I live just South of Boston & have kids ages 4 and 6 s well. My kids love going into the city so we do it a lot. Here are some thoughts-
Children's Museum- if you go on a Sunday it will be very crowded. Moday will be less so but they get lots of camps so actually going later in the day can be better. There is a parking garage right around the corner that has $13 validated parking. You can look it up online & its really not that hard to find coming from the Mass Pike. The Children's Museum is a little bit far from the rest of the downtown area if you are walking. Its doable, but can take about 20 minutes to Faneuil Hall. I'd plan to spend about 3-4 hours there.
Faneuil Hall- its fun and has some great counter service food which can be easier with kids. My kids LOVE the Chipyard, great hot fresh chocolate chip cookies. You could spend 1-2 hours here walking around, shopping, watching street performers & eating.
Aquarium- definitely go to Mystic. I think the Boston one is so small & dark and really expensive for what you get. However, right across the street there is a new fountain that the kids can get soaked in. My kids just spent about 2 hours there the other day. Kind of like the fountain in Epcot, only bigger. It spontaneuosly shoots up water. Really fun. There's also a pretty good playground near there in waterfront park, just on the other side of the Marriott.
Harbor tour or whale watch- these leave from just outside the Aquarium. The harbor boat to Thompson Island is really fun as there are forts on the island that you can explore. My kids loved this last summer. It takes about 2-3 hours.
Science Museum- its fun but its not close at all to the center of Boston so its tough to do much else if you go there.
Sunday vs Monday- Monday you'll hit a lot of traffic & Boston will be busy with workers. The T will also be very busy at rush hour times. On Sunday the tourist areas and museums will be a lot busier but traffic will be a lot quieter. Bear in mind that the T runs much less frequently on Sunday. I would probably just drive in if you come on Sunday.
Good luck with what you decide!
Children's Museum- if you go on a Sunday it will be very crowded. Moday will be less so but they get lots of camps so actually going later in the day can be better. There is a parking garage right around the corner that has $13 validated parking. You can look it up online & its really not that hard to find coming from the Mass Pike. The Children's Museum is a little bit far from the rest of the downtown area if you are walking. Its doable, but can take about 20 minutes to Faneuil Hall. I'd plan to spend about 3-4 hours there.
Faneuil Hall- its fun and has some great counter service food which can be easier with kids. My kids LOVE the Chipyard, great hot fresh chocolate chip cookies. You could spend 1-2 hours here walking around, shopping, watching street performers & eating.
Aquarium- definitely go to Mystic. I think the Boston one is so small & dark and really expensive for what you get. However, right across the street there is a new fountain that the kids can get soaked in. My kids just spent about 2 hours there the other day. Kind of like the fountain in Epcot, only bigger. It spontaneuosly shoots up water. Really fun. There's also a pretty good playground near there in waterfront park, just on the other side of the Marriott.
Harbor tour or whale watch- these leave from just outside the Aquarium. The harbor boat to Thompson Island is really fun as there are forts on the island that you can explore. My kids loved this last summer. It takes about 2-3 hours.
Science Museum- its fun but its not close at all to the center of Boston so its tough to do much else if you go there.
Sunday vs Monday- Monday you'll hit a lot of traffic & Boston will be busy with workers. The T will also be very busy at rush hour times. On Sunday the tourist areas and museums will be a lot busier but traffic will be a lot quieter. Bear in mind that the T runs much less frequently on Sunday. I would probably just drive in if you come on Sunday.
Good luck with what you decide!
