- 10 things to know
before you go to Boston.
I'm Chris, this is Yellow Productions.
I do travel guides that are fun,
informative and entertaining.
This video it's part of my series of thing
to know about great cities in the world,
where I tell you everything
you need to know to visit,
including how to get in, how to get out,
what to eat, what to do,
and even where to stay.
But in this video, I'm
talking all about Boston.
So first, let's start with some general
information about Boston.
Boston is the capital of the
U.S. state of Massachusetts.
It is in New England,
which is the Northeast
of the United States.
The nickname of Boston is Beantown.
Because the early residents
of Boston really love to eat
baked beans, baked in
molasses, but by the way,
nobody here actually
calls it Beantown anymore.
Visiting Boston is like visiting
a history class in person.
Boston is the cradle of much
of the United States's history,
including playing a significant role
in the American Revolution.
It has the first public
library in the United States
and the first Lighthouse.
Boston is a city of neighborhood,
with 23 distinct neighborhood.
So there's lots of different
character around the city.
You'll find a ton of parks,
public green space is 17%
of Boston, you are never more
than a half mile from a park.
It's a very compact city,
so compact that actually
13% of the Citizens here
commute to work by foot,
giving Boston a highest
percentage of pedestrian commuters
in major cities in the United States.
The second thing to know,
is about the Top Attractions in Boston.
And Boston's biggest attraction,
it's the Freedom Trail.
It is a two and a half
mile trail through Boston
that goes through 16 of
Boston's major historical sites.
There's a red brick line
that you can follow along
and it'll bring you to Faneuil
Hall, the Paul Revere house
and the Old North Church.
If you're coming to Boston
and you're gonna do one thing,
take a walk along the Freedom Trail.
If you take the Freedom Trail to the end,
it'll take you to the North End,
the home of Boston's
Little Italy district.
Make sure to get a
Cannoli from Mike's Pastry
or Modern Pastry, get lunch or get dinner,
the Italian food here is really good.
The next big attractions
where I'm standing,
it's Boston Common it is the
United States of America's
first public park.
It was founded in 1634, it's
a big grassy open space,
there's a big parking
garage underneath it.
So if you're looking
for some place to park
'cause you're driving into the
city, you can park in here.
And oh, by the way, if you're
looking for something to eat,
now I'm gonna talk about food
later, but 'cause I'm standing
right by it, there's an Earl
of Sandwich in this little
kiosk right here, which is
one of my favorite sandwiches
anywhere, check out the Earl's Club.
It's a really good hot sandwich.
And right next to Boston Common
is the Boston Public Garden.
This was the United States
first Botanic Garden
founded in 1837.
And while Boston Common
is better for a picnic
or lounging around, the
Boston Public Garden
is better for a stroll or a jog.
A Pretty neat garden has got
a lake in the middle of it,
and it's got this iconic
bridge right here.
If you're a presidential history buff,
you'll wanna check out the
JFK Presidential Library
all about the life of
the 35th U.S. President.
It's a little bit off the beaten path,
but if you like Presidential Libraries,
you should definitely check out this one.
Beacon Hill, which is
just on the other side
of Boston's Public Garden just behind me
is known as Boston's most
beautiful neighborhood.
Known for its charming,
narrow cobblestone streets,
Federal-style row houses
and gas lit street lamps.
To get there, if you're in Boston Common,
walk through the Public
Garden, cross that bridge
that I showed you earlier,
and just go down Beacon Street
in about a quarter of a mile,
you'll be at Beacon Hill.
Sports fans will wanna make
a pilgrimage to Fenway Park
home to the Boston Red Sox, built in 1912.
It's the oldest Major
League Baseball Stadium
still in use today.
And back to the Freedom Trail,
I'm gonna be doing each scene
in this video at a different
spot along the Freedom Trail.
So if you're kind of
looking to follow along,
start here in Boston Common
at the visitor center.
Actually, if you go into Google Maps
and you just type in Freedom
Trail, you will find it.
And if you're looking for the walk, well,
you can just follow the
tourist hordes that way.
If you don't wanna do it by yourself,
you can join walking tours, there's often
neatly dressed people that
will stand out around here,
that will be happy to guide
you on a walking tour,
for a few bucks.
