Tell me about traveling to Boston, Mass, please.

[Pea-n-Me]

What's wrong with driving in Boston?

 

[natnelliesmom]

Make sure you have a hotel with parking- get excellent and very clear directions to your hotel. Park your car and don't drive it again until you are on your way home.

You will not have an easy time driving in Boston if you are not familiar with the streets. Take the T everywhere- it's super easy!

I'm not exaggerating one bit. Don't try to drive around!

-Sarah

 

[kaytieeldr]

What's wrong with driving in Boston?

Nothing... nothing at all

 

[Arielle22]

Nothing... nothing at all

It is even worse since the big dig opened. Now even the old timers can get lost!

I work right in Downtown Boston and you can always tell the out of towners. They are the ones that stop on a yellow light, yield to pedestrians and use their turn signals.

During the move in/move out time for college students, out of towners are also the ones that peel the tops off of UHauls on Storrow Drive

 

[Ppufi]

Also, the AG at Natick is right next to the Cheesecake Factory.

It's also kind of hard to get out of the parking lot, so allow time for that. I'd say it takes maybe 20 minutes to get there.

Boston is a really pretty place. There are a lot of museums. Cooliege Corner is also a nice place to go at night. (Resturants, a playground, etc)

And remember, Salem and Plymouth aren't too far away!

 

[rockydek]

If you do have a vehicle and need to drive.......
Make sure your hotel has parking!
Actually I drive in Boston now and then.
You can't tell the difference between a tourist and a local.
The tourist thinks the rest of us know where we are going...and they are wrong.

 

[cinmell]

What's wrong with driving in Boston?

I have no idea!

It is even worse since the big dig opened. Now even the old timers can get lost!

I work right in Downtown Boston and you can always tell the out of towners. They are the ones that stop on a yellow light, yield to pedestrians and use their turn signals.

So true!
Yellow lights are for slowing down? I thought they meant speed it up.
Yield to pedestrians? Really???? (I'm just kidding, sort of. )

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Ya'll forgot the most important rules:

1. Never use your turn signal: you're giving your plans away to the enemy.

2. Even though the maps don't say it, 128 is 128 the entire loop.

3. Only tourists have itsy paper folding maps. Locals have at least 1 thick map book (Usually held together by tape and stained with Dunkins) and most now have a GPS. (Am I correct in thinking the tipping point for more people having them than not was sometime last summer/fall?)

4. And an EZ pass. Oh dear lord, what would I have done up in the land of ice and Patriots fans without my EZ Pass!

 

[KPeveler]

ooh! I forgot the children's museum!!! it is AMAZING. I still go and I am 24!

 

[JESW]

You don't need to stay in Boston. Save the money and stay in Natick and use public transportation to get to the city.

Stay here:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bosnf-courtyard-boston-natick/

And use this:

http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/stations/?stopId=25184

Here's the store:

http://www.americangirl.com/stores/location_bos.php

You have to actually go out of the mall to get in as there is a separate entrance - cannot access from inside the mall.

I grew up in Natick and still go there often - the mall is always one of our stops.

If you are only staying for two days then spend one around Natick and then take one to take the train to Boston. If you get off at South Station you can walk across the bridge to The Children's Museum :

http://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/

From there you can also walk to Faneuil Hall and the waterfront. The Aquarium is there too.

http://www.neaq.org/index.php

I hope that all these links work!

Jill

What the heck - I added one more!

http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/

 

[Just Jan]

In addition to don't drive in Boston, do NOT drive in Boston, and use the T - I would like to add: PLEASE use crosswalks and, wherever they exist, walk lights.

I've been doing it wron for years now.
It's all in the timing. Just gauge how fast the car is moving and how fast you think you can make it to the other side of the street. There are these cool islands in the center of many streets, just pause there reestimate everyones speed and run like heck.

It's much more frightening to drive I get all turned around. I only drive from my small southcoast town into Tuft Medical Center's parking garage on Tremont St because it is pretty much right off of the highway. Walk to hospital or shows.

My fiancee grew up in boston and is there all the time on business...He is fearless!

 

[emer95]

I have never met more helpful people in all my life. The links are awesome. You guys rock!! Thank you so very much!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Never use your turn signal: you're giving your plans away to the enemy.

And never leave more than a thimble size of room between your car and the next, otherwise someone will blazingly cut in front of you, then drive exactly two miles per hour for the next several miles.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I've been doing it wron for years now.

That's the key. You've been doing it for years - a visitor just doesn't know how and we don't want to lose any unnecessarily

 

[cinmell]

Tips for driving around Boston: (Taken from "You know you're from Boston when...")

You always 'bang a left' as soon as the light turns green, and oncoming traffic always expects it.

Everything in town is "a five minute walk."
You believe using your turn signal is a sign of weakness.

Route 128 is also I-95. It is also I-93.


GETTING AROUND:

Pay no attention to the street names. There's no school on School Street, no court on Court Street, no dock on Dock Square, no water on Water Street. Back Bay streets are in alphabetical odda. Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth. So are South Boston streets: A, B, C, D.

