Boston Massachusetts – Things to Do

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Boston

Home to philosophers, poets, intellectuals and revolutionaries, Boston is anything but a boring city. It’s a town with a concrete identity and plenty of things to do, from Cambridge to Beacon Hill. The city is making an effort to display its charisma to those who are interested. Through innovative architecture, urban projects and a burgeoning art and film scene, Boston has come alive. So, if you’re up for a stroll down the Freedom Trail, want to catch one of the city's many events, sit out by the Boston Harbor, or peek into one of Boston’s many museums, Hyatt is there to guide you along the way.

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ARTS/CULTURE

Concord Museum

200 Lexington Road

Concord,MA

+1 987 369 9763

If you weren't aware of how much American history lies in Concord, this museum will let you know without making your brain explode.

Lizard Lounge

1667 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge,MA

+1 617 547 0759

Sure, poets and musicians hang out here for the live music and the poetry slam, but you don't need a beret and a goatee to feel welcome.

MIT Museum

265 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge,MA

+1 617 253 4444

Only MIT could create a museum exhibit in which a chair explodes and then re-assembles itself.

Museum of Fine Arts

465 Huntington Avenue

Boston,MA

+1 617 267 9300

You'd think the Impressionist paintings would leave the most memorable impression, but the Japanese art collection makes you think you're in Japan.

The New England Aquarium

Central Wharf

Boston,MA

+1 617 973 5300

The jellyfish exhibit is mesmerizing and the 200,000-gallon tank is a marvel, but reaching into the tide pool to pet a sea urchin is something you’ll never forget.

Peabody Essex Museum

East India Square, 161 Essex Street

Salem, MA

+1 978 745 9000

Although this museum is located in the heart of Salem, it appeals more to Captain Ahab than Cotton Mather.

Harvard Museum of Natural History

26 Oxford Street

Cambridge, MA

+1 617 495 3045

Explore 12,000 specimens at the University's most visited museum-dinosaurs, meteorites, gemstones, and hundreds of animals from around the globe.

Huntington Theater Company

264 Huntington Avenue

Boston, MA

+1 617 266 0800

Known for its consistently excellent productions, this is the theater where Broadway goes to see a show.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

280 The Fenway

Boston, MA

+1 617 278 5166

At this museum modeled after a 15th-century Venetian palazzo, if the art collection boasting Rembrandt and Degas doesn't impress you, the spectacular courtyard garden will.

PLACES

Arnold Arboretum by Harvard University

125 Arborway

Boston, MA

+1 617 524 1718

A marriage between art and science, the arboretum not only provides astonishing landscapes, but also a comprehensive study of the plants in it.

Boston Common and Public Gardens

148 Tremont Street

Boston, MA

+1 607 357 8300

This 50-acre park is so old it was around when red coats weren’t just a fashion statement.

Buckman Tavern

1 Bedford Street

Lexington,MA02420

The first shot of the Revolutionary War was fired here, which makes the war the most infamous bar fight in the history of the world.

Burying Ground at King's Chapel

58 Tremont Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 227 2155

At the oldest burying ground in Boston, the headstones are so startlingly gothic, you'll expect to see zombies staggering through the area.

Newbury Street

Newbury Street and Exeter Street

Boston,MA

We didn't think it was possible to fit shopping, dining and an ample dose of history into one eight-block stretch. Then we discovered Newbury Street.

Observatory Nights at Harvard

60 Garden Street

Cambridge, MA

+1 617 495 7461

You won't unlock the secrets of the universe at this monthly gathering, but you will get to observe the way the universe works, which is just as cool.

Trinity Church

266 Clarendon Street

Boston,MA

+1 617 536 0944

We know you're supposed to be quiet in church, but after seeing the stained-glass windows in this marvel of American architecture, you'll be tempted to shout "Hallelujah!"

Walden Pond

915 Walden Street

Concord,MA

+1 978 369 3254

It probably wasn't your favorite book in high school, but this place gives On Walden Pond new meaning. Why? Because you're not reading about it, you're actually there.