But Chris, where's that red brick line
you were talking about?
It's right here.
It starts at the visitor center,
and you can follow it
right along this way.
Can I follow it backwards?
Oh, this will probably be dangerous.
And the third thing to know
for Boston, is about food.
Boston is a foodie city.
And there's a lot of great food in Boston.
Where should you go to get great food?
Well, it's touristy, but
it's a mecca for food.
It's Quincy Market, it's
Boston's like original food Hall.
It has 35 different vendors.
And some people might say
it's an expensive food court,
which it is and it can get really busy.
But it's a great option if
you're doing the Freedom Trail,
'cause it's kind of along the way,
and you can stop in and
get a lot of tasty treats.
But what should you definitely
when you're in Boston,
well, you should
definitely eat the seafood.
The seafood in Boston is amazing.
And what do I have here?
I have a Lobster Roll and
I have a Boston Chowda,
or New England Clam Chowda,
which is a white chowda.
We'll look at that in a moment.
But Lobster is particularly
famous in Boston
and the New England area.
And Lobster Rolls often
come in two varieties.
This is a cold Lobster Roll.
I'm gonna show you a Lobster
Roll for the next meal.
But the cold Lobster Roll,
it's on kind of what looks like
a hot dog bun, it's chilled
Lobster meat, Maine's
and it's also got some
lettuce down in there.
So let's dive into this.
(eating)
So there's a lot of Lobster meat in it.
Sometimes you need to get Lobster Rolls
they're too heavy on the mail.
Just lots of big chunks
of Lobster in here.
The Roll is really good,
it's buttery, the lettuce,
I wouldn't even know it's there,
and wash this all down with the lemonade.
This was $26 from the
Wicked Lobster Company,
which is also the same as
the Boston Chowda Company.
So let me dive into
this New England Chowda.
(eating)
The Chowda is really good.
It's creamy, it's flavorful,
it's got that clam taste,
It's got potatoes,
it's got lots of great ingredients in it.
(eating)
Honestly, I like the Chowda
better than the Lobster Roll
'cause I'm not a huge Lobster fan.
But I do think you do have to get
the Lobster Rolls, when you're here.
Two pro tip if you're coming
to eat at Quincy Market.
First, come at off hours.
If you're coming for lunch,
try to get here before 11:30 or after two.
And their seating upstairs.
Walk up the stairs you'll
find the seating up here,
it'll be way less crowded
than the seating downstairs.
Now if I seem slightly less than excited
about that cold Lobster
all I was just eating,
well, it's because last
night I had an amazing
hot Lobster Roll at Yankee
Lobster Fish Market.
This is down in the Seaport
District, so it's a little bit
off the beaten tourist
path, but they specialize
in Lobster Rolls at this place
and the hot Lobster Roll was $26.
It came with French fries,
but it was Lobster and butter
and the Roll and it was truly delicious.
So the Lobster Roll cost
more at Yankee Lobster,
but it was actually quite amazing.
So if you find yourself
in the Seaport District,
check out Yankee Lobster.
So at this point, you must
be thinking to yourself,
isn't there something else
other to eat than Lobster Rolls
and Clam Chowda in Boston?
Yes, there's a ton of other things to eat
other than Lobster Rolls and Clam Chowda.
Seafood in general is really great.
You'll find a lot of seafood restaurants
with more than just Lobster.
The Italian food is amazing.
I mentioned the end of the Freedom Trail,
The North End, great
place for Italian food,
but you'll find great
Italian food around the city.
In addition to Italian food,
Boston is known for Italian pastries,
in particular, cannolis.
There are two places that
are famous for cannolis,
Modern Pastry and Mike's Pastry.
So I got the cannoli
here from Modern Pastry.
They kind of wrap it up nice
in this box and put this little
string around it to make
it, so I guess you don't,
like eat it too much as you're going home,
so I gotta destroy this
and get to the cannoli.
And here we go, the traditional
one is $3 and 75 cents,
they make it as you order it,
so the shells are separate
and the ricotta separate.
They have a whole bunch of
different flavors and variety.
I just like the traditional
which is regular ricotta,
powdered sugar in this, let's dive in.
(eating)
Mh, it's Really good.
Man, if you didn't know,
this was ricotta cheese,
you wouldn't know it's cheese.
