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Boston Port - Sights to Walk To


Rebels82
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The only truly walkable site is the Harpoon brewery. Otherwise take the Silver Line (a bus) to South Station. From there you can walk along the harbor & Rose Kennedy Greenway up to the North End (Paul Revere house & Old North Church) or continue on the Red Line (as recommended above).

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There is also a ferry near the cruise port that goes to Charlestown and gives you a beautiful view of Boston from the harbor. Charlestown is at the foot of Bunker Hill, and the ferry drops you near the U. S. S. Constitution “Old Ironsides” and the start of the Freedom Trail. Lots of awesome sights are walking distance from there.

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The port area is safe. The Seaport area in Boston has been under development for the last 20 years and much of it is new. No problem if you want to walk 1-2 miles - the Boston Harborwalk is lovely - http://www.bostonharbornow.org/what-we-do/explore/harborwalk/#map

 

As others have said, you can use the Silver Line to get yourselves more quickly to the older historic areas. Here is the Freedom Trail map - http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/freedom-trail/maps.shtml

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The Boston cruise port is not in the heart of historic or tourist Boston. It is not worth walking from there when the rest of the city is so easily walkable. I recommend taking the bus and subway while saving your walking energy to walk from Copley Square towards the North End/Charlestown hitting up the Public Garden, Common, Quincy Market and Freedom Trail highlights. Then take the T subway back to South Station/Silver Line.

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We will be in Boston in August from the Anthem. I wanted to walk the Freedom Trail. I was going to take an Uber first thing in the morning to the beginning, and take our time and walk back to the ship for the day. Will that work? Uber cost for the 2 of us was about $12.

 

Sent from my XT1565 using Forums mobile app

 

You're going to want and need an Uber ride to return to the ship.

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We will be in Boston in August from the Anthem. I wanted to walk the Freedom Trail. I was going to take an Uber first thing in the morning to the beginning, and take our time and walk back to the ship for the day. Will that work? Uber cost for the 2 of us was about $12.

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There is nothing sacred about the exact route of the Freedom Trail. It's just an organized route for folks to follow through old Boston and not miss any of the historical sights that are nestled between the more modern buildings.

 

What I recommend is to take an Uber to Charlestown and walk the trail backwards. The Constitution opens at 10 am and the Museum at 9 am. You can get through there before any crowds build up. Then take the MBTA ferry from the Constitution to Long Wharf for $3.50/pp. for a short cruise in the upper harbor. Walk along the waterfront (Christopher Columbus Park) into the North End to pick up the Freedom Trail again. Walk back to Faneuil Hall and on through the streets back to the Boston Common. The Red Line Park St Station is on the edge of the Common at Tremont & Winter. For $2.75/pp. you can take the Red Line direction Braintree/Ashmont any train to South Station where you transfer to the Silver Line SL 2 bus to go back to Black Falcon Terminal.

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There is nothing sacred about the exact route of the Freedom Trail. It's just an organized route for folks to follow through old Boston and not miss any of the historical sights that are nestled between the more modern buildings.

 

What I recommend is to take an Uber to Charlestown and walk the trail backwards. The Constitution opens at 10 am and the Museum at 9 am. You can get through there before any crowds build up. Then take the MBTA ferry from the Constitution to Long Wharf for $3.50/pp. for a short cruise in the upper harbor. Walk along the waterfront (Christopher Columbus Park) into the North End to pick up the Freedom Trail again. Walk back to Faneuil Hall and on through the streets back to the Boston Common. The Red Line Park St Station is on the edge of the Common at Tremont & Winter. For $2.75/pp. you can take the Red Line direction Braintree/Ashmont any train to South Station where you transfer to the Silver Line SL 2 bus to go back to Black Falcon Terminal.

Thanks for this information.

 

Sent from my XT1565 using Forums mobile app

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  • 3 weeks later...

