Boston Travel tips/recs for Frozen Four
I live in Boston and thought that it might be helpful to put together a diary for those not familiar with the city who are traveling to the Frozen Four.
I by no means am an expert on the city, and my opinions might not be shared by other locals, so I hope people will add some additional recs in the comment section
—Where to stay:
For people who have not yet made reservations, I would really recommend finding a place or hotel in Boston proper or in Cambridge just across the Charles River. The vast majority of things to do (and the TD Garden) are all walkable from these locations. I would personally put in a plug for my neighborhood of East Boston (more on that below) because a) it is literally where you land at Logan (I usually walk to the terminal from my home) and is only 1-2 subway stops from downtown and the Garden. There are a number of airport hotels as well you can stay at.
With that being said, the Garden is built right on top of North Station, which has subway and regional rail service that goes pretty far out to all the northern suburbs, so if you stay with friends or just decide to stay outside the city it does make getting to the game convenient.
—Do you need a car?:
I would strongly rec. against it for the reasons I note above: you save $ on the rental and can walk everywhere if you stay in Boston-Cambridge
—Things to do:
The main things to do (non-nightlife/bar category) revolve around the Harbor/Freedom trail, other sporting events, and the museums.
My favorite things to rec. to people are.
- Do a day of walking around. Start with a duck tour or combo bus/boat pass to get your bearings or if you’d rather not deal with your guides that can be hit or miss, get a guidebook and explore. The Boston common and other freedom trail stuff is well marked.
- Go to East Boston: It’s one of Bostons more historical neighborhoods (the Kennedy’s and the Mavericks among many others) lived there during its heyday as the ship building capital of the world. It’s got some of the best restaurants in the city, including the (imo) best Italian at Rinos, Peruvian and other Latin American places. It also has a working shipyard with a cider distillery that has a tasting area/bar as well as an Australian meat pie place. The new waterfront has by far the best view of the city along the new waterfront walk as well.
- Walk around the colleges: Besides the “Michigan of the East”, MIT has a cool campus and Northeastern/BU are located quite near the Museum of Fine Arts and the Stewart Gardner Museums if you like doing museum stuff
- Normally I would add “go to a Red Sox game”, even if you’re a Tigers fan who hates them. However they are out of town next weekend. You can still take a tour of it as they have those on most days.
—Where to eat:
In my opinion Bostons food scene is not as good as it should be. That being said, here are a couple of my family’s favorites:
-East Boston
Cunard Tavern (right by waterfront, good mix of options and lively bar scene)
Angela’s Cafe (Mexican, mole specialty)
Rincon Limeno-(Peruvian, their seafood Tacu Tacu is one of my favorite all time dishes)
Rinos- (lobster ravioli insanely good but need to go early as there are jo reservations) can also do takeout and walk/Uber to waterfront about 15 min away by foot
-Boston:
North End
There are a lot of great Italian places, including the ubiquitous Mikes pastries for cannoli). I’m hoping other local folks will be able to add recs below)
There is also the Union Bay oyster house, that has been around since the 1700s (and looks like it). JFK ate there on election night 1960z
-Downtown:
A lot of options here as well that I’m not that familiar with (kids, man). There is the usual assortment of steak houses and seafood places as well as bars.
-Cambridge
Helmand: Afghani, about a 10-15 min walk to the TD garden.
Aceituna: Cheap and very good middle eastern shawarma, etc near Helmand/MIT
Oleana: Great eclectic Mediterranean, reservations can be tough
Bartleys Burgers: In Harvard Square. Very good and lots of specialty options with funny names
—Nightlife/around the Garden
There are a lot of bars etc on Canal st and nearby if you want to pregame. Because everything is so close you can also walk a bit for more options. The bars are somewhat generic (no Ricks Cafe type place that I know about) but there are all over the place, especially on Boylston near BU/NEU
Finally, I would suspect the UM Club of Boston will do something as well, though I’m not sure.
Feel free to ask anything In the comment section and I’ll do my best to answer.
Go Blue!
PS- wear Brady UM stuff if you really want to endear yourselves to the locals…
I think the advice about Boston being a walkable city needs to be qualified that the streets are not laid out in a linear fashion *at all*. Getting lost is so easy to do unless you know exactly the route to take. And Cambridge to TD Garden is a good hour walk, at a decent walking pace.
Wind chill is about 9 degrees tonight. Bahstan is by da wadda, so it can be damp, breezy, and chilly! Dress accordingly.
Renting a car is a "maybe" if you want/require your privacy, but Uber and Lyft are probably your best way(s) to get around.
