Boston with 15yo DD

[WhereHas1999DissappearedToo]

So DD and I are going to Boston in November 2014 for 10 days to visit a old family friend and their family who live there. Any tips on what to do in Boston? We're not keen on trudging round a heap of museums (though doing one will be fine) or seeing endless scenery.

We're going to go to New York for a couple of days and probably do Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and some do shopping.

Also any tips for the flight? This is my first long haul flight, having only flown to Australia from NZ before. It looks like we will be travelling for about 30 hours with a 6 hours at Auckland Airport (we're flying from Dunedin) and then another 4 or 5 hours at San Francisco Airport before arriving in Boston. Flying Air New Zealand btw.

Air New Zealand is a lovely airline. For the flight, take or wear comfortable, soft clothes and loose shoes - many people's feet swell. I usually pop to the bathroom about 30 minutes into the flight, especially a night flight, cover myself in moisturiser and put on leggings and a soft, long sleeved t shirt. Socks too, the cabin air is so dry and often cold. Drink plenty of water (you don't need to take much on, ANZ bring it round and you can always pop back to the galley and get some whenever you fancy). Walk round the cabin every few hours at least, to get your blood flow going. If it's safe for you to take aspirin, taking one is not a bad idea.

Never been to Boston I hear it's wonderful though!

Have you ever been to Boston or New York before ? Have you ever travelled on a plane with your dd before? (These answers change my response)

Been to Boston but about 9 years ago. Its great for shopping. Has a lovely food market. We did a tour of the state house which was surprisingly interesting. Followed the freedom trail. You can take trips to visit Harvard Uni and go to the sight of the tea party.

Loads of great places to eat but the Union Oyster house is v famous.

Can I also suggest going to Cape Cod! It's amazing and def worth the look. Well fleet and Province town, a trip to Marthers Vineyard.

Lady I've been to Australia by plane many times before with DD but not in the last 6 years and also to Auckland this year by plane with DD. Haven't been to America before (or anywhere else bar Australia)

Thank you for the lovely suggestions rooty, I will defiantly be bringing some moisturiser!

Thank you rinky, DD will love the shopping! will probably go to Harvard as family friend is a professor there and Union Oyster sounds good as I'm a big seafood lover :).

Got recommend Marthers Vinyard by a friend. How long is it from the centre of Boston? and do you get out there by train? (sorry for all the questions!)

The shops are great and it would probably be easier to shop there than when you're in NYC so you can spend your time seeing the sights.

An ex BF was living there for a while so I went over a few times though didn't really do the museums (I like culture just not too much museum type things).
Faneuil (sp?) Hall is lovely, has loads of cute shops and food stalls, bit of an indoor market feel from what I remember.
Also around that area is the Freedom Trail. It's an outdoor historical walk marked in the ground, so you can see a bit and then drop off without feeling like you've wasted an entrance fee, it goes through some of the pretty older parts of town.
Daytrip out to Cambridge/Harvard is lovely for wandering around, your DD will probably love the student vibe.
Boston Common is worth a wander and you an see some of the New England foliage without travelling out to see it outside of the city.

Salem is also meant to be worth a visit, I never made it but know people who have and recommend it.

It's quite a chilled out city very much a wander round different districts and look at how pretty they are rather than the frenetic pace of sightseeing you'll be experiencing in NYC.

Went to Salem and didn't really rate it. We hired a car to travel round cape cod etc. I think it's probably the best way of doing it as it gets fairly remote the further round you go. Loads of ferrys from Cape cod to Martha's Vineyard but you'll need to check timings as I'm not certain but I think you may need to watch crossing times to avoid a stay over.

Oh and concord Massachusetts is worth a trip. Lovely small American town where the Alcott Sisters used to live and you can go visit their house. Great grave yard! No really, their is something famous about it but I can't remember what it is.

Sorry to keep posting but if you did hire a car you could travel from Boston to Plymouth and into cape cod. Plymouth is interesting, Plymouth Rock (just a rock surrounded by bars) it's the sight where the first ships landed in the states.

Would take maybe an hour and half to travel. It's not far!

Went to Boston for a few days whilst staying with family at Rhode Island. We took a bus from Middletown RI to Boston so I'm sure there will be options to get to Cape Cod etc.
We had two pre school boys so mostly did the parks and the childrens museum and the aquarium.

We did go into the Fanueill Hall (again can't remember how to spell it) and ate at the little food stalls. We also went to one of the best Italians restuarants I have ever been in, including those in Italy :o

It's a lovely city to walk about - it was very quiet when we were there. We took a photo when walking back from the aquarium with all the big buildings in the background - we were standing on one of the bridges over the river - and there is not another soul in the photo - really weird for a large city in a busy area in the middle of the day.

Boston is a really lovely city (maybe I'm a bit biased since I lived there!).

Depends what you and your daughter are interested in, but you could consider;

The Mapparium - it's a huge glass globe you can walk through the middle of. Sounds weird, but really is pretty interesting and not something you'd see in the Southern Hemisphere.

Duck Tours - city tour on amphibious vehicle. Touristy but good.

Prudential Center - good range of shops, eats etc. November can be chilly so it's good to have some warm places.

Newbury St - again, good shopping

North End - Italian area, lots of restaurants, cake shops and pizza. My personal favourite for pizza is Regina. Yum!

Trip out to Cambridge to see Harvard and the area is 15 mins (depending where you are of course) on the red line of the T (public transport network).

Trip out to Charlestown to see Bunker Hill and the Constitution is nice, plus you can ride the harbour ferry.

The Cape, Martha's Vineyard etc are lovely. I like the Vineyard, it has really cute little 'gingerbread' houses.

Air New Zealand was lovely, it's who I flew from the US to Oz with.

The 'Plimoth Plantation' open air museum was great fun, with reconstructed houses with actors, plus a great area with native American but culture and customs.

Sorry I haven't got back sooner as I've been caught up with work but thank you guys so much for all your suggestions, I don't know what I would do without MN- they are so helpful and it saves me time searching trip advisor

I love all of these ideas definitely keen on the North End, The freedom Trail, The Mapparium and going on ferries as DD hasn't been on a ferry before.

Rinky I'm not sure about the driving as I struggle enough in Australia but I will see! thanks for the heads up about the ferries, will defiantly check it out closer to the time :)

Another vote for plimouth plantation, v interesting and think your DD would enjoy it, and for cape cod, we stayed in Hyannis.

When we went to Boston we saw the Shear Madness play which is worth doing - it's the longest running show in the US then to Finale afterwards for after theatre drinks and desserts - the desserts are amazing

www.shearmadness.com/about-the-show.html www.finaledesserts.com

For seafood you could also try Legal Seafoods. I love Boston, I'm sure you'll have a great time