Check out hop-on/hop-off trolleytours.com online. You can purchase tickets online or walk a block from the ship and purchase the ticket and the trolley will be right there.

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Check out hop-on/hop-off trolleytours.com online. You can purchase tickets online or walk a block from the ship and purchase the ticket and the trolley will be right there.

 

This is exactly what we plan on doing. Our cruise on Holland America also sells this shore excursion option for about the same price which we may decide to do as we can use our onboard credits for it.

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As far as buying the tickets about a block from port (rather than on line) ....is there a booth with a person selling the tickets or do you pay the driver? Just wondering if we need exact cash amount. Thanks.

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As far as buying the tickets about a block from port (rather than on line) ....is there a booth with a person selling the tickets or do you pay the driver? Just wondering if we need exact cash amount. Thanks.

 

Cannot answer your question, but I wanted to add that online is about $12 pp cheaper.

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Check with your ship. We were there last autumn on Celebrity Summit. They had shuttles buses for $10 each way from the port to the Quincy Market/ Faneuil Hall area. From there you also have easy access to the North End historical sites and dining. You also can easily access public transportation.

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As far as buying the tickets about a block from port (rather than on line) ....is there a booth with a person selling the tickets or do you pay the driver? Just wondering if we need exact cash amount. Thanks.

Old Town Trolley runs a Trolley shuttle route through the Seaport District including a stop at the port when ships are docked. They take you to stop 1 where you can buy tickets and board the main trolley route. You can contact them for more precise details.

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Check out hop-on/hop-off trolleytours.com online. You can purchase tickets online or walk a block from the ship and purchase the ticket and the trolley will be right there.

Did the hop on hop off on our last cruise that stopped in Boston. Great way to see the City. Purchased our tickets in advance and walked over to where the Trolley picked us up.

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  • 4 weeks later...
It's at least 40-45 minutes from the ship to Boston Common. Longer if you don't make the lights and/or lots of foot and car traffic.
Thanks, Nitemare.

Looks to be about 2 miles, so doable. Happy to stop off at a cafe on the way, and we're in port for about 12 hours so no rush.

Would be getting an Uber back to the ship, so would like to see as much as possible.

 

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There's nothing sacred about walking every inch of the Freedom Trail. It's just a suggested walking route for tourists that goes past the historical sites that are nestled between the more modern buildings.

 

If you want to see the Constitution, I suggest you Uber to that site first to do most of the Trail backwards. Take the MBTA water taxi from the Constitution to Long Wharf to get an upper harbor cruise for $3.50/pp. Walk through Christopher Columbus Park into the North End and pick up the Trail backwards to Faneuil Hall continuing on through downtown to Boston Common. From there you can walk back to the port, take the Red Line and Silver Line from Park St. back to the port for $2.75/pp, or Uber back to the port. IMO the walk between the port and Boston Common and between the Constitution and the North End is not that interesting.

 

 

Take a look at the map and post back with questions. https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/pdfs/NPS%20BOST%20Map%20Jan%202013.pdf

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There's nothing sacred about walking every inch of the Freedom Trail. It's just a suggested walking route for tourists that goes past the historical sites that are nestled between the more modern buildings.

 

If you want to see the Constitution, I suggest you Uber to that site first to do most of the Trail backwards. Take the MBTA water taxi from the Constitution to Long Wharf to get an upper harbor cruise for $3.50/pp. Walk through Christopher Columbus Park into the North End and pick up the Trail backwards to Faneuil Hall continuing on through downtown to Boston Common. From there you can walk back to the port, take the Red Line and Silver Line from Park St. back to the port for $2.75/pp, or Uber back to the port. IMO the walk between the port and Boston Common and between the Constitution and the North End is not that interesting.

 

 

Take a look at the map and post back with questions. https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/pdfs/NPS%20BOST%20Map%20Jan%202013.pdf

Good advice, Carol! Thanks. I am filing this for next year.:cool:

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