where to stay in boston?

[sologirl]

I will be flying to Boston this June to start a 2 week long Historical road trip. I plan to rent a car at the airport but then need a place to stay (medium priced hotel) outside Boston. I will be driving to Cape Cod and Plymouth but will need to take local transportation to downtown to explore the Freedom Trail etc. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would also appreciate suggestions for local transportation or any guided tours in Boston (small groups?). Thanks so much!

[Lifemagician]

Check out the area around Quincy... actually between Brooklyn and Quincy. You will be on the railway line to Central Boston and on the way to Cape Cod. It is mostly quite a nice area.

On the other hand, the area around Cambridge and Harvard may interest you more. And you will still be on a direct transport route to Boston, just a wee bit further from the Cape Cod route.

I am not knowledgeable about hotels in Boston, as I always stay with family, but if you concentrate on those areas, I feel sure you are bound to find something suitable.

Have you thought of not picking up a vehicle until you are ready to go to Cape Cod? Boston and the inner suburbs are not parking friendly, and when you do find a spot, it could cost you a small fortune.

Lifey who spends a lot of time in Boston

[AZBuck]

If you go to the green toolbar at the top of this page, you'll see a tab (towards the right) for Hotels. Put in your dates and Boston, MA, and click."Get Rates". on the next screen you can look for hotels (and motels) within a specified distance of Logan International Airport. What you should then do is look for a hotel in Revere/Chelsea/East Boston that offers shuttle service to/from the airport and is within your price range. When you fly into Boston, do not rent your car right away, but take the shuttle to your hotel and use public transportation (busses, 'T', commuter rail) while you are in town. When you're ready to head to Cape Cod, take the hotel shuttle back to the airport and only then pick up your car.

AZBuck

[redlighted]

I am a college student in Boston and you should look into the hotels that are in the suburbs that fall at the end of the T lines. Quincy is generally pretty nice. If you want to stay more in the city, I'd look hotels in the Cambridge area, like Lifemagician said.

Definitely look into staying somewhere where the T is accessible--that's the best public transportation. You won't want to drive through the city if you don't have to. Parking is a total pain in the ass, and the way the streets set-up can be quite stressful for drivers who don't know the area very well. Boston is a maze of one-way streets and it's not the typical city grid set up. Driving can be a little hectic and the cost of parking is through the roof.

The less time you have to spend paying to park your car, the better.

You can walk the Freedom Trail by yourself or in a tour group setting--you can find the information on tours here if you wish http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/tickets/tours.html.

If you're interested in seeing the history, it might be better to stay in the Cambridge area. Harvard is absolutely gorgeous and the Harvard Square area is pretty cool.

The Commuter Rail will take you straight to Plymouth and you catch the Plymouth to Provincetown ferry, which is on the Cape. If you're interested in not having to drive out there, I'd look more into that.

Also, if you're going to be staying in Boston, it would definitely be worth it to check out Salem. It's like $10.50 round trip, and it's about a half hour train ride on the Commuter Rail. It's historic, quaint, and extremely walkable.

I'm not sure this helped at all, but I hope it did.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello Redlighted and welcome to RTA !

I'm not sure this helped at all, but I hope it did.

I'm sure this useful info will be of great help to the OP and other members who read this thread, so thanks for dropping in to help others with your first post !

Enjoy the forums !

[sologirl]

Thanks so much for all your help and advice. You all are so wonderful to take the time to help out fellow travelers. I feel much more confident about scouting a place to stay now and visiting the sites.