Trip to Boston for FIFA Cup 2026

[sophiasmithh]

I plan to travel to Boston in June 2026, arriving roughly one week prior to the start of the FIFA matches so that I can get settled and do some exploring. I'm considering lodging in the Back Bay area, perhaps at The Colonnade Hotel. I don't intend to concentrate on nightlife want to spend the day exploring the neighbourhood. I also enjoy trying new foods with a few more upscale dining establishments.

What is the best way to enjoy the first week of a trip to Boston so that it feels leisurely? Any advice on how to get around, places to eat, or easy day trips would be beneficial.

Salem is a great daytrip from Boston on the train from North Station. We also enjoyed the Tea Party Museum (interactive and great fun), walking the Freedom Trail and Boston Common, and then over to Cambridge for a Harvard tour and a walk along the Charles River. It will be summer, so you may be able to fit in a game at Fenway Park - we went in October last year so saw the Celtics at TD Garden for opening night. Can't help with independent restaurants but can recommend Cheesecake Factrory and PF Changs there!

I would go for a cocktail and some appetisers in the bar at the top of the Prudential tower. The view is great. Legal Seafood is a chain but it does have reliably good oysters and lobster. The Barking Crab in the Seaport is a bit of an institution for seafood too, although it seems to have upped its prices dramatically recently. Yvonne’s is a nice restaurant, quite central.
I would recommend a trip to the Harbor Islands on the ferry, take a picnic on a nice day. Great views back to the city and very peaceful. I would go to either Concord or Rockport on the train rather than Salem. Lots of nice restaurants in Rockport and it’s very pretty. Concord has the Louisa M Allcot museum and historical sites from the war of independence.
The tour of the Boston Public Library is nice, the Mapparium is interesting and of course both the MFA and the Isabella Stewart Gardiner museum are well worth visiting. Both have excellent restaurants (booking required).

The Boston metro is both reliable and easy to get around. A week's pass is only $22.50.

You could also do a day trip to Providence Rhode Island by train and see the RISD (Rhode Island school of design). There is also a nice shopping complex near Providence station.

Ferries also run from Boston to Provincetown on Cape Cod in the summer months.

If the Red Sox baseball team are at home the weeks you are there you may want to go to Fenway Park.

Eataly in the Prudential Center is nice for lunch, you can sit at the bar and have cheese and cold meats with a nice glass of wine or have a more substantial restaurant meal. If you do go somewhere by train from North Station there is a food hall type place there with some nice food and a branch of Mike’s Pastries for cannoli. If you go into the North End for Italian food (you should) don’t go to Mike’s there; go to Modern Pastries instead, and sit in to eat. Much shorter queues and fabulous cake and coffee.

Agree with the person upthread on Providence - great shopping and very quiet (Brown is lovely to walk around also). I can't add commentary on cruises/ museums as we were there with a 14 year old who didn't want to go any non-science museums and doesn't like boats! If you are willing to travel out to Connecticut I can highly recommend the Essex River steam train and river cruise (this one was acceptable!). We did not like Mike's Pastries sadly. If you do make it to Salem, we went on an amazing walking tour with Bewitched Tours and her knowledge of the period was impressive.

Actually, we made an exception for the Yale Museum of Art which we were totally blown away by and it was so quiet given the impressive art that is on display there.

Salem is easy to get to by train. Do research well, some of the Witchtrail museums are rubbish.

We went to the USS Constitution. It's an active Navy ship and you need a passport.

Harvard art museum is also excellent. In one of the Harvard museums there is an amazing collection of glass flowers and plants that is really worth seeing. It’s easy to get to Harvard on the T.

Faneuil Hall market place had loads of different food stands - I had a really great clam sandwich with chips there.

I live near Boston - some favorite restaurants are Myers and Chang, Fox & the Knife, Alden & Harlow, Waypoint, Sarma, Oleana. Flour Bakery is a great local chain for sandwiches and things (much better than Tatte, which you'll see a lot of). Agree with the suggestion to take a day trip to Salem by train - in the summer, you can go on a boat ride on the Mahi Cruise, which is lovely.

Also - the best museums are the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the MFA. And in Salem, the ONLY museum worth going to is the Peabody Essex Museum - it's really great. The rest are tourist traps.

Boston is really walkable. I stayed in Back Bay and only took the T to Harvard and the airport. I did get a blister, mind you.

Freedom Trail - take the guided tour. Trinity Church has beautiful Edward Burne Jones windows. For a bit of fun take the Boston duck tour (amphibious vehicle).

Definitely take the fast ferry to Provincetown. I cocked up on my intended day trip to Concord unfortunately so my tip is to check the trains and assign a day in your itinerary.

I would suggest add the Jonathan Corwin house

salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/jonathan-corwin-house/

I like Lowell and it’s an easy train journey

https://www.nps.gov/lowe/index.htm

And if you fancy hiring a car (although it’s reachable by train & bus, it takes a bit too long for a day trip), Strawberry Banke is fascinating
https://www.strawberybanke.org/history

For day trips I would go for Marblehead, Rockport, Salem, Cape Cod (you can either drive to Falmouth or ferry to Provincetown), Newport RI, Concord and Lexington for civil war history and Louisa May Alcott house, White Mountains in NH for beautiful scenery and hiking. Personally I didn't really love the harbour islands. You can also take whale watching trips from Boston.

I’d get the ferry to Nantucket. Beautiful place. Whaling Museum is worth visiting.

Thanks, everyone, this is really helpful and exactly what I needed. I’m going to stay in Back Bay and keep the first few days in Boston relaxed with lots of walking and a Salem day trip before the matches start.