Need ideas for cheap vacation with free flight tickets *Subway help

[lisa-upnorth]

you MUST plan to spend a day in Newport.Visit the mansions--tour the Breakers and the Marble House!!!!After that, continue down Ocean Drive along the coast.You will come to Bretton Point State Park, pull in and enjoy the view!!They are always flying kites there-and if you see the Del's lemonade truck be sure to get one!Wander out onto the rocks and search the tide pools for some shells After that, I would back track into "town" and walk along the Wharf St area for dinner and shopping.If you want fancy dinner there is a nice place next to the tennis hall of fame.

Costs for the bridge tolls would run $5 each way if memory serves,Mansion tours should have prices online(I think it is cheaper to buy a combo ticket for more than one),State park is free,most parking in town is metered. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[happily single]

I suggest flying into PVD (which is actually in Warwick); rent a car and stay in Providence. You can look into WATERFIRE and see if they are doing it while you are in town. Its normally on Saturday nites and is really a great, free event. Another poster here was staying at the Hampton Inn in Providence with a decent rate-although I don't remember how they got it.

Spend the day in Providence, Federal Hill (Atwells Avenue) for great food; Thayer and Wickended Streets for cool artsy type coffee shops and stores.

Newport is about an 45 minute drive south (Newport BRidge is $4.00 per direction). There are plenty of manisons, beaches and resturants to see (Other posters had great ideas). I believe there is also a dinner train.

You can take the Amtrak train (there is a station in Providence, across from Providence Place Mall) to Boston.

Over the winter I pricelined a room in the "Quincy Market" area and ended up with a Holiday Inn on Chestnut Street I beleive, for about $99 for the night. Parking was about $40, but if you are taking the train from Providence you don't need to worry about parking.

If you are a fun loving couple I highly suggest "Dick's Last Resort" in Fanuiel Hall. Its a adult version of Prime Time Cafe. Pee your pants funny, but very adult oriented

 

[shamrock30]

There is commuter rail from Providence into Boston. (I used to take that line all of the time when I lived at the "halfway" point between the two cities.) Maybe you could take the money you would save from not doing a car rental and put it towards a hotel in the city? If you can swing it, I think it would be more enjoyable to actually stay in Boston--or maybe Cambridge--than in one of the suburbs.

 

[ImprovGal]

The commuter rail extends into Warwick (connected to the airport by a loooooong moving walkway). The trains only run at commuter times -- 2 leave Warwick early on weekday mornings, 2 return to Warwick on weekday evenings. The Providence station has trains running more frequently during the week and also has weekend runs. Amtrak has trains out of PVD station (downtown Providence over by the State House) and also out of Kingston, RI (near the URI campus). The Kingston station has free parking, but tickets to BOS or BBY would cost a bit more from there.

 

[rdevine10]

I just wanted to chime in and say we have done Boston many times and I NEVER pay that amount to stay (and we stay 3 to 4 star hotels). Check out betterbidding and biddingfortravel for help with hotwire & priceline. You can get good deals (as long as you are going when no major events/conferences are going on). Boston is as AWESOME city and I highly recommend it. Lots of free stuff to do and check out the Boston City Pass too.

Enjoy!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We just returned from 6 nts in Williamsburg, VA. 2nd time (with kids) and loved it. We spent 2 days at Water Country USA & 1 day at VA Beach, all of which is too chilly in Dec so 3 nts would be perfect that time of year.

Besides Colonial Williamsburg, there's Jamestown, Yorktown & Busch Gardens Europe. We had a great time. I have a whole new respect for what our founding fathers endured to secure our freedom.

 

[hsmamato2]

I think you can hotwire a hotel in Boston at a good rate- if you get one in the waterfront area it's all walkable, the T is awesome,the 1.75 boat shuttle will take you on a nice boat ride across the harbor to sightsee...Quincy market area is so full of cool history I love Boston in summer, last summer a crew of 15 of us took the kids on July 4th weekend just to traipse around and sightsee....we all had so much fun! in winter,there is way less to do,this is New England!
on hotwire,it shows you the vicinity map before you book,and just keep it at a good 3 or more stars.....

