The best way to discover Boston, and get insight into American history, is to take to the streets on foot. Boston is one of the smallest cities in the US. This has helped it retain a charm often missing in the modern metropolises. The locals take pride in this fact and encourage visitors to walk - be it in the modern or the older part of the city.
Probably the best way to start a visit is to head down to Boston’s harbour - for this is where the American Revolution first erupted. How many countries can claim it was something as simple as a cup of tea, which kick-started their road to freedom?
Nowadays, of course, we are taxed on just about everything except the air we breathe, but back in time people often took umbrage to being taxed.
So it was, that when the British placed a tax on tea in 1773, the American Colonists were enraged. Why should they pay a tax when they didn’t even get to send representatives to England to play a part in governing this distant colony of England which they called home?
To cut a long story short, what followed was the famous Boston Tea Party when Colonists, disguised in Mohawk warriors, dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbour waters.
Visit this site nowadays and you will find a series of guides dressed as people would have done centuries ago. They bring history to life in such a manner that you will see participants listening avidly, and sometimes laughing at some anecdote.
In parts of the CBD, old and new blend seamlessly; even the street lights have a charm of their own.
The most popular walk is the Freedom Trail. At just 4 kilometres in length it is hardly arduous. The Trail commences on the 20ha Boston Common - the oldest park in the US. It takes in 16 sites of historical interest.
In some parts the winding, narrow streets are still composed of cobblestones, where characterful, colourful buildings crowd together. You can almost breathe the air of yesteryear.
Most of us have probably heard of Paul Revere, the Boston silversmith who made his famous midnight ride in 1775 to alert the Colonial militia to the fact that the British forces were approaching. While many of the places on the Trail are free, there is an entrance fee to Revere’s house.
My time was limited, as I had a bus to catch to South Dakota.
This brings me to a word of warning. If you are in a hurry, do not try to take a short cut through the old streets - a confusing maze. Foolishly, I had attempted to do so and would have missed my bus had a kind local lady not sprung to the rescue and led me at great speed through the labyrinth.
Flying into Boston’s Logan International Airport is a pretty approach, over many small islands in the bay.
Use the Go Boston Card to visit several interesting spots; check out the Hop-on Hop-off trolley tour; join a Boston Duck Tour which encompasses both land and water aboard a renovated World War II amphibious vehicle; visit Fenway Park, beloved of baseball fans and home to famous players like the Red Sox’s Babe Ruth; take a whale watching cruise; visit Harvard campus; or take a trip to Salem, where the witch trials were held; take a tour of the picturesque New England coastline taking in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.
In June the harbour played host to the glamorous tall ships in the Sail Boston event. Led by the US Eagle - the only American Coast Guard ship still functioning under sail.