Boston, places to stay / visit & what to do?

Hi me and my mate have now confirmed our flights to america and will be landing in boston on june 30th. The plan is to stay for 3days then head to new york. We'r going to book accomodation for when we arrive so advice on good hostels and good areas to stay would be appreciated as well as any recommendations for places to visit and things to do?

As well what would be the best method of travel when moving on to New York ....the grey hound as I know its just under 200miles roughly?

Many thanks
ShEpS

Use Chinatown when commuting between Boston and New York. It is a lot cheaper than regular buses. They don't have any specific departure place as far as I know. Ask any shop owner in Chinatown, they would help. Get off at South Station on the red line to get to Chinatown.

I definitely second taking Fung Wah (the Chinatown bus) to NYC from Boston. They depart from South Station actually, so you can ask there. There is also Bolt Bus and some other discount companies that start selling tickets at $1 for the first few seats and then go up gradually from there.

For things to do in Boston, I actually put together a big list of this kind of thing on our wedding website for out of town guests. You can go to: http://patrinaswedding.blogspot.com/2008/07/to-do-in-boston.html if you'd like to take a look.

thanks for recommending the chinatown bus, i will definately have to look into using it for the commute to NYC. Thanks for telling me how to get to china town gocebe.

I also like the sound of Bolt bus, tickets starting from $1 would come in handy!! How safe is it using the chinatown bus / bolt bus?

Some very useful links and places on your website katrinab, i realy hope to visit Fenway Park if its possible

any recommendations for some good hostels / places to stay in terms of price, location etc.
Thanks
ShEpS

Sorry I can't help with specific, cheap places to stay - but when I roll to Boston, I try to stay either near Faneuil Hall (good for first-timers) or in the Back Bay area - to me these are the locations best suited for exploring Boston nightlife.

For transport to NYC, hit up the bus companies early if you want the $1 tickets (kind of like Ryanair). Here are the bus companies I know that run this route:

Peter Pan Lines http://www.peterpanbus.com/
Megabus http://www.megabus.com/us/
Lucky Star http://www.luckystarbus.com/
Boltbus https://www.boltbus.com/
Fung Wah https://www.fungwahbus.com/

Other than Fung Wah, I'm not sure if the Chinatown buses are "reservable".

You can also ride Amtrak (http://www.amtrak.com) from Boston to NYC, but you'll pay around $65 and it sounds like you're on more of a budget.

Have fun!

Thanks PsptJunkie I will have a look into accomodation in and around those areas you pointed out. As for the travelling I will definately have a look at the websites you provided, I had already tried AMTRAK previously but it worked out more expensive (think it was around the $70 mark) so im hoping to get a good deal with 1 of those other bus companies you suggested.

As you said hit them up early, so would you advise us to pre book before we get there, or if we'r staying in boston for a few days could we still get a good deal with a couple of days notice?

Thanks
ShEpS

@ShEpS:

I think the $1 seats are available only to those who reserve & pay in advance. I'm pretty sure the typical "walk-up" fare for Boston-NYC by bus is around $35. So if that's palatable, you can be flexible with your planning...and leave when the mood strikes. If you want to be certain to save money, you'll need to book ahead.

thanks PsptJunkie, I took a look on the megabus website n got some well cheap prices for Boston - NYC and then from NYC to philadelphia so I think we may just pre book online. The most expensive price I got back was $3 each

Use MegaBus or BoltBus to NYC. FungWah has had an unfortunate number of accidents. It's about a 4 1/2 hour ride.

This is one Boston hostel, centrally located:
http://www.bostonhostel.org/

Things to Do:
Freedom trail (historic sights)
Duck boat ride (fun orientation to the city)
North End (Italian restaurants, bakeries, cafes)
Aquarium, Museum of Fine Arts, Gardner Museum (if that's your thing)
explore harbor islands by boat
whale watch
Faneuil Hall Marketplace (shops, food, bars, street artists)
Swan boat ride in Public Garden
South End: chic restaurants and performance space at Center for the Arts
Harvard Square, Cambridge (Red line T subway) Friday and Saturday nights esp. have street musicians, jugglers, etc.

clubs on Landsdown Street
clubs in alley off Boyston Street, near corner of Tremont
Middle East (club) in Central Square, Cambridge (Red line T subway)
Johnny D's (club) in Davis Square, Somerville (various live music) or Burren, Irish pub, Davis Square (Red line T subway)
Independent, Irish pub, Union Square, Somerville

day trips to Gloucester/Rockport; Newport, RI; Salem; Newburyport/Plum Island ; Lexington/Concord/Walden Pond; Cape Cod