Boston guides
Boston packs colonial landmarks, harbor views, great museums and Italian bakeries into a compact, walkable center. Logan Airport sits just across the harbor, linked to downtown by the free Silver Line bus and the Blue Line subway.
Layover guides for Boston
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) layovers
6 hoursHow to Spend a 6 Hour Layover in Boston: Logan to the North End
A 6 hour layover in Boston leaves time to ride the Blue Line into the North End. See Paul Revere's timber house and the steeple of the Old North Church, then eat a brick oven pie at Regina and a cannoli filled to order.
8 hoursHow to Spend an 8 Hour Layover in Boston: Logan to the Seaport and the ICA
An 8 hour layover in Boston fits a harbor day in the Seaport: a lobster roll at a family fish market, contemporary art at the ICA, skyline views from Fan Pier Park and a sticky bun in Fort Point.
10 hoursHow to Spend a 10 Hour Layover in Boston: Logan to Copley Square and Back Bay
A 10 hour layover in Boston gives you a day in Back Bay. Have a chef designed sandwich at Parish Cafe, see Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library on Copley Square, take in the view from atop the Prudential Tower and walk through the stained glass Mapparium.
12 hoursHow to Spend a 12 Hour Layover in Boston: Logan to the Gardner and Fenway Park
A 12 hour layover in Boston is long enough for two great museums and a ballpark. See the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, walk the Back Bay Fens, take a guided tour of Fenway Park and have a drink under the center field bleachers.
Short trip guides for Boston
Neighborhoods
3 hoursHow to Spend 3 Hours in Boston: East Boston Skyline Parks and Santarpio's
Three hours in Boston is plenty to ride the Blue Line under the harbor to East Boston. See the downtown skyline from two waterfront parks, then eat at Santarpio's, a pizza and grill house that has fed Eastie for generations.
4 hoursHow to Spend 4 Hours in Boston: MIT Museum, Kendall Square and the Smoots
Four hours suits Kendall Square, just across the river in Cambridge. See the robots and holograms of the MIT Museum, eat a pastrami lunch at Mamaleh's, visit the Great Dome over Killian Court and walk back over a bridge measured in Smoots.
6 hoursHow to Spend 6 Hours in Boston: Jamaica Plain, the Arboretum and Sam Adams
Six hours in Boston lets you trade downtown for Jamaica Plain, a leafy neighborhood on the Orange Line with Harvard's huge tree museum, a family seafood cafe, an Olmsted pond, the original J.P. Licks and the Jamaica Plain brewery that Sam Adams calls its Boston home.
8 hoursHow to Spend 8 Hours in Boston: Tea Party Ships, JFK Library and Castle Island
Eight hours makes a harbor day south of downtown Boston. Throw tea at the Boston Tea Party Ships, eat a lobster roll at James Hook, explore the JFK Presidential Library on Columbia Point and walk out to the old granite fort on Castle Island.
Downtown
3 hoursHow to Spend 3 Hours in Boston: The Common, Public Garden and Acorn Street
Three hours is enough for a loop through America's oldest park and the flower beds and duckling statues of the Public Garden. Add a photo on cobbled Acorn Street and a classic plate at The Paramount on Charles Street.
4 hoursHow to Spend 4 Hours in Boston: Freedom Trail, Faneuil Hall and Oysters
Four hours covers the heart of Boston's Freedom Trail. See the graves of Hancock, Adams and Revere and the meeting hall called the Cradle of Liberty, then eat raw oysters at a restaurant that calls itself America's oldest and New England treats at Boston Public Market.
6 hoursHow to Spend 6 Hours in Boston: Ferry to Old Ironsides and Bunker Hill
Six hours in Boston is enough to cross the harbor by ferry to Charlestown, board USS Constitution, learn its story in the museum next door, climb the Bunker Hill Monument and finish at the Warren Tavern.
8 hoursHow to Spend 8 Hours in Boston: Harvard Yard, Glass Flowers and Burgers
Eight hours in Boston lets you ride the Red Line to Harvard Square. See the old brick Yard and the free Harvard Art Museums, eat a burger at Mr. Bartley's, then visit the Glass Flowers and rest by the Charles River.
Fitness guides for Boston
FitnessBoston Harborwalk Run to Castle Island and a SoWa Health + Wellness Day Pass
Leave SoWa Health + Wellness in the South End, follow the Harborwalk along Fort Point Channel and the Seaport waterfront, run the South Boston shore to Castle Island, loop Pleasure Bay and come back through Southie.
FitnessBoston Esplanade Bridge Loop Run and a Cambridge Athletic Club Day Pass
Start at Cambridge Athletic Club in Kendall Square, cross the Longfellow Bridge to the Esplanade, run upstream past the Hatch Shell to the Harvard Bridge, then return along the Cambridge bank with the Back Bay skyline across the water.
About Boston
Few big American cities are as easy to see on a short stop as Boston. Logan sits on the far side of the harbor. The Seaport, the North End and downtown are a short bus or subway ride from the terminals, and the free SL1 Silver Line leaves from every terminal curb. The center is compact enough to cross on foot. The Freedom Trail links the Common to Charlestown, Back Bay's brownstones and Copley Square sit a few stops west on the Green Line, and the Red Line crosses the Charles to Harvard Square in Cambridge. Expect cobbled lanes, steep Beacon Hill streets and New England seafood, from oysters to lobster rolls.