It's really amazing.
Ever since I had these in
Boston like 10 years ago,
from Mike's Pastry, the
other one, I've been looking
for cannolis that are just as good
and I cannot find them.
(eating)
Except maybe in Italy.
Even if you don't like
cannolis, I suggest you give
one of these a try, it really
might change your mind.
You should know about Dunkin Donuts.
Boston runs on Dunkin Donuts.
Why is that?
Because Dunkin Donuts was
actually started here in Boston.
And yes, it seems like
there's a Dunkin Donuts
on almost every street corner.
Dunkin Donuts, in addition to
being known for their donuts,
is also really well
known for their coffee.
One thing you won't find
in Boston is happy hour.
Happy hour is illegal in Boston.
There is actually a law
that prohibits restaurants
and bars from selling timed
deals on alcoholic drinks.
So if you do come after
work, what you'll find,
you'll find deals on food,
but you'll never find
a time deal on alcoholic beverages.
The fourth thing to know is
about getting into Boston,
chances are if you're flying into Boston,
you'll be coming into
Boston Logan Airport.
Where is it?
Well, you can probably hear
the plane above me right now.
That's the Financial District of Boston
and just across the harbor right
here, Boston Logan Airport.
It's just right there,
it's three short miles
from the Financial District of
Boston, which makes it really
easy and convenient to fly
into and get into the city.
So how do you get into
the city from there?
Well, you got a few major options.
You can take the subway,
there is the Blue Line,
you have to take a little shuttle
bus to take the Blue Line.
There's also this thing
called the Silver Line,
which is like a hybrid bus subway.
You can take that to South
Station, the main station Boston
and then go from there.
The best part about
taking the Silver Line,
it's free for passengers
arriving at the airport.
If you're taking Uber, Lyft or Taxi,
it'll cost you about $30
to get from the airport
into the city, even
though it's not very far,
there's Tolls and also Taxis in Boston,
they're notoriously expensive.
But if you wanna do something more unique,
you can take the MBTA
Harbor Express, it's a ferry
that'll take you across the
harbor to downtown Boston
in just seven minutes.
It's really convenient if you're staying
in the Seaport District
or the Financial District.
Another great way to get into Boston,
is to take the Amtrak train.
You can take Amtrak from
New York City, it'll get you
to Boston in just four hours.
You could also take Amtrak
from Portland Maine,
also four hours to Boston.
If you're driving from New York
City takes a little longer,
it takes five hours.
The fifth thing to know is
about getting around Boston.
And navigating Boston is kind
of like navigating a maze.
If you don't have some kind of map,
you're gonna have no hope.
Because none of the
streets here run straight.
And so if you are trying
to drive in Boston,
it is a nightmare.
Don't do it don't drive in Boston,
none of the streets are
straight, they're all one ways
and they always seem to be one way,
in the way that isn't the
way that you wanna go.
And also, if you haven't
heard, Boston is famous
for this thing called the Big Dig.
It's like the most
expensive highway project
in any city in the U.S.
And it has all these tunnels
that go underneath Boston,
super hard to navigate, you
know, Google Maps doesn't get
GPS down there and so it's just hard.
Don't drive in Boston, I warned you.
Now if you are crazy enough
to drive, you'll find very
limited street parking in
Boston, where you will find
parking and parking garages.
Parking will be about $50 a day,
and expect to hear car horns a lot.
If you don't step on that
gas as soon as the light
turns green, people
will be hawking at you.
You can also take the
subway to get around.
The subway in Boston
is the United States's
first subway built in 1897.
And yes, it smells, feels
and sounds just like it.
It is not the smoothest subway,
actually it's quite bumpy,
but that's part of the charm.
Rides are 275 a ride.
The subway lines are color coded.
There's four main lines
the Red Line, Green Line,
Blue Line and Orange Line.
You can buy a seven day
T pass or you can buy
a reloadable Charlie Card.
Fares are $2 and 75
cents each, but you get
a 50 cent discount if
you buy the Charlie Card.
Though, I will say it's often
faster to walk than wait
for a train, if you're going
around downtown Boston.
You can take the bus.