 

[Leshaface]

Wanted to thank everyone for all the suggestions and help!

DH is back and forth a lot, and decided to just stay in/around the Boston area. So we pricelined a hotel (name your own price) in Cambridge, right across the street from Harvard and are staying at the Charles Hotel.

Is taking the subway fairly easy? We're wanting to do:

-the Duck Tours (departs from Museum of Science)
-Museum of Science
-North End for Lunch
-Sam Adams Brewery tour
-Tour/eat dinner Faneuil Hall

Should we buy the 1 day unlimited subway pass for $9/person?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Dh & I went to Boston for a weekend for a family party so we didn't have a lot of time to tour but did enjoy walking some of the Freedom Trail. Also there were several trolley companies with multiple stops so one could get off, spend as much or as little time as desired then hop back on the next available trolley to continue on. We really enjoyed it and wished we had more time.

 

[moethorne]

Nice choice on the hotel. I would recommend the "T" that's what everyone calls the subway up here. The one day pass is a great idea. I find the T easy but some a little more daunting. Just remember it's a wheel and if you get lost take it back inbound and you'll be able to get back out to anywhere. If you only have one day the Sam Adam's brewery with all the other stuff maybe a little ambitious. Most of the other things you are interested in are almost walk able but Sam Adam's is across town. My husband the beer drinker in the family would highly recommend the trip but it will add 2 hours of travel time to your day. You may want to consider the Harpoon Brewery Tour which is right down but the waterfront where the Museum and Quincy Market are. Happy to help with any other questions you have.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Wanted to thank everyone for all the suggestions and help!

DH is back and forth a lot, and decided to just stay in/around the Boston area. So we pricelined a hotel (name your own price) in Cambridge, right across the street from Harvard and are staying at the Charles Hotel.

Is taking the subway fairly easy? We're wanting to do:

-the Duck Tours (departs from Museum of Science)
-Museum of Science
-North End for Lunch
-Sam Adams Brewery tour
-Tour/eat dinner Faneuil Hall

Should we buy the 1 day unlimited subway pass for $9/person?

My two cents- I'd skip MoS. It's neat and all, but nothing spectacularly "Boston" about it. If you want the feel of the city and limited time, I'd get out and about. Go to the museum to take the duck tour (I think from Harvard you'd take Red Line to Park St. and then transfer (no extra charge) to Green Line to Science Park. (You could also take the duck boat from Prudential Center if you wanted.) After the boat, walk to the North End for lunch. (You could take the T one stop to North Station, but honestly it's as-easy to walk. There is no T stop in the North End, you'll have to walk some anyway.) From North Station, you can pick up the Freedom Trail- literally a red line in the side walk- that will take you right into the North End (passing some of the historical sights- Old North Church, Paul Revere's house along the way).

As said- Sam Adams brewery is way out of town. Looks like they have directions on their website for public transportation. (Still involves a walk.) You could go out there after lunch, and then come back into FH for supper.

 

[Leshaface]

My two cents- I'd skip MoS. It's neat and all, but nothing spectacularly "Boston" about it. If you want the feel of the city and limited time, I'd get out and about. Go to the museum to take the duck tour (I think from Harvard you'd take Red Line to Park St. and then transfer (no extra charge) to Green Line to Science Park. (You could also take the duck boat from Prudential Center if you wanted.) After the boat, walk to the North End for lunch. (You could take the T one stop to North Station, but honestly it's as-easy to walk. There is no T stop in the North End, you'll have to walk some anyway.) From North Station, you can pick up the Freedom Trail- literally a red line in the side walk- that will take you right into the North End (passing some of the historical sights- Old North Church, Paul Revere's house along the way).

As said- Sam Adams brewery is way out of town. Looks like they have directions on their website for public transportation. (Still involves a walk.) You could go out there after lunch, and then come back into FH for supper.

Thank you!

I was wondering if we should do the museum or not since it looks pretty big.

Is there anything you recommend we definitely see while in Boston?