Boston trolley information

[mii]

We will be doing a Canada/New England cruise next year and I have been looking at shore excursions for Boston. I do like the trolley tours but after searching I found a number of trolley tours. I searched all of them especially their map sites and could not find one that stopped at the Black Falcon Terminal. But on a thread someone had mentioned that a trolley stopped there. If someone can assist me I really would appreciate it. We are going to be in Boston all day and this will be our first trip to Boston(the only other time was at the airport) and I want to see as much as possible. Naturally all of the main sites, Harvard, etc. Thanks.

 

Marilyn

[TheWog]

www.bostonducktours.com is a great way to see the city, but they depart and return from the Prudential Center. That is a cab ride away. I am not sure if any of the trolleys will go to the pier or not. I am not even sure of the sites for them. Be sure to see Fanuel Hall while you are there. Great place for a bite to eat and get some souveniers.

[kenandlaura06]

www.bostonducktours.com is a great way to see the city, but they depart and return from the Prudential Center. That is a cab ride away. I am not sure if any of the trolleys will go to the pier or not. I am not even sure of the sites for them. Be sure to see Fanuel Hall while you are there. Great place for a bite to eat and get some souveniers.

 

 

A fun time, though a little pricey at $25 a head. Fanueil Hall is a must stop!

[mii]

Thanks everybody for the suggestions. If you think of anything more to make our trip to Boston a success please let me know.

 

Marilyn

[Madeline815]

Black Falcon is not a "scheduled" stop but the trolleys all seem to show up when the cruise ships do. I am not sure if the cruise line arranges it or whether they know to come where the business is. My office is in the Marine Industrial Park/Black Falcon terminal and I see the trolleys meet many, many ships. Check out http://www.beantowntrolley.com as they are the ones that come to the dock. The Duck Tours now start from two locations - the Prudential Center and the Museum of Science. Because of our new "Big Dig" underground highway, the cab ride to the Museum of Science is actually quicker and cheaper - I would say $8 to $10 plus tip. The Duck Tour is expensive -- but a blast. They sell out on almost every trip, but do allow you to book online 5 days in advance. If you are good walkers you can follow the Freedom Trail, which winds 2.5 miles through Boston and goes past all the historical sights. Also, everyone loves to visit the Boston Public Gardens and take the $1.50 Swan Boat trip, and visit the Mallard family sculptures from the "Make Way to Ducklings" book. And you can't go wrong by visiting the old North Church and Paul Revere's House and then staying in the North End for a good Italian lunch or supper.

Good luck!

[divawife]

Hi,

I've lived in Boston area for only a few years so I have done every tourist thing known at least 4 times over. My sincere suggestion is that you take the trolley tour not the duck since you will have only a day. The duck is fun but you can't get off till it is over. Then there you are back where you started, still trying to figure out where to go after and how to get there. Save it for another time when you have more time.

The trolley alllows you to get on and off all day. They stop at all the major attractions and you simply wait for the next one to come along when you're through at that stop. All the trolley tours take pretty much the same route. I personally like the Old Town tours the best (been on them all in the last few years) Why? they are the most correct with their history and are still fun, the trolleys are a little more comfy-http://www.historictours.com/boston/ Call them and ask if they stop at the Black Falcon. The terminal is near nothing to walk to-trust me. If they don't come directly to the terminal, grab a cab to the New England Aquarium, that is the main stop for the trolley (all of them actually). It shouldn't cost much to get to the Aquarium from the terminal at all. And after the tour, it is easy to get a cab at the Aquarium to return to the ship.

Boston is a fun town. The Freedom Trail is great but does take more time than being driven everywhere. You pretty much follow most of the trail in the trolley anyway. Again, you only have a day. I don't know the season or month you will be here. You won't have time to tour Harvard for example but you will be able to see most highlights and get off at the ones that most interest you. Where are you from? And when are you sailing? What are your interests? Will you have kids with you? Do you want seafood? Do you like ethnic areas like a "little Italy"? Are you into history? Are you able to walk long distances? Happy to help.

Best from,

Diva- here for 6 years and professional tourist and no I don't work for the company!