There's plenty of buses that
run around downtown Boston
and there's a particularly interesting one
known as the Silver Line,
which is kind of a bus subway hybrid,
that's the one that I
mentioned that you can take
from the airport into the city.
There's a lot of water in Boston.
So consider ferries and the water taxis
as an option for getting around.
And you'll find Uber and Lyft
to be plentiful in the city,
taxis at the major hotels.
Though the best way to get around
is with your own two feet, by walking.
With downtown Boston being
just two square miles
most of the tourist attractions
are packed into a very
small area, so walking
will be your best friend.
Though I will point out the
streets and sidewalks have a lot
of cobblestones and bricks,
so ladies be aware if
you're wearing high heels.
The sixth thing to know is when to go.
Summer is peak tourist season,
that's June, July and August.
That's when it's the busiest,
that's also one of the most popular.
Locals will recommend coming
in fall September and October.
There's less people here
the leaves are starting
to change color, that's the
quintessential Boston season.
Now you could come in winter
December, January, February,
the hotels will be a lot
cheaper because nobody
will be here for good reason,
it is really super cold.
Winter is coming, actually
winter comes to Boston
and it's a significant winter
every year, I warned you.
Spring is also another very
pleasant season temperature wise
though spring does bring a lot of rain.
The biggest holidays in Boston number one
is St. Patrick's Day,
the second not a holiday
but a big day, the Boston
Marathon and then every year
in December 16, they reenact
the Boston Tea Party.
The seventh thing to know,
is about the language.
And now you might be thinking, Chris,
don't they speak English in Boston?
Well, they do.
But there's a really thick Boston accent
and there's a really interesting
New England slang in this region.
So the Boston accent,
not everybody has it,
but when you hear it,
you'll definitely know it.
So now let me talk about some of the slang
so that you know what it means.
The first one, wicked pissah.
If you hear something is wicked pissah,
that means it's really good.
You saw me eat at that wicked Lobster,
that means it was good Lobster.
And actually at that restaurant,
they took off the R's
at the end and ended them with 'A'.
The Boston accent and slang typically,
really doesn't pronounce the
'R' so Lobster becomes Lobsta,
Chowder becomes chowda.
Now some more unique
words, if you're looking
for a liquor store that
might be called a Packy.
If you're looking for a
sandwich they call it a grinder.
And if you're looking to eat dinner,
well that might be supper.
Oh, then Dunkin Donuts that I mentioned,
the short for that is just Dunks.
The eighth thing to know is about Wi-Fi.
The City of Boston has a
metropolitan Wi-Fi network
called wicked Wi-Fi.
I mentioned wicked means good.
So this is like really good Wi-Fi.
And if you're just
walking around the city,
you'll see signs that say, "Wicked Wi-Fi,"
just look for the SSID, Wicked Free Wi-Fi.
The ninth thing to know is about hotels.
Boston has a lot of hotels,
but it's an Old City,
so many of them are old and historic.
What thats mean, It might
mean that air conditioning
and elevators might not be
standard in your hotel of choice.
So if air conditioning and
elevators are important to you,
well, make sure to check that,
before you board,
particularly in an Airbnb.
And the 10th thing to know
is about universities.
Boston is a college town,
more than 20 colleges
call Boston home and the most famous ones
are Harvard and MIT.
They're actually not technical in Boston
they're across the river
in Cambridge, this river,
no, the river that's over there.
But it is worthwhile
checking out Harvard and MIT.
I've been to both not on this
trip, but on previous trips,
and I went to MIT to the bookstore
to get a T-shirt that says, "MIT."
Why? so I can wear it around.
And then when people ask me,
Chris, did you go to MIT?
I can say I absolutely
did, to the bookstore
to get this T-shirt.
But the great thing about
all these students here,
it makes for a lot of cheap
eats and a lot of nightlife
and a lot of kind of 20
something friendly activity.
So if you find yourself in that age group,
or just someone who likes
to cheap eats, which I am,
then you will enjoy Boston,
'cause there's over 140,000
students that call Boston home.
Well, another thing you might wanna know,
is I've got more things to know videos.
If you're planning to go to New York City,
or you're planning to go to Washington DC,
you might enjoy checking
out my videos on those.
You'll find link subscription as well.
I won't say goodbye because I'll see you
in one of those videos.
