10 Things a Visitor Must Do or See in Boston

Boston is saturated with the history of the Republic: 19 million visitors make the pilgrimage to Faneuil Hall every year, making it the fourth most popular attraction in the country, well ahead of Disney World in Orlando (visited by a mere 17 million). But despite the tourist invasion, there are still areas of the city where the ghosts seem relatively undisturbed.

I always find my way back to Beacon Hill, not least because one of my favorite local restaurants, Barbara Lynch’s, No. 9 Park, is located in an 1803 townhouse there. On each return visit, I find myself aspiring anew to own one of the lovely old Federal mansions—though this may remain one of my life’s unrealized ambitions.

• Tour Fenway Park, which turned 100 in 2012 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. “Take a pregame ‘batting practice tour’ and get field box seats to a Red Sox game,” suggests Jonathan Nicholson, concierge at Boston’s XV Beacon Hotel.

• Stop at a café in the North End—Boston’s “Little Italy”—for a cannoli and espresso.

• Stroll through the Public Garden, “an urban oasis in the middle of the city,” Nicholson says. The Taj Boston concierge team suggests riding the historic swan boats and checking out the “Make Way for Ducklings” bronze statues, based on the 1941 children’s book of the same name.

• Visit Harvard Square and take Trademark Tours’ “[Unofficial Tour of Harvard],”[6] Nicholson recommends.

• Visit the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum and the Institute of Contemporary Art.

• Dine at Mistral or Menton, suggest Nicholson and the Taj Boston team.

• Shop for antiques on Charles Street and browse locally owned boutique stores on Newbury Street.

• Ice skate on Boston Common’s Frog Pond, “a popular outdoor rink in a former watering pond for cattle,” says the Taj Boston concierge team. In warmer months, the pond becomes a popular wading pool.

• Explore the Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library, recommends Nicholson.

• Walk the Freedom Trail, a three-mile route that links 16 historic sites, including Bunker Hill and the Paul Revere House.

6 Sites that Illustrate Colonial and Historic Boston

• The Freedom Trail (See above.)

• The USS Constitution, first launched in 1797

• The Athenaeum, founded in 1807

• Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum

• Old North Church “Famed for ‘one if by land, two if by sea’ lanterns that Paul Revere ordered used to alert colonists about the British invasion,” the Taj Boston concierge team notes.

• King’s Chapel, founded in 1686