How We Spent 3 Days in Boston [Part 14]

We have come to the end of our New England travel series. It has been a great joy to share our journey with you and to read your comments along the way. I have to say, writing and editing the images for these posts took a lot of work and sleepless nights, but in the end I managed to get through 2200 images (and am now currently editing our travel documentary). The last three days of our trip were spent in Boston where we enjoyed the big city life, lovely parks, rich history and fall foliage. New England was a great destination for a road trip. We saw a lot and did a lot, and for this final post I want to share with you our impressions from Boston. I hope you will enjoy this final part.

This is only a part of our big travel series to the USA 2016

For the other parts click here

Boston at Night

Our first true experience with Boston was on the first night we arrived there. After visiting Harvard University during the day, we couldn't keep still at home. Boston at night is actually very beautiful. I showed you some images in the last post, here are some more. For foreign visitors it will be of importance to know that if you visit bars you have to have your passport with you. Only an ID won't help if you want to have a drink. Sitting at the bar (irregardless of whether you want to drink or not, I only ordered coke) without a passport for foreigners is not allowed (though you will find the occasional place like we did, but usually the bar owners are strict about it).

It was Halloween weekend when we visited and the streets of Beacon Hill, where our apartment was were festively decorated. I have to say, the Halloween decorations are much more in abundance on the East Coast of the USA, then on the West Coast.

The Boston Freedom Trail

Most visitors in Boston will want to walk the famous Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) path through downtown Boston that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. Marked largely with a red brick trail, it winds between Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. Stops along the trail include simple explanatory ground markers, graveyards, notable churches and buildings, and a historic naval frigate.

If you are pressed for time and want to do the whole trail in one day, here is a list of the sights, and I have also included staying times. Some of these you only want to pass by, others you'll want to enter. Take into consideration that there is some walking between the last three sights, since they are out of the Boston city center. The Freedom Trail was originally conceived by local journalist William Schofield, who in 1951 suggested building a pedestrian trail to link together important local landmarks. Boston mayor John Hynes decided to put Schofield's idea into action. By 1953, 40,000 people were walking the trail annually

1. Boston Common (30 min)
2. Massachusetts State House (40 min)
3. Park Street Church (5 min)
4. Granary Burying Ground (10 min)
5. King's Chappel (5 min)
6. First Public School (5 min)
7. Old Corner Bookstore, clossed, just pass through
8. Old South Meeting House (5 min)
9. Old State House (10 min)
10. Boston Massacre Site (10 min)
11. Faneuil Hall (60 min), have lunch here
12. Paul Revere House (10 min)
13. Old North Chruch, zadržavanje (10 min)
14. Copp's Hill Burying Ground (20 min)
15. USS Constitution (40 min)
16. Bunker Hill Monument (20 min)

Faneuil Hall

Faneuil Hall is located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston. It has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1743. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain. Now it is part of Boston National Historical Park and a well-known stop on the Freedom Trail. It is sometimes referred to as "the Cradle of Liberty". We stopped here to enjoy performers and the lovely food and shops inside the hall. A good lobster roll should not be missed.

Parks of Boston

Boston has two big city parks that should not be missed. First is Boston Common. Here you will also find the Boston Common Parking Garage, which is located on the west side of the park and goes underneath it. It's a very affordable place, mid-city to leave your car for just a couple of hours, or like in our case for more days. The other great park is the Boston Public Garden. It's located just next to Boston Common, but they are two different parks. The Public Garden is a bit more traditional, with a waterfront, bridges, flowers, statues. We had a great morning here, enjoying the sun and sights.

You can get some pretty amazing city shots from the park. The skyscrapers (though not as impressive as in New York City) emerge out of the greenery in the foreground.

Back Bay

Back Bay is another part of Boston. It is most famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes considered one of the best preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings, and cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library. The Library is free to enter and use, but of course you'll have to sign up in order to get the books out. We stayed inside and roamed this 4-story building, in awe at the literature provided to the public.

Fenway Park

For baseball fans there is Fenway Park. It's a baseball park located in Boston at 4 Yawkey Way near Kenmore Square (west of Back Bay). Since 1912, it has been the home for the Boston Red Sox, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. It's the oldest ballpark in the Major League Baseball. You can go on a paid tour of the park as well as purchase (much more expensive) tickets to see a game.

Shopping in Boston

Back bay is also a fashionable shopping destination (especially Newbury and Boylston Streets, and the adjacent Prudential Center and Copley Place malls) and home to some of Boston's tallest office buildings, the Hynes Convention Center, and numerous major hotels. In the city center you will find shopping opportunities on Washington Street. Outside of the city there is the CambridgeSide Galleria, a big shopping mall.

At the end of our Stay...

We celebrated Halloween, dressed up and went into town. We enjoyed that last night in Boston a lot, but also noticed that since it was Monday, much of the celebrating happened before the 31st, during the weekend passed. Still we had fun in the city. Boston is a charming city, best explored by foot, not too small not too big. It's a quintessential New England town just on a larger scale. The History of the USA and the city are palpable, much like in other destinations in New England.

This was one of the last shots I took from the roof top of our apartment building. The sun was setting, our bags were packed and the next day we boarded the plane back home. As you have seen in the images posted in this 14-part travel series, we had a great time in New England. It's a perfect fall destination with many road trip opportunities and lovely towns to visit.

I hope you enjoyed our travel series as much as we enjoyed visiting. I hope to do some select posts here and there in the new year, but this is it for now. I made over 2000 images and posted around 450 in this travel series. So as you can imagine there are some sights still left to be explored. Thank you all for visiting and making this the most viewed travel series on this blog so far!

The End