If the streets are named after trees (Walnut, Chestnut, Cedar), you're on Beacon Hill. If they're named after poets you're in Wellesley.

All avenues are properly referenced by their nicknames: Comm Ave, Mass Ave., Dot Ave.

Dot is Dorchester, Rozzie Roslindale, JP is Jamaica Plain. Readville doesn't exist.



THE NORTH-EAST-SOUTH-WEST THING:

Southie is South Boston. The South End is the South End. Eastie is East Boston. The North End is east of the West End.

The West End and Scollay Square are no more-a guy named Rappaport got rid of them one night.

The geographical center of Boston is in Roxbury. Due north of the center we find the South End. This is not to be confused with South Boston, which lies directly east from the South End. North of the South End is East Boston and southwest of East Boston is the North End. Backbay was filled in years ago.



BASIC RULES FOR DRIVING IN BOSTON
(subject to change at any time):

When on a one way street, stay to the right to allow oncoming traffic to pass.

Never, ever, stop for a pedestrian unless he flings himself under the wheels of your car.

The first parking space you see will be the last parking space you see. Grab it.

Double park in the North End of Boston, unless triple parking is available.

Learn to swerve abruptly. Boston is the home of slalom driving, thanks to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.

Never get in the way of a car that needs extensive bodywork.

Always look both ways when running a red light.

Honk your horn the instant the light changes.

Breakdown lanes are not for breaking down, but for speeding, especially during rush hour. Breakdown lanes may also end without warning causing traffic jams as people merge back in.

Never use directional signals when changing lanes. They only warn other drivers to speed up and not let you in.

Making eye contact revokes your right of way.

Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right.

Whenever possible, stop in the middle of a crosswalk to ensure inconveniencing as many pedestrians as possible. And if a pedestrian ahead of you steps in the road, speed up loudly and chase him back up on the curb. Peds have no rights.

 

[Tig67]

We are going there ourselves in a few weeks! In addition to all this great advice, take a look at Trip Advisor dot com at the forum section'

We are also driving to Maine one day (only day that we will rent a car)

Can't wait!!!

OH - and Pizzeri Regina is top of this list.

Hey all. I grew up in RI, an hour from Boston and now live in Maine so got all covered.

My son loves the aquarium. If you are doing the Museum of Science, check out getting a membership. Can't remember what a family membership costs but you also get some tickets to the planetarium and the IMAX theater. It also gives you recipricol visits all over the country. May be worth the cost. We've used it to get into our local children's museum and the zoo in RI.

Freedom Trail is great. Faneuil Hall is fun for the eats. Duck Tours are great and leave from the Museum of Science. Members might also get a discount on those.

DO NOT try to drive in Boston unless you have to. I've used GPS and still gotten totally mixed up. If you have to drive in, pick a spot to park (Museum members get discounted parking there and a T stop is within walking distance) and take the T. There's a T stop right near the aquarium too but remember parking is expensive.

I believe the statues of the ducks from Make Way for Ducklings are also in the public gardens along with the swan boats. Kids get a kick out of it.

Boston is my favorite city. So much history for the birth of our country. Very inspiring.

 

[ols386]

I've been to Boston 3 or 4 times. Last couple of times we stayed at the Harborside Inn. I think it runs around $200/night, and it is right in the downtown area, near the historical attractions ($200 sounds high, but it's really not expensive for that part of town). We didn't even attempt to drive in Boston....the traffic is too crazy and confusing for us. But most everything we wanted to see was within walking distance.

Walking the Freedom Trail is really interesting, and Harborside Inn is only 1 block from the Boston Harbor, where you can go on various different boat excursions; it's very close to Quincy Market, which is basically a huge food court, with food from all different cultures and countries around the world....German, Italian, French, Mexico, American, etc. And there is also a "Cheers" restaurant right there at Quincy Market.

The Cheers bar (which is the one that you see the front of it in the tv show "Cheers") is a further walk, over near the Boston Common, but it's a nice walk over there. The Boston Common is a very pretty area to walk through also.

It's also fun to take the subway over to Harvard, which is in Cambridge. It's the most beautiful campus I've ever seen.

We also went to Boston many years ago when my kids were around age 8 and 10, and that time we stayed at the Holiday Inn, in the downtown area also. They were pretty young then, but they had a great time while we were in Boston. We walked the ENTIRE Freedom Trail and they loved it!

I love going to Boston. It's a great city!!

 

[Arielle22]

Tips for driving around Boston: (Taken from "You know you're from Boston when...")

All avenues are properly referenced by their nicknames: Comm Ave, Mass Ave., Dot Ave.

Whenever possible, stop in the middle of a crosswalk to ensure inconveniencing as many pedestrians as possible. And if a pedestrian ahead of you steps in the road, speed up loudly and chase him back up on the curb. Peds have no rights.

Also Mass Ave actually goes through a couple of towns and the numbers reset with each town (learned that one when I was young the hard way)

When my DD went on a class trip to Quebec in the spring; during orientation the kids were specifically told "Quebec is not like Boston. You must wait for the walk sign and cross only in the pedestrian crosswalks". The parents got a good laugh out of it.