Perhaps one of the most important cities for the US history, Boston is no stranger to kid friendly activities. We flew direct from Montreal, with Air Canada, to continue our trip in North America and explore a city that has so many firsts for the American people.

Internet. We used esim from Revolut for internet access, but restaurants, bars, museums have decent wifi.

Accomodation. We chose to stay in Chelsea, as it was a lot cheaper compared to Boston. We booked a large room at the Hampton Inn Boston Logan Airport Chelsea for approximately 200USD/night, including breakfast. The hotel is conveniently located next to the Logan International Airport and they provide a shuttle to and from the airport free of charge.

Getting around Boston. We used commuter train to get from our hotel In Chelsea to downtown Boston , local buses (SL3 line) and subways to get around. The SL3 silver bus line also connects the airport to Boston center. The train was more reliable in terms of schedule and travels up to North Station, where we could connect to the subway lines or walk to the main attractions. If there is no ticket booth in the train station, you can buy it from the conductor in the train. We payed 2.40 USD/adult. The bus had frequent delays due to traffic and road closures. But at the same time, nobody charged us for the bus tickets from Chelsea to Boston, so can’t really complain. To travel back to Chelsea we took the SL3 line from Boston South Station. Buses depart from the underground area of South station and one ticket costs 2.40USD/adult. The Blue line subway is currently free to use due to road closures. We used it to get to Revere beach from Boston Aquarium station.

Food. We ate in different restaurants, food was good almost everywhere. Down below I mention some of the restaurants that we really liked. Don’t forget to try the clam chowder if you’re fan of clams. It’s ah-mazing! And the lobster roll. If you’re on a very tight budget, Basket market is a supermarket chain that sells cooked meals (burgers, fries, chicken wings, etc). Boston is also home to some local breweries and beer apparently was really good, according to my husband.

Restaurants that we recommend.

• El Potro Mexican Grill, in Chelsea, serving really good cheese quesadillas and tacos
• Sam Adams Brewery, located to the right of the Faneuil Hall (great beer, fast food meals at decent prices)
• Warren Tavern, located near Bunker Hill Monument, a pub with loads of Colonial charm and great food. Give the lobster roll a try if you dine here.
• Cheers bar, the place where the Cheers sitcom was filmed
• Hook and Reel Cajun Seafood and Bar, in Revere Beach, for their amazing garlic seafood bag and oysters.

Our Boston itinerary had to include historical sights, but fun and relaxing moments as well. So, here’s what we did on our 5 days in Boston and our itinerary.

The Freedom Trail. What better way to start our Boston exploration if not the Freedom trail, that took us to the most important spots in the city. A total of 16 nationally significant historic sites are included in this trail. Although it is possible to join a guided tour on this trail with guides dressed in evocative clothes, we chose to do it on our own pace using the map: https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/sites/default/files/content/page/hero-image/ft-map.pdf. The trail is about 4km long and it is marked by red-bricks on the pavement. Eric had a lot of fun looking for the bricks to follow to the next site. The train starts in Boston Common,  America’s oldest public park, right next to the visitors center. While on the trail, we got to see America’s first public school with the statue of  of its former student, Benjamin Franklin. Boston’s oldest commercial building is also part of the trail and so is the Old South Meeting House, the place where the Boston Tea Party began. The oldest surviving public building in Boston is the Old State House and right next to it is the site of the Boston massacre. The Faneuil Hall that hosted America’s first Town Meeting is obviously on the trail. We stopped to have lunch and drinks at the super cool Sam Adams Brewery located to the right of the Faneuil Hall (great beer, fast food meals at decent prices). For desert, we recommend the Faneuil Hall Marketplace / Quincy Market right behind Faneuil Hall – which is great also just to have a look around. Our next stop was Paul Revere House, owned by the legendary patriot and the oldest remaining structure in downtown Boston. From here, we walked towards the  North Church, Boston’s oldest church famous for the midnight ride of Paul Revere and his lantern signal “One if by land, two if by sea”, the site that marks the American Revolution! The last part of the trail is up on the hill, the Bunker Hill monument, where the first major battle of the Revolutionary War took place. Although the colonists lost, the battle was seen as sign that the Americans could fight against the British.

