Self-catering near Boston, USA. Any recommendations?

[jools35]

Planning to take our three children (ages 3, 6 and 8) to Boston/New England in June. Having trouble finding self-catering appartments in Boston/Cambridge area. Perhaps we should go for Cape Cod, but we wanted to avoid too much driving as we're only going for max 9 days. Any suggestions?? Thanks!

We always go to the Cape - but stick to the Upper end so only around 1.5 hours drive from Boston. Self catering VERY expensive there though - recommend "weneedavacation.com" for self catering places.
By the way - traffic to teh Cape very heavy at weekends so try to avoid driving then! (took us 3 hours last year rather than 1.5!)

I find this page good for rentals. Haven't used them inside the US, but it's a good site.

Driving into and around Boston sucks, from what I remember. Nice town, though. Maybe you can do a few days on the coast somewhere, in a resort town, and a few days in Boston itself?

last year went to cousins wedding. stayed at marriott town suites in danvers (north shore). pretty basic accommodation - my aunt booked it on our behalf but it was right on route one which made getting around very easy. www.marriott.com

don't drive into boston - even locals find it a complete nightmare. the commuter rail is a very good service that goes from boston all the way to rockport.

the cape is expensive for most things not just accommodation.

the childrens museum, the science museum and the aquarium in boston all great for children and a trolley tour or duck tour is a great way to get around all the sights. i enjoyed all these things myself as a child and dd1 loved them on her visit too

if you do go to the cape falmouth is a very nice area but is quite a long drive.

salem is a nice town but the witch museums are a bit dated.

rockport is very nice with little boutique type shops and good seafood.

We had a holiday with family in Canada a few years ago and flew into Boston - it was significantly cheaper to fly there and drive up to Canada than fly directly to Canada.

Everyone told us not to drive in Boston (was still in the middle of the Big Dig, which probably made things worse), so we arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport and drive us to Salem. We stayed at a hotel in Salem (the Salem Inn, if memory serves me right) and then hired a car in Salem.

Salem is a great town, and much easier to drive around/out of.

Car from airport cost, I think, about $50 - but it was about 5 years ago so not sure.