After four days in Montréal, it was time for a new adventure across the border in the US. This time we were heading for Boston. As you know, it’s a city with a lot of history and that has played a big part in the forming of the country. It is also a city that Susann had wanted to visit for a long time. We were, however, going to stay in Revere, a short metro ride outside the center. Luckily it was within easy reach.
Arriving by Bus in Boston
The Greyhound bus from Montréal arrives at Boston South Station. Our bus was about an hour late, which meant that we arrived in rush hour. The station is right at the edge of Downtown Boston and has connections with several places of interest. For us, however, there was no direct connection to our destination. We were heading to Revere to drop off our bags at the hotel before going back to Boston for a day of exploration.
Arriving in Boston is a simple procedure. Unless you have a local SIM card for your phone, we would recommend you to download the map on your phone in advance. Luckily, there are a couple of cafés with free wifi, which is the solution we used. With the help of Google Maps, it is quite easy to navigate the streets of Boston and to find out where to go. We just needed to head up a street to the State metro station, from where the metro line went directly to Revere. Noticing the entrances to the metro is challenging and remember that it is not possible to buy tickets at everyone. We had to check two entrances before we found the ticket machines.
Staying in Revere
We chose to stay in Revere as there were more available options for accommodation within our budget. The hotel also had a free shuttle service to the airport. This was a great option as we were going to leave early in the morning to San Francisco. Revere is also home to the oldest public beach in the United States and seemed to be a quiet place when we were looking around for accommodation. This is a view that didn’t change during our visit.
Exploring Boston on Foot
We really enjoy walking and fortunately, Boston is a very walkable city. The downtown area isn’t very big. In fact, Boston is one of the oldest municipalities in the US, so there are plenty of old buildings to see in the center. It’s actually quite impressive how old buildings and skyscrapers stand next to each other in this fairly small area.
The main objective for our first day was to walk around the center, enjoy the view of the water and the streets and the piers. Starting at the metro stop Aquarium, we soon saw the first wharf – the Long Wharf. The sun was shining, which was nice after a night with limited sleep on the bus. From the Long Wharf, we continued north along Harborwalk and Atlantic Avenue. Along the way, we took a few detours to see more from the many wharfs. Unfortunately, a lot of them were not accessible, but we still had a few to enjoy en-route.
Atlantic Avenue joins the Commercial Street and the road took us around half of Downtown Boston. Soon enough we were standing in front of the North Station. This is where you find the TD Garden, the home arena to the NHL team Boston Bruins. It reminded me of their pre-season game the next day against Chicago Blackhawks. However, the decision of whether I should go to it or not had to wait until closer to the game.
At some point, we were faced with the question of where to continue for lunch? We opted for the Boston Haymarket. The market itself takes place on Fridays and Saturdays, but we saw nothing of that this Friday. What we found was the Boston Commons Market with several stalls within it. We were soon enjoying some really good fish and chips.
Returning to our starting point at the Aquarium, we passed by a few other famous parts of Boston. These included the Quincey Market and Faneuil Hall. It was first here that we run into any bigger crowd of tourists. It was almost as if they had all gathered in one spot. Maybe, they were just harder to distinguish in the other areas.
An End to the Exploration, At Least for This Day
After our initial walk, we started to get quite tired. Our night on the bus started to take its toll. So we decided to round up this visit and give the city another chance the next day. But first, we needed to find a grocery store to fill up with necessities for the evening. Where to find one in Downtown Boston? We still have no clue. A walk through the Financial District eventually took us to Washington Street, with several shops in what looked like a shopping district. Here we did find something that resembled a grocery store and were able to buy water and a few other supplies.
As the park Boston Common was located right nextdoor we decided to have a look on our way to a metro stop going in the correct direction. This meant that we also had the chance to see the Massachusetts State House before getting to the Bowdoin metro stop. From there we continued to Revere and a nice long shower and some rest for our feet.
We will continue our trip, read more about our adventure in North America here >>