Museum of Science. Boston in July was really warm so we decided to escape the heat into an air-conditioned museum. And not just any museum, but one that has the most impressive robots ever built, those from Boston Dynamics. Visiting their headquarters is by invitation only, but they do have the famous dog robot Spot inside the Museum of Science. We spent about 5hours inside the museum, including a 4D show on bugs, which was very informative and creepy…(at some point I was actually feeling a bug crawling up my leg). The museum is obviously very interactive and we somehow did not manage to see all of it during 5 hours. Here are the main highlights:

• Exploring AI in the Blue wing, to the right of the entrance on level 1. A great hall to teach kids about AI. Great interactive displays to showcase the idea of neural networks and how they work. It’s also the place to see Spot.
• Engineering Design Workshop. Super fun displays and interactive stations that focus on programming. Eric used wooden cards to program a small mouse to travel in the mine to collect hidden gems.
• Live animal show in the Green wing, lower level, at scheduled times.
• Arctic adventure. Various missions based on guiding drone and observing wildlife in the Arctic regions.
• Theater of Electricity. The main attraction here with “electricity” shows. The museum has the largest air-insulated Van de Graaff generator in the world and uses it to teach and educate on electricity by performing several experiments and tests. The show lasts about 20 minutes and should be a top priority when visiting the museum.
• Changing landscapes in the Green wing, level 2 is a hall that features changes to the animal habitat and important landmarks doe to climate change.

Acorn Street. As the Science Museum was closing and the temperature outside was beginning to drop, we started walking towards Acorn Street, famous for its classic New England charm. A street with houses built in the 1820s for merchants and artisans, now a popular touristic spot in Boston. Acorn street is about 30 minutes walk from the Museum of Science. From here we walked towards Boston Common to end the day with drinks in a popular bar, where the sitcom Cheers was filmed.

The Universities. Exploring the “university” side of Boston is a must. Our first stop, the grand architectural treasure that houses the Boston Public Library – Central Library. It’s free to visit and look around and some of the halls and stairways are stunningly beautiful works of art. Then we took a veeery long walk on Newbury street (which is great with high-end shops, cafes and small restaurants) and then across the bridge to the main building of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Boston Tea Party Museum. No visit to Boston is ever complete without a visit to the Boston Tea Party Museum. The visit is a guided one so to speak and entrance is during specified time slots. It’s best to buy tickets ahead of time. Buy them here: https://www.bostonteapartyship.com. We arrived at the museum a couple of minutes before our scheduled tour, clueless regarding the actual visit. I’m sure most people are familiar with the Boston tea party, but the experience the museum offers is mind blowing. The visit begins with a reenactment of the town meeting that lead to the tea party and the visitors are actively taking part in this reenactment. We clapped and booed and stumped our feet and swore to keep the secret. The visit then continues on a ship, where we actually threw boxes of tea into the sea, into the same body of water where the Boston Tea Party too place approximately 250 years ago. Filming and photography is forbidden after this point, but the experience remains highly interactive. We saw what it is claimed to be the only surviving tea chest and watched several films and holographic displays on the battle that followed the Tea Party. The letters between Samuel Adams and Kind George III are beautifully portrayed on large displays that resembles old paintings. To be honest, I felt that this museum was amazing. I can’t think of a better way to teach history.

The Boston Waterfront. It’s great at sunset, but also during the day. We walked all the way from the Fan Pier Park to the New England Aquarium.

Revere Beach. The easiest and cheapest way to get here is by using the Blue Line subway (from Boston downtown). It takes about 40 minutes to reach America’s first public beach. During our visit, the International Sand Sculpting Festival was held. Apart from the super cool sand sculptures, there were also many food stalls and several activities in place. The vibe was great overall. The beach is wide, with soft sand and some huge sea shells. While there you absolutely must dine at the Hook and Reel Cajun Seafood and Bar and try their garlic seafood bag. It was ah-mazing.

Other kid friendly attractions in Boston

• USS Constitution Museum, especially if you’re into boats.
• New England Aquarium
• Boston Children’s museum, located close to the Tea Party Museum
• Lego Discovery Cente
• Duck Tours, traveling around Boston in the amphibious landlike vehicle.
• Mapparium, a museum that houses a huge stained glass globe, with the map as it used to be in 1935