Boston, New York and Washington

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

In the summer, any suggestions of where to go, especially Boston and Washington as we went to NY 3 years ago. DH is talking about flying in and out of NY then using the train to get to Washington. He is also talking about Cape Cod and looking at Harvard. Our DC will be 14&12 and are used to travelling and busy holidays.

Any recommendations for me?! Many thanks.

Cape Cod is just lovely - your dh's instincts are great. We enjoyed the Boston Childrens Museum - the Americans are so good at making Museums engaging and interesting

We have visited Boston several times it is a wonderful city that I could visit over and over again. Havard is an easy tube ride from central Boston.
On one occasion we drove from Boston to Cape Cod via Plymouth and the Mayflower II which took about 3 hours and was very easy. Cape Cod is lovely when the sunshines, but difficult when it rains. We did take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard and on a local's advice bought a day ticket on the local buses rather than the tour buses. The bus drivers were fab and as good as tour guides they told where jaws was filmed who lived where etc.
We then drove from Cape Cod through Rhodes Island stopping in Newport to see the amazing houses, through conneticut having lunch in Mystic (of pizza fame) to New London. We then caught the 4pm ferry to the North Fork on Long Island (1.5 hours) and stayed on the North Fork which is lovely and some of the best sunsets I have ever seen and there are several to compare with.
On our last day we took the ferry back to New London and then the Interstate back to Boston.
Long before DH and DD I have toured Virginia out of Washington and can again recommend this too. Personally trains are not that great in the US and I would hire a car every time. Often driving is quicker than the train.

We used the train to Boston once, slept at an airport Hotel (Newark) and took the train the next day. I booked business class seats, which were very luxurious and had free tea/coffee. But even the normal class seemed very nice compared to trains here.
Washington is great for the museums and I would love to take the kids back, but can be hot/humid in summer.
We've also had lovely holidys touring all over from Boston. Although had one vaery cold June in Cape Cod.

In Boston there is a trail you can walk around, I recommend that, as part of it you visit the tea party location and there is an old British ship you can look round, which is quite good and the American sailors give you verbal abuse for being British as part of the experience. The trail is short enough for kids.

The highlight for us was a tour of the town hall (it is just down the street from the Cheers pub), which sounds odd but the tour guides were lovely and interesting and took us to lunch afterwards in their staff canteen so they could talk to us about England. The people we met there were so nice. We also got bought dinner by some Americans who were in Boston on business and bored and who had passed the time with us.

I thought the Children's museum was ok. There was a science/natural history museum to the north of the city we got the subway out to and that was ok too. Only ok though, I think we are spoilt here with our museums. I found some of it a bit dated.

The aquarium and bus tours were good.

I though Harvard was a bit boring to be honest, just the same as any old Uni here. You couldn't go in anywhere to have a nosy. We visited MIT which was much more interesting, they had a visitor centre that outlined stupid things students had done over the years, which was entertaining. We then wondered into one of the buildings and had lunch and watched student life and wished we could do it all again. I don't know if there will be more security there these days.

Boston is a good city to just kind of hang around in. Very pleasant. Writing this is making me want to go back!

Washington was good too, but felt much more like a city you need to be careful in.

Visit to FBI building (Or was it CIA? can't remember) was great, you can watch them fire a gun and see inside the labs and I think it was free. The museums in Washington were fab and all close together. All free too. Maybe go to museums in Washington instead of Boston? You can go up a tower thing near the White House and that was good too. The White House was fab, not sure if you get as much access as you used to. Good to see all the places you see on the TV. You can do a tour of the Senate and House of Representatives and that was worthwhile.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum is something special but I wouldn't go there with kids under 12. Some exhibts are labelled as potentially upsetting but the whole thing is very intense and if you go you'll need some time to relax and reflect afterwards.

We were thinking about Washington, but other advice I have read is to not do it in the summer as it is insufferably hot and the queues for the museums are brutal.

Boston's nice but Harvard isn't very accessible, as moomaa said. The Social Network was filmed somewhere else because Harvard don't let non-students/university personnel in.

I have been to DC in August and did not find it too insufferably hot most days. Museums were fine if you went along to them first thing (seem to recall they open at 10am) but they all become far more crowded in the afternoon. I always felt safe in DC, as long as you don't leave your common sense at home a visit there should be trouble free.
Always seek local advice from the hotel staff if you want to venture to any one particular area in the evening.

Cost wise, the Embassy Suites are good value per night and they also do a free cooked breakfast daily. Do look at www.tripadvisor.com for up to date reviews and photos.

FBI building no longer does any tours for visitors; they have not done this for several years now. There is a spy museum in DC though that your children would probably like.

You may also want to see where the US currency is printed (and sold as well, they sell sheets of US currency amongst other stuff). This is called the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This is free but there are only a limited and set number of tickets given out each day. If you want to do this you need to go to the ticket booth early and around 60-90 minutes before it opens.

Washington DC does a Duck tour which takes people around the various DC sights and does a trip on the Potomac River.

If you go to Washington Zoo do bear in mind that its located on a downward slope, a trip back to the entrance requires a walk uphill.

You may want to look at the Acela service that Amtrak operates between NY and Washington Union Square station. Union Square station in DC is worth a visit in its own right, it has a nice lot of shops and restaurants in it. The "America" restuarant situated there is very good indeed.

What an amazing response - thank you everyone. Unfortunately we are tied to August because of school holidays and Dh's work commitments but we are ok with hot and humid having been to Tokyo in August two years ago, we just sort of melted into it!

I think the key is getting up early and getting on with it!

I think we have stayed in the Embassy suites chain before in the States - are they the ones who do free beer and popcorn in the early evening? I think they are. They suit us very well as we can all go in together.

Thank you though, I have made notes for us and then we can develop our plans!!

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common and I can recommend it for service, style and location

"I think we have stayed in the Embassy suites chain before in the States - are they the ones who do free beer and popcorn in the early evening".

Yep, they're the ones.

How did you find Tokyo in August btw?.

Tokyo in august was melt worthy but very joyous Thank you , because my lovely brother, even lovelier SIL and lovelier by far DNs ( twins aged 6 ) are living there at the moment. So it was fab. When I look at the photos however, I can see how hot we all were! Everyones face has a sheen to it and hair sticking down or all madly frizzy!

We had been before later one September and as I recall my hair frizzed badly then as it was no better!!

I loved free beer and popcorn!! We shall def look them uP again. 14&12 are funny ages to put in their own hotel rooms. DD aged 14 and DS aged a very young 12. Something like Embassy Suites is ideal.