Have less than 24 hours in Boston? We’ve got just the guide for you!
We visited Massachusetts in October over Halloween, and though we were there primarily to visit Salem (Halloween- duh!), we did take a day to visit Boston. We absolutely fell in love with the city. Now if you’re taking a day trip to Boston, you’ll have to pay to park your car. We found that this can be pricey $$$. But, there are plenty of parking garages and pay to park parking lots available throughout the city.
Now less than 24 hours does not seem to be a whole lot of time to see the city. However, Boston has done something amazing that helps guide your day. That is a little path running throughout the city. SO, what we recommend doing on your day trip to Boston, is, walk the Freedom Trail. It walks you all around Boston, so you won’t miss a thing. Just look for the red brick line running along the sidewalk, and you’ve found the Freedom Trail!
If you’re a history buff, or even if you’re not, we recommend finding this trail and letting it take you past some important parts of U.S history. It’s two and half miles long, so bring your walking shoes. If you’re just planning on walking along the trail it most likely won’t take you too long. But, if you stop and visit sites along the way it will most likely take you all day. We stopped a ton, to read up on our history and for food along the way. A lot of the time we just like to do our own thing, so we just let the trail guide us for the day, however, if that’s not you, that’s okay! There are a ton of guided tours you can do. Here’s a few places we stopped at along the way.
Various Burying Grounds
We started our journey on the Freedom Trail at Copp’s Hill Burying Ground. This is really where we got a taste of just how far back the history of Boston goes. Those buried at this Burying Grounds are very important people of history – those who participated in the Boston Tea Party. Just to think, that was 1773! A lot of these tombstones reflected that as well. Some you could not even read the names or dates on. Some were more well taken care of than others. And just the sole experience of reading the dates on them makes checking out these burial grounds worth it. I also loved that it was a rainy day, it made it more eerie.
Another Burying Ground we stopped at was Granary Burying Ground. Here you’ll find where Paul Revere lies. You’ll also find the tombstone for Samuel Adams, and those of the Boston Massacre. Truly again, the history that lies within just makes it surreal.
USS Constitution
This is the oldest warship still afloat. You can actually walk up on top of this ship as well as down below to see the sleeping quarters and common areas for those who were once on this ship 200 plus years ago. Once you’ve checked out the ship itself, you can also walk around and find other snippets of history, as well as check out the USS Constitution Museum. Walking the ship itself ad it’s surrounding won’t take up too much of your time. I think we spent maybe 30 to 45 minutes here.
Other stops along the Freedom Trail include the Boston Common, Bunker Hill Monument, and so much more. The history to be learned and experienced is endless.
Sam Adams Brewery
This isn’t necessarily a historic stop, but still a fun stop nonetheless. The Brewery will most likely be busy, but it is a great halfway or break point from walking the freedom trail, as you’ll pass by it at some point.
It was all seat yourself and you went up to a window to order food, and a separate bar to order your drinks. We got lucky and were able to find a spot at the bar rail to sit down. The brewery does have outdoor seating, so when the weather permits, it offers more opportunity to find a seat. It was unfortunately a little rainy when we went. They are most likely to be out of their most popular beers, like Oktoberfest. Especially during peak season. They have so many other options though, and they were all delicious. One of my favorites was their pumpkin ale, with a cinnamon sugar rim! I loved it, and we actually found that a lot of places we went to on this trip offered that same rim for any pumpkin beers they had on tap. It was unique, and, I thought, a nice touch.
You also can’t forget to stop and get a warm, or iced, drink from Dunkin’ Donuts. We love getting coffee here, and they’re located everywhere in Boston. To finish off your day trip in Boston, we suggest getting dinner and exploring one of our favorite parts of town. Dinner options are endless, we settled for a nice Italian dinner. Vinoteca di Monica. Delicious pasta choices, located closer the the North End. A little on the pricier side, but worth the extra spend.
We also just loved walking through Back Bay and Beacon Hill. Both these parts of Boston are filled with charming streets and the most beautiful brownstone homes. Both Victorian and Modern style. Incredible time walking around with a warm drink, just taking in the beauty of it all. These parts of Boston, like most of the rest of the city, are very picturesque. We dreamed of living here as we walked through, and then we looked at home prices. Maybe one day.
Overall, Boston was a dream. Though we wished we had more than a quick day trip there, we know we’ll be back one day.