Paul Revere's House

19 North Square

Boston, MA

+1 617 523 2338

The tour won't allow you to re-create Paul Revere's ride through Boston, but it does allow a vivid glimpse into the way he lived.

EAT/DRINK/PLAY

Bartley Burger Cottage

1246 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA

+1 617 354 6559

On the edge of Harvard Square, this one-room restaurant pulls in people with their burgers, but the raspberry-lime rickeys are the real treat.

The Butcher Shop

552 Tremont Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 423 4800

To help you choose your meat, this South End restaurant employs a butcher to make sure the choice isn't just right, but perfect.

The Druid

1357 Cambridge Street

Cambridge,MA

+1 617 497 0965

In a town as Irish as Boston, when the locals say this place is an authentic Irish bar, you'd better listen.

Kelly’s Roast Beef

410 Revere Beach Boulevard

Revere, MA

+1 781 284 9129

Names can be a little misleading, because this place is known more than anything else for putting one pound of meat in its lobster roll.

Neptune Oyster

63 Salem Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 742 3474

One of the best places to eat in Boston, this restaurant serves seafood so fresh, it's like eating dinner in the house of the Roman god for which the restaurant is named.

Sportello

348 Congress Street

Boston,MA

+1 617 737 1234

With counter-style seating and an upscale menu, this place is like a diner, except it doesn't sling hash as much as it slings haute cuisine.

Tavern on the Water

1 Eighth Street, Pier 6

Charlestown, MA

+1 617 242 8040

Although this tavern is open all year round, it really comes alive during the summer, when locals hoist beers as the boats hoist their sails out in Boston Harbor.

Trina's Starlite Lounge

3 Beacon Street

Somerville, MA

+1 617 576 0006

People hang out at this Inman Square restaurant for the elegantly retro décor, but you'll come here because the Starlite cocktail is simply elegant.

SHOPPING

Bobby from Boston

19 Thayer Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 423 9299

Offering anything from ascots to vintage leather accessories, this shop doesn't sell clothes as much as it sells transformation.

Brattle Book Store

9 West Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 542 0210

If you like your book shops big and old, then this is the place for you. It's three stories tall and is one of the oldest book stores in the United States.

Habberdash Vintage

Boston, MA

The ultimate shopping adventure: a vintage clothing store housed in a vintage silver trailer. It's never in the same place for long, but it's always in Boston.

in-jean-ius

441 Hanover Street

Boston,MA

+1 617 523 5326

Casual elegance is a difficult look to master, but with the array of jeans, flirty tops and dazzling accessories, this shop makes it look easy.

International Poster Gallery

205 Newbury Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 375 0076

Boasting a collection of vintage posters from Italy, France and beyond, this shop knows that not all posters should be hung with thumb tacks.

Johnny Cup Cakes

279 Newbury Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 375 0100

If you want a cup cake, you should go somewhere else. But if you want a t-shirt, Johnny Cupcakes designs and crafts the most unique T-Shirts in Boston.

Ku De Ta

663 East Broadway

South Boston, MA

+1 617 269 0008

Using fabulosity and glam as its primary appeal, this boutique overthrows the ordinary with fashion forward pieces.

Lorem Ipsum Books

1299 Cambridge Street.

Cambridge, MA

+1 617 497 7669

Some books are so good you'd like to step inside and hang out with the characters. This used bookstore in Cambridge makes you feel like it's actually possible.

Stel's

334 Newbury Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 262 3348

With designers like Alexander Wang and Gary Graham, this store found the common thread between the top men's and women's fashions: cool style has red-hot appeal.

Uniform

511 Tremont Street

Boston, MA

+1 617 247 2360

With brands that are the pinnacle of coolness—Ben Sherman, Scotch and Soda, and Frietag— a trip here will have you humming the chorus to ZZ Top's "Sharp-dressed Man."

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