I'm spending a week in Massachusetts/Boston mid-September. Any recommendations on things to do?

First, check out www.bostonusa.com to get some ideas of what may be going on in town while you are there. I also suggest you pick up Boston For Dummies – it’s a great book and will give you directions on how to get to a lot of places.

If you’ve never been before, you may consider purchasing an MBTA subway pass. That way you’ll never have to worry about having exact change for the subway. You can make this purchase at www.mbta.com. They offer the passes in 1, 3, and 7-day passes. If flying into Boston through Logan International Airport, you can pick-up the blue line (in bound) to get to downtown Boston.

FYI – when taking the subway, more commonly known as the “T” – if you want to head towards ‘downtown’ Boston (i.e. State Street/Park Street) then you’ll want to take an “in bound” train, anywhere away from those points, would be an ‘outbound train.’

All of the locations that I suggest below are accessible from the “T.”

For things to do – Boston has a ton – it all depends on what you are looking to do. I would first suggest that you take a tour or trolley; it’ll give you great insight as to where ‘touristy’ things are located. Please note, that Boston is considered a ‘walking city,’ which means, that even though things may look very far apart on map, in actuality, the probably aren’t. There are several tours/trolleys to choose from. One unique tour is the Boston Duck Tour (http://www.bostonducktours.com). These tours sell out quickly, so you’ll have to take advantage of this when you first arrive to Boston. This tour is good rain or shine. You can board from either near the Boston Science Center or the Prudential Center. You can also purchase tickets at either location. When I was in Boston in 2006, you could also purchase tickets at Fanueil Hall (see below).

You’ll more than likely want to partake in the Freedom Trail walk. There is/are tours by bus you can take, but if you like to walk (and are able), walking it is like no other. You can go to the official website (http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/) to print out a map and get information on what the trail is all about.

If you like sports, baseball especially, see about doing a tour of Fenway Park. Not sure the exact dates of your trip, but more than likely, baseball will still be in season, so you’ll have to call to find out what dates/times tours will take place. http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/ballpark/tour.jsp

If you are looking for ‘greener’ pastures, check out the Boston Common and Children’s Garden, as well as take a stroll along the Charles River (down the esplanade).

Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market are another good stop. Usually there are street performers and music going on. http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/

The Boston Aquarium is another great stop and near the Fanueil Marketplace. You can find out more about the Aquarium by going to http://www.neaq.org/. While here, you can also sign up to do a whale watch out of the Boston Harbor.

There are plenty of college campuses to check out – MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, Boston University, Boston College, etc.

If shopping is your thing, check out Newbury Street - http://www.newbury-st.com/.

If you’d like to see a show – check out Blue Man Group – http://www.blueman.com/. It’s a complete one-of-a-kind show. There is nothing like it.

Other things to check out are: Cheers, Christian Science Reflecting Pool, Copley Square, Boston Children’s Museum, Boston Science Museum, Isabella Stuart Gardner Art Museum (there are many museums in Boston), etc.

Have a great time. I’ve vacationed there several times and I absolutely love it!!

Definitely do a duck tour! And the Museum of Science is fun too!

Definitely do the 'Freedom Trail'. Boston is known for these historic sites and it'll be a shame if you don't see these while you're in the area. Wear comfortable walking shoes.

http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/

Quincy Market and Fanueil Hall are a must see. There are push-carts and street performers. The following website details other fun things to do in Boston -
http://www.sic.org/links.asp

Enjoy!