7 Child-Pleasant Locations, Attractions, and Issues to Do in Boston, Massachusetts

Boston has lengthy been on my journey checklist for a lot of causes—baseball, historical past, Harvard, proximity to Salem—and in planning this fall’s 1:1 journeys with my children, I knew I wished to take my daughter Pearl to this Northeastern hub. While the thought of touring to Boston with a 7 year-old won’t be everybody’s (ahem) cup of tea, I could not have picked a greater journey accomplice.

Cool, calm, and all the time a vibe, Pearl and I had the most effective time and Boston and since I used to be touring with a tiny human with tiny legs, we needed to decelerate and take our time whereas touring Beantown (do locals name it that?). What we found, over the course of three days and lots of miles walked, was a metropolis stuffed with passionate folks stuffed with delight for his or her metropolis and its legacy.

Walking is by far one of the best ways to absorb Boston (severely, save your self the headache of driving… I missed a dinner reservation as a result of we merely couldn’t get from one neighborhood to a different in rush hour site visitors) and Pearl and I divided up our adventures into bite-sized parts bookended with numerous scrumptious meals and beautiful views. Here are a few of my favourite family-friendly excursions, actions, and sights in Boston, Massachusetts:

Fenway Park

I’m a tried-and-true Cincinnati Reds fan however I’ve a ardour for all issues baseball and it does not get far more historic or iconic than the Boston Red Sox. I booked a Fenway Park stadium tour for Pearl and me and it was completely price each penny (even with the $38 I paid to park close by as a result of I foolishly thought I’d “find a spot” the best way I do in Downtown Cincinnati. I did not know!).

The tour lasted just a little over an hour and we bought to take a seat within the Green Monster and press field (“the best seats money can and can’t buy, respectively” in accordance with our tour information), see the Sox’s 4 Commissioner’s Trophies, plaques of Red Sox Hall of Famers, and outdated uniforms, and hearken to a really fascinating oral historical past of Fenway Park, the Sox, and trendy baseball (really—our tour information was the most effective).

The Boston Harborwalk

On our second day in Beantown (I’m going with it), Pearl and I walked from Quincy Market to the Boston Tea Party Museum. To be sincere, we have been each dragging after a morning on the market, which was hopping! But as an alternative of dashing from level A to level B, we sat down on one of many benches and took a break. We folks watched and took within the views and drank Boylan’s sodas bought at a close-by cafe. And severely, wow. Boston Harbor is completely lovely, really. This is why folks love Boston, I assumed. Though honestly, I had this thought many occasions throughout our journey; my favourite second occurred only a few minutes after this…

Hood Milk Bottle

When Pearl and I resumed our path to the Boston Tea Party Museum, we occurred upon one thing fairly curious: a 40-foot Hood Milk Bottle. I had no thought this existed, and was delighted by this larger-than-life discovery! “What do you suppose the story behind this milk bottle is?” I requested Pearl. Instead of telling me to “search it up” on my iPhone (she is unquestionably Gen Alpha), Pearl mentioned we must always go ask the individual contained in the mentioned bottle (sure, there was an individual inside).

We moseyed as much as the window and there have been two males inside, chattering away. “Can I help you?” he requested in a really Boston accent. I inquired concerning the milk carton. At first he mentioned he did not know a lot, however then proceeded to clarify that in 1930, Arthur Gagner constructed the milk bottle subsequent to his retailer to promote his do-it-yourself ice cream and later, the bottle floated by barge via Boston Harbor to its present station alongside the Boston Children’s Museum. While Pearl and I are vegan, I extremely suggest visiting Glenn’s Kreme & Kone on the Hood Milk Bottle while you’re in Boston, if just for the vibes!

Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum

I admittedly didn’t know a lot concerning the Boston Tea Party earlier than our journey, however a day (hosted by town’s tourism board) on the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum modified that. More than a mere “museum,” the Boston Tea Party Museum is an interactive dwelling historical past expertise that started with a name to motion from Samuel Adams and ended with Pearl and her fellow revelers throwing packing containers of tea into the harbor.

From begin to end, we have been rapt; in studying concerning the occasions main as much as the Tea Party and the way this occasion sparked a history-changing revolution, this hour-long tour gave me extra of an understanding of the American Revolution than my AP History class. I used to be particularly proud when Pearl volunteered for one in every of two talking elements; she performed the function of a disgruntled Bostonian who was pressured to decide on between paying taxes or meals for his household. She impressed everybody in our tour and her speech rallied the room to go out to the ship and get to work! Those packing containers of tea weren’t going to throw themselves within the Harbor, in any case.

Professor’s Row in Cambridge

I wrote my grasp’s thesis on E. E. Cummings and have lengthy wished to go to his childhood house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cummings famously wrote a poem referred to as “the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls” concerning the space; the poem pokes enjoyable on the elitism and affluence of the world and at the moment, these Cambridge neighborhoods are among the most lovely elements of Boston, really.

Pearl and I loved a leisurely literary stroll via Cambridge, first stopping by Cummings’s boyhood house at 104 Irving Street then wandering previous the houses the place William James and Julia Child lived, as soon as upon a time. We completed our strolling tour of Cambridge with a go to to the enduring Harvard Book Store, the place we had a beautiful dialog with the bookseller concerning the space’s superior literary historical past.

Salem, Massachusetts

I deliberate a visit to Boston in September understanding that visiting Salem in October can be busy. Pearl and I arrived to Salem (lower than half-hour from Boston) in mid-morning and went on our personal strolling tour, stopping by vital websites such because the Salem Witch House, Salem Witch Trials Memorial, and Charter Street Cemetery. While it is unimaginable to distill the Salem Witch Trials into one tour or morning, each Pearl and I left with a robust sense of how tragic and heartbreaking and unfair this historic occasion was. There’s a line in Ulysses by James Joyce the place Stephen says, “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake” and this saved working via my head as we explored Salem on an eerily calm early fall morning.

Where to Stay in Boston, Massachusetts

Pearl and I have been fortunate to have a hosted keep at The Langham Hotel in Boston and it was excellent for thus many causes. The Langham Boston—previously the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston—is a historic property in-built 1922 and transformed right into a lodge some 60 years later. It’s situated in Boston’s Financial District, a central hub within the metropolis that put Pearl and me inside strolling distance of just about every part. Despite its age, The Langham is trendy and splendid; the brand new The Langham Club lounge was our favourite lodge perk, providing elite snacks, meals, and a beautiful place to lounge and play board video games. Everyone at The Langham made us really feel proper at house, and I’m very glad it was our house for our first journey to Boston, Massachusetts.

If you are contemplating a go to to Boston with your loved ones, children, buddies, or solo, you are in for a deal with. In phrases of planning a visit to Boston, Meet Boston is a wonderful useful resource for lodging, eating, excursions, sights, and buying, and when it comes to exploring, the Only In Your State itinerary planner is my go-to!