[kenandlaura06]

Black Falcon is not a "scheduled" stop but the trolleys all seem to show up when the cruise ships do. I am not sure if the cruise line arranges it or whether they know to come where the business is. My office is in the Marine Industrial Park/Black Falcon terminal and I see the trolleys meet many, many ships. Check out www.beantowntrolley.com as they are the ones that come to the dock. The Duck Tours now start from two locations - the Prudential Center and the Museum of Science. Because of our new "Big Dig" underground highway, the cab ride to the Museum of Science is actually quicker and cheaper - I would say $8 to $10 plus tip. The Duck Tour is expensive -- but a blast. They sell out on almost every trip, but do allow you to book online 5 days in advance. If you are good walkers you can follow the Freedom Trail, which winds 2.5 miles through Boston and goes past all the historical sights. Also, everyone loves to visit the Boston Public Gardens and take the $1.50 Swan Boat trip, and visit the Mallard family sculptures from the "Make Way to Ducklings" book. And you can't go wrong by visiting the old North Church and Paul Revere's House and then staying in the North End for a good Italian lunch or supper.

Good luck!

 

Great Recommendations!

[mii]

Thanks everyone for the info. We will be going next Oct. for a Canada/New England cruise. We have been on trolley tours before in other cities and it is a great way to see highlights of a city. The only time that I have been in Boston was at the airport and then transferred by bus to Black Falcon. I know that there is nothing around there so that is no surprise but after searching and searching the map sites of the trollies and not finding any of them coming to the terminal I thought I would just put out this question. I will give these trolley companies a call when it gets closer to the time. I realize that I am ahead of the game notgoing until Oct. 06 but hey I love to plan.

 

Again thanks so much for the suggestions. Really do appreciate it.

 

By the way it will be just my DH and I. no kids, and not alot of walking so the trolley is perfect.

 

Marilyn

[TheWog]

There is also a new walking tour to see locations of movies and shows that have been filmed in Boston. Just a thought to give you more to research.

 

http://www.bostonmovietours.net/pages/tours.htm

[kenandlaura06]

Thanks everyone for the info. We will be going next Oct. for a Canada/New England cruise. We have been on trolley tours before in other cities and it is a great way to see highlights of a city. The only time that I have been in Boston was at the airport and then transferred by bus to Black Falcon. I know that there is nothing around there so that is no surprise but after searching and searching the map sites of the trollies and not finding any of them coming to the terminal I thought I would just put out this question. I will give these trolley companies a call when it gets closer to the time. I realize that I am ahead of the game notgoing until Oct. 06 but hey I love to plan.

 

Again thanks so much for the suggestions. Really do appreciate it.

 

By the way it will be just my DH and I. no kids, and not alot of walking so the trolley is perfect.

 

Marilyn

 

Have fun!

[mii]

Hi again: Been doing more searching and I founda private company that does tours of Boston. It is www.bostontours.com Has anyone from Boston heard about this company? If they have please let me know anything about them. Again thanks.

 

marilyn

[kenandlaura06]

I have never heard of them. It looks as though it is on a bus---I think a trolley or duck boat would be more fun and a better way to see the city.

[mii]

Thanks everyone> Madeline I went to the web site for the port and they did say that beantown trollies picks people up and takes them downtown. I really do appreciate everyone for their ideas. I will mull them over and see what happens. I still have plenty of time.

 

Marilyn

[Joy2Day]

I visited Boston on the Grand Princess in October 2004. There were 2 options into the city: a Princess bus for $12 pp (could be charged to shipboard card) or a Old Town Trolley for $10 pp (cash).

 

We chose the Old Town Trolley because it was cheaper and different. The $10 fee was only for round-trip travel on a shuttle between the pier and the Marriott Custom House which is centrally located between the Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall area and the harbor (once you get oriented with a decent map). On the way into town, they told us that our shuttle ticket also gave us a $6 discount on the regular trolley fare ($25?) which includes a separate harbor cruise as well.

 

This was a great way for us to see the city. I only wish we had taken the harbor cruise first or gotten off at one of the stops before Quincy Market/Fanueil Hall. We left the ship early and were in this area around 9 am, but most shops weren't even open yet. This would be a much better place to hit around lunchtime.

 

In the afternoon, it was rainy and we were cold, so we were less inclined to just walk around town. The other complication was that the World Series was going to open in Boston the next day. This had 2 impacts: some closed streets that affected the trolley route and a shortened trolley schedule for the day since the trolleys had been chartered for World Series activities. As it was , we spent 4-5 hours making the loop (getting off and walking around 2 or 3 times) and saw a lot of the city. We probably would have stopped one or two more times if the schedule and weather had been better.

 

After we got off the trolley at the harbor area, we just walked back over to the Custom House and caught the next shuttle back to the pier. For a grand total of around $30 each, it was a great way to see the city.