To ask if you've been to Boston?

[Olaplex]

Have you visited Boston, and if so would you recommend it?

Could you spend a couple of weeks holiday there?

Is there anything nearby worth seeing (neighbouring cities, etc.)?

@Bumble ooh great point about autumn

Thanks @pallisers amazing tips! :)

Love that one person has said IBU

Agree about doing Boston for a week and somewhere else for a week and also going in Autumn - I went to Vermont in October a few years ago and it's beautiful

We've stayed in Boston for a few nights, beautiful city. I personally wouldn't stay a full week but that might be me, I generally wouldn't stay in any city for that long.

After a few days in Boston, we hired a car with friends and drove a pre-planned circular route around New England for 10 days, staying in hotels. As PP have said, Nantucket and Cape Cod to the south are great, and the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Green Mountains in Vermont are absolutely stunning.

After returning the car to Boston, we then took a train into New York(v easy journey) and spent 4 nights in NYC.

Fantastic holiday with a great mix of city/nature.

New England is one of my favourite places in the USA.

When is the artist on tour?

I'm a New Yorker, so a bit biased. You couldn't possibly run out of things to do for two weeks here.

That said, I adore Boston, have family there and DS attends uni in the Boston area. @pallisers has given you a great starting list. I'd add Salem for the history (and you must eat at Turner's Seafood while there) and the Peabody Essex Museum - it's a gem and the area is lovely and not far from Boston:

www.pem.org/

Boston is smaller and more managable than NYC, but probalby a bit less in terms of museums and variety of things to do. Visit both if you can.

I lived in Cambridge MA for a year. Boston is a great city! Maybe two weeks would be pushing it as a tourist, but you could explore the surrounding area e.g Salem, Gloucester, the Cape etc

Two weeks solid in Boston is too much. Unless you use it for a base from which to travel around, as others have said, Cape Cod etc. We spent 3 days in Boston at the start of a New England road trip and those three days were enough.
Little Italy in Boston North End has some great restaurants, and Faneuil Market is worth an explore, and Boston Common is lovely for a stroll and to watch the Swan boats on the lake.

I went in February a few years ago, only stayed 3 nights which was plenty because not much was open. Would like to go again and see a bit more

@ChaChaCha2012

From Dec this year to Dec 2021.

Any earlier than August next year I'd be wary... the Boston and NY dates are both in October.

You could spend a week on Cape Cod which isn’t too far away, and is lovely

Beautiful city. I rounded off the trip by taking the train to New York - as you don't see much from a plane.

I love Boston and have been a couple of times. Not sure I would stay for more than a week though.

One trip we travelled onto Maine (York and Kennebunkport) which was great and on another trip we went to Cap Cod and I a bit underwhelmed to be honest.

As you have by now gathered, a fortnight all in Boston is too long. Personally, I would find two weeks overkill for any city break.

If it were me, I would take a week hiking the bit of the Appalachian Trail that goes through Massachusetts. It's about 90 miles. But a tour around New England would also be cool.

Personally I'd skip Boston, do a week in New York and a week in Philly/DC.

(Biased as I'm from NY and DC!)

Boston is the most British American city. Coastal Maine is well worth a visit. L L Bean in Freeport has the best outdoor clothing at reasonable prices. They even have a trout pond in the store.
The best and most professional whale watches are in Provincetown. It's very quaint, and a LGBT holiday spot as well. Plymouth with the living history museum Plimouth Plantation is well worth a visit.

Brimfield is less than an hour from Boston. They have huge outdoor antique shows three times a year. There are sullen landscapers with boxes marked $ 1 - $2- $5- $ 10-, and elaborate climate controlled tents with furniture more expensive than a new Nissan. Check online for dates.

The Old Sturbridge Village not five miles away offers a living village 1790-1830.  The Publick House offers fine dining in a building dated before the Revolutionary War. 
Boston is less than two hours from Stockbridge and Lenox, the summer home of the Boston Sympathy and Pops Orchestras.  There are several historic and stately houses and gardens worth touring as well. 
Don't miss the Boston Aquarium and Franklin Park Zoo.

I went in 2018 and had a lovely tkme. Had lovely sunny weather in Nov too. I only went for 4 days and that seemed enough.

On another trip I went to NY city and then spent a week driving about up state NY. That was really fun!

Boston was lovely. We only spent a couple of days there but we could have been there much longer. I missed a few things.

Leeds2 - I have been to Salem at Halloween - it was great. In fact I loved the whole New England Halloween feel - gorgeous autumnal colours and lots of pumpkins.

Fall in New England is gorgeous but like everyone else said two weeks would be too long to stay in Boston itself.

I probably wouldn't go November / December if you're looking for outdoorsy lots of walking bits to do as it gets coooooold.

I lived there and would happily move back if I had to pick a US city.

I probably wouldn't go November / December if you're looking for outdoorsy lots of walking bits to do as it gets coooooold.

Winters can be very hard in Boston. We have to send DS to uni with a lot of winter kit. One thing that no one has mentioned as a downside is that people in Boston drive like lunatics very assertively. We go around the city when taking DS to uni even though it adds about 20 minutes to the trip. The last time I was there I was stopped at a traffic light and the pickup truck behind me drove up onto the sidewalk and went around me so that he could get up to the intersection to make a right turn. This didn't surprise me a bit.

Everything other posters have said - plus a wander around Harvard and its museums, and Fenway Park home of the famous Boston Redsox. We were lucky enough to see a game which was fantastic.

laughing at the idea that Boston is the most British of american cities.

Just thought of another one which is really lovely if you have any Little Women fans. The Louisa May Alcott museum in Concord is fabulous. It is the house she and her sisters grew up in and completely authentic (basically they planned for and turned it into a museum as soon as she died) so you can see "Amy's" paintings/murals and the spot where "Meg" got married. Concord itself is also lovely as is lexington and the minuteman national park.

Probably no one reads the poet Longfellow anymore but his house in Cambridge is open to the public (old house where George Washington stayed during the war) and is also very authentic and interesting.

I agree with MissConductUS about Salem and PEM. Although I have asian-american friends who have mixed feelings about PEM.

Yes we did Boston and loads of other places in new England. Cape cod is fab. Then we got the train up to new York. Fab holiday.