fun. It's just a few blocks from my condo, and we go there every summer.
A few places that I highly recommend:
There are some fun shops in the South End:
Hudson Home http://www.hudson-boston.com/
Michele Willey http://michellewilley.com/
Gracie Finn
Motley
Snack places:
Formaggio http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/ Great cheese shop, nice sandwiches, bread, cheese salami, pate etc.
Choco Lee http://www.chocoleechocolates.com/index.htm YUM!!!!! The best chocolate croissant in Boston... or maybe just about anywhere...
Flour Bakery
Brix Wine Shop has wine tastings on Friday and Saturday evening.
Other places to eat.
Hammersley's Bistro (My favorite south end brunch.)
Stella One of my favorite places to eat dinner in the SE
Gallows, Fun gastropub.
Butcher Shop and B&G Oyster
Metropolis, Good brunch
Mike's Diner (breakfast, typical diner food.)
One piece of advice... If you go to the North End check our Maria's Pastry. You will see many people walking around with Mike's Pastry boxes and you will be tempted to check them out, but Maria's is amazing. It's a smaller hole in the wall, but there pastry's are fantastic
If your flight is at noon, I think it would be fine to just take a cab over in the morning. The airport is not that far from downtown.
I would head up to Boston, have dinner somewhere in town and relax. That way you can get up when you want, walk over to SOWA and enjoy walking around. Rock mentioned so many wonderful things to do.
For Saturday evening, check out Charlesmark Hotel. It's also in Copley, very small boutique hotel (rooms are tiny) but it's a great value for the Copley Square location. Copley is also a great, central location. Another option would be to stay in Cambridge on Saturday evening and enjoy Harvard Square.
Have fun and if there are any specific questions we can answer, let us know!
This. Spend more time in Boston.
Boston is small and the airport isn't far. You can easily take a cab or the T Monday morning. But plan for normal rush hour traffic. You could stay by the airport but then whenever you'd want to get into the main part of the city (airport is in East Boston) you'd need to take a cab or the T and that's more annoying than taking it once to the airport Monday.
Have fun!
Thanks everyone for the great info and advice!
We will head back up to Boston Saturday afternoon - would you suggest staying in the same (Copley Square/Back Bay) area again our last two nights or staying somewhere else (North End? somewhere else?)
Thank you so much for all your help!