lodgings in boston

we are staying in boston for 1 week in october and are thinking of staying in B%26amp;B or apartment accomodation as hotels are very expensive. We have seen a studio on corner of Hereford St and Newbury St. Is this a safe area and is it easy to get about. Also is seven days too long to stay in the city. we welcome all suggestions of what to do and whereto stay. We are thinking of hiring a car for a few days.

lodgings in boston

This area should be safe. It consists of shops and restaurants and nearby Berklee Music students. Boston can be easily seen by foot and by subway. I do not recommend a car in the city because it is challenging, especially with the college kids back, to find a parking spot. As for things to see and do...Walk down Newbury Street for the shops, visit the Public Gardens, head to the North End, take in a show at one of our many theaters, do the duck tour, check out our museums, subway over to Harvard Square, check out spots along the Freedom Trail...there%26#39;s plenty to do.

lodgings in boston

7 days is not too long to stay if you want to see some museums for a few hours each, and pace yourselves with some relaxation. If you want to rent a car and see some areas outside Boston to go hiking or other nature activities, it might make sense to find another lodging place outside Boston, as the previous poster is correct, parking is crazy in Boston and you don%26#39;t need a car in town. There are several areas of town where you could spend an entire day, including the Harvard Square area, downtown/Quincy Market and the Freedom trail, museums such as Fine Arts, Science, Aquarium, Back Bay/Newbury Street, as well as day trips on the commuter train to communities outside of Boston. Have a wonderful trip!

Salem would be a great place for a day trip.

For day trips, the commuter rail can take you to Salem, which is worth a full day%26#39;s exploration. If you like asian art and artifacts, the Peabody Essex museum in Salem is world-renowned for their collections. There are also lots of witch tours, the House of Seven Gables, and a very pretty waterfront area.

Rockport is a pretty New England seaside town, on the commuter rail also. Lots of art galleries and quaint shops.

I don%26#39;t think 7 days is too long to stay in the immediate area, especially if you don%26#39;t want to kill yourself seeing everything all at once. In addition to the list of things mentioned already, try to see the Harvard Museums. The Museum of Natural History has an exhibit of glass flowers, which is unbelievable. You just have to see them, it%26#39;s difficult to describe but it%26#39;s worthwhile, definitely.

As for accommodations in Boston, you might want to look into the Oasis Guest House, or the 453 Beacon St. Guest House, for more reasonable prices and a great location.

Thank you to all of you who have replied. Looks as though we will have a busy week. Car parking sounds a real problem so good to find out about the commuter train to Salem and Rockport. Would it be best to stay over in these places - maybe at Salem then travel on to Rockport? Please correct me if these should be visited in the opposite order. Harvard Square sound good and will try to visit the museum which has the glass flowers display. Have checked out Duck Tours too. Sounds fun.

Can anyone let me know if the whale watching tours are still available last week of October. Is weather reasonable for this at this time of year.

Any hints on bars (not too noisy but with atmosphere) for evenings?

Thanks again all.

PS will check out those guest houses.

For a North Shore trek, my recommendation would be to start in the morning and do the Salem leg of the trip first. Allow plenty of time for the premier (Peabody-Essex Museum, House of Seven Gables) attractions and whatever else suits your fancy. I don%26#39;t know of any noteworthy restaurants in that city, so you might want to bring along sandwiches for lunch. Preferably before the afternoon rush hour sets in, if you%26#39;d be going during the week, continue your journey to Rockport. (Be sure you board a train heading there, as another commuter rail line also serves the Salem station.) Sunset will be taking place as early as 6:30 PM during October, and you owe it to yourselves to see it from Rockport%26#39;s Bearskin Neck or Headlands. Rockport has several no-frills but tidy motels as well as dozens of B %26amp; B%26#39;s. A few attractive and well-reviewed inns are situated along Broadway between the train station and harbor, while others are farther from the center of town and might require a taxi to reach. (If you book a room at one of the latter, you could probably arrange to be picked up at the station for free.) Besides the sunset vantage points - FYI Bearskin Neck is where a good many of the souvenir shops are - my favorite Rockport spots are: Halibut Point, a state park at the north end of town which encompasses an old granite quarry and offers great hiking and birding; the Paper House, also to the north; and the Twin Lighthouses, accessible only by pre-arranged boat but easily viewed from Marmion Way or Eden and Old Penzance Roads on the south side.

Gloucester is also worth checking out, time permitting, for its Hammond Castle and the Fisherman%26#39;s Monument. The beaches are better there than in Rockport, but come October it%26#39;s generally too chilly for that to matter. The train station there is just one stop away from Rockport.

It wouldn%26#39;t be impossible to take in Salem and Rockport within one day, but why rush things? That%26#39;s not what a vacation should be about.