|
Boston has grown up around Boston Common ,
which was set aside as public land in 1634. The obvious first stop on any
tour of the city, it is also one of the gems in the string of nine parks
(six of which were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, America's foremost
landscape architect) known as Boston's Emerald Necklace . Another gem is
the lovely Public Garden , across Charles Street, where the two-ton swan
boats ($1.50), which paddle across the main pond, are a less-than-natural,
though whimsical, focal point.
The visitor center - the start of the Freedom Trail - is near the tapering
north end of the Common. As you stand here, facing up Tremont Street with
the State House away to your left, the main shopping district, Quincy
Market , and the waterfront are slightly ahead and down to the right. The
modern concrete wasteland of Government Center is straight up Tremont
Street, with the North End beyond - first Irish, then Jewish, and now very
definitely Italian. A short way behind you on the left rises Beacon Hill ,
every bit as elegant as when Henry James called Mount Vernon Street "the
most prestigious address in America" (and far removed from its
eighteenth-century nickname of "Mount Whoredom"). Heading away from the
center down Tremont Street brings you to Chinatown and the Theater
District , while grand boulevards such as Commonwealth Avenue lead west
from the Public Garden into the Back Bay , where Harvard Bridge runs
across the Charles River into Cambridge .
More Boston Travel Information
Book Your
Discounted Boston Hotel Room
Our listings
include hotel and room descriptions, room pictures, bedding types, rates,
check-in/out times, hotel location maps and amenity information.
List
All Available Boston Hotels
Call 1-800-962-8958 for
immediate hotel reservation assistance.
|
