Boston is filled with history, art, and thousands of students.
I made a minor mistake when booking my Airbnb for my trip to Boston. Just a reminder to everyone: price matters! I found this Airbnb for a cheap price that was only a 10 min walk from where I needed to be everyday. However, I failed to research the area and it was a neighborhood with a bunch of dilapidated structures; my building was the only freestanding one around. It was a shared apartment with two other rooms, which were pictured but at the same time, nothing that I expected. Regardless, I stayed there, and just stayed in the city center all day and Ubered home at night.
The city is easily accessible and for all ages. My favorite place to regroup was the Boston Public Garden. It has a cute pond in the center where you can paddle around in boats. It's also so large that you won’t be on top of eachother fighting for a patch of green.
Boston is home of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which is famous for the art robbery of 13 of Gardner’s works. “There is a $10 million reward for information leading directly to the recovery of all 13 works of art in good condition, and a separate $100,000 reward for the Napoleonic finial” according to their website. There are also the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, Gabel Museum of Archaeology, and Museum of Science. I wasn’t much of a ‘museum person’ before but learning about the history or stories of some of the artworks piqued my interest.
There are historic tours for the history buffs. I’d recommend following the ‘Freedom Trail’ which is a 2.5-mile-long (4km) path through downtown Boston. It passes 16 significant locations to the history of the United States. I didn’t take any guided or professional tour, but I followed the path and learned along the way. Most of the sites are at the North End of the city.
Students in the Boston area will also find themselves by the North End where most of the bars and clubs are located. I’d say there isn’t a lot of nightlife, but it’s all what you make it. With all the colleges and universities around, you can meet people anywhere. However, because the cost of living in Boston is astronomical most students living on their own stay outside the city center in Allston, Cambridge, and Brookline, all of which are about 20-30 minutes away from the center.
In conclusion, I’d say if you want to visit a city, without being overwhelmed, then Boston would be the place for you. It is big enough to see something new everyday, and small enough to get from one end to the other without a problem. With all the conservatories in the Fenway–Kenmore district, there are a bunch of free music shows. Also, Boston Logan International Airport is nearby which is nice for getaway trips.
Tips:
A word you’ll hear in Massachusetts is ‘wicked’ meaning ‘very’ or ‘really’. It is used in a sentence like “It's wicked cold outside!”
Utilize the technology we have today! Use Google Earth when planning where to stay. You can see the street view and neighborhood before buying a place to stay.
There are a bunch of student discounts so take advantage of them for food, transportation, and entrance fees.
*All the photos in this post are taken by me