7 Brilliant Reasons to Visit Boston ...

Boston is the very seat of the nation and you can relive history on the Freedom Trail. A guided walk will take you on a 2.5 mile meander past 16 significant sites where some of the most dramatic scenes from American history were played out, including Bunker Hill, Paul Revere’s House and Benjamin Franklin’s statue. For anyone interested in the cradle of America, this is the most significant reason to visit Boston.

Boston cuisine present a wonderful table that is both homely and comforting yet offers a high-end culinary experience. Of course, it is known as Bean Town but as the location of the first Thanksgiving, there is far more use made of bountiful harvests than the humble baked beans. Boston is America’s seafood capital and the clam chowder and boiled lobster are simply superb. Foods, pack your serviette, and find a reason, any reason, to visit Boston.

Patriot’s Day is celebrated in the city every year on the third Monday in April. Today, more than just Paul Revere’s ride and the ‘shot that was hard around the world’ fills the city with a festival atmosphere. Patriot’s Day is also the Boston Marathon Day. Stick on your running gear and join 20,000 others who visit Boston to pound those famous streets. Or, just enjoy the spectacle from the crowd.

Rubbing shoulders with its long history is contemporary Boston. Since 2006, the ICA has brought fascinating expressionism to the city. The collection claims to be one of the most up to date, complete exhibitions of trends and styles in art today. If you want to be confounded, confused, contemplative or cerebral, visit Boston Institute of Contemporary Art.

Havard Square could easily make a claim to be the beating heart of Boston. This is the place to view palatial mansions that once house the royal sympathizers that today are occupied by the country’s intellectual elite. Browse the plethora of bookstalls, grab a favorite tome and settle down in a comfy chair in one of the sidewalk cafes. You probably won’t turn a page as you’ll be watching the buskers, chess players, students and shoppers as they simply enjoy Havard Square.

It’s too rare that great sporting stadia make it onto travel «to do» lists but Fenway fully deserves its mention here. Built in 1912, Fenway Park is an old style ball park and home to the Boston Red Sox. It’s an experience and a half to watch a game at Fenway – see balls be lost in the Triangle, awe at the Green Monster, as is called the towering left-field wall and sing your little heart out along with the rest of the crowd to Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline at the end of the eighth inning.

Once the site of the infamous tea party, the harbor is more than just one reason to visit Boston. There are 34 islands in Boston Harbor and all of them accessible if you have your own boat. If you don’t, you can still get to some of the main islands by ferry and then on to smaller islands. The Harbor Express leaves from Long Wharf and heads to Georges Island or Spectacle Island. Harborfest during the week in which July 4th falls, is a fantastic time to visit the city waterfront areas as it enjoys a frenzy of celebration of independence.

Boston may not be the largest American city but for its size it packs a huge punch with attractions for visitors. It doesn’t ride on the coattails of its historical connections; it is a modern celebrity too with cutting edge architecture, arts and entertainment. I’ve only given you 7 Brilliant Reasons to visit Boston. I assure you there are plenty, plenty more.

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