(Edit/Add: do not wear NY Yankees gear. Doing so is a bit like wearing our block M in Columbus.)
That’s a fair point about the city layout which apparently was based on horse/cow paths. I would note that I found it much more confusing to drive, so Uber might be a best option.
As for Cambridge, it depends which part you’re in wrt walking. The Garden is a 5 min walk from the Museum of Science (border of East Cambridge) but Harvard Sq area to be sure is much further away and is best reached by the Redline T (ie subway)
The weather sucks to be sure. Looks like a cold weather front will be there at least through next Tuesday, though for most Michigan people that won’t be too much of a shock to the system
Anyone know where the michigan fans/band will be sitting if picking up tickets?
Also does anyone know which bench we’ll be on? Seems like the Bruins sit on the left bench, but when I found video of the last Frozen Four in 2015, the higher seeded team was on the right bench.
@ AeroSteve and Flexie94:
I saw a tweet earlier from @MichiganHockey that answers your questions (other than the location the location for the Michigan Pep Band):
https://twitter.com/umichhockey/status/1508838327130234884?t=K6GWOyPCOcD7_cle-mWMCw&s=19
That's really helpful, thanks! We got tix a while ago so will be on the other side but hopefully can migrate at some point. I would suspect the band will be next to the Michigan section(s).
Thanks! Thinking of getting tickets now.
Got my tix in section 21 LFG!!!!!!!!
Freedom Trail tours were very good. Tours aren't terribly long (only about 90 minutes) and you're right in the middle of everything. It gives you a nice lay-of-the-land of a central location.
Back Bay is a cool place to walk around. Yes, Fenway Park has tours available, yes, including in March and April. Lots, of bars, restaurants, shopping in the area. I can't stand the Red Sox but I liked the tour.
MIT and Harvard are well worth walking around. And the area around the campuses are full of things to see.
Boston was one of the best cities we've ever visited and we didn't have enough time to see close to all of it. Have fun.
Not sure why you need a tour for the freedom trail. Follow the red line on the sidewalks and you can't go wrong.
March 29th, 2022 at 10:35 AM ^
I spent a couple years in Boston- my number one suggestion is spend a few hours in the north end. Start at Hanover Street and walk to the end- its about a 10 min walk. You will pass tons of cool restaurants, shops, and the "Old North Church" which is where Paul Revere started his midnight ride. Walk back on Salem street.
This is the "little Italy" of Boston- nearly every restaurant is fantastic and the neighborhood is so unique and beautiful.
I agree about the North End as a must, it reminds me of a number of european cities.
My sons' elementary school is right next to the Old North Church and Paul Revere house and they love running around/exploring the area....
March 29th, 2022 at 11:05 AM ^
Regarding transportation, the T may not be viable to get to North Station for the games depending which direction you’re coming from. There was a terrible accident this weekend where a parking garage that was being demolished by a developer collapsed. One person died, and the building happened to be above the train tunnels. There is so much debris that inspectors haven’t even been able to check if the tunnels are safe, and they won’t be able to do so until the site has been cleared, which may take weeks. Accordingly, trains heading from Boston to North Station/TD Garden are shut down, and you’d be need to take a shuttle bus for a mile or so to connect you back to the rail.
Trains are running from Cambridge/Somerville and points north. In the past I’ve been able to get a decent room at Royal Sonesta in Cambridge for under $100/night via Priceline. It’s about a 5-minute walk to the T, two stops away from the arena. If getting from the arena to your hotel via public transit is important to you, look at that hotel or the Kimpton right across from it. Otherwise you’d be best off relying on cabs, Uber/Lyft, and your feet.
Thanks for that note. That accident was indeed terrible sounding. It looks like the Orange Line is more affected as of now (it's a short 5-10 walk from Govt. Center Green line stop to the Garden)
The Sonesta is a great hotel in terms of location. Economics nerds might recognize it as it hosts the NBER meetings every summer.
March 30th, 2022 at 12:08 PM ^
Orange Line is back.......BUT the Blue Line, which goes to/from the Airport, is closed for maintenance the first two weeks of April. (Great timing, right? Just when you're hosting a national championship with thousands of out-of-town visitors).
Good news is that the Silver Line bus, which is free, goes directly from the terminals at Logan to South Station, with free connections to the T.
Blue Line Shuttles Begin April 2 to Allow for Infrastructure Improvements | Updates | MBTA
See: (For alternative service, riders may use Silver Line 3 (SL3) service from Airport station or Silver Line 1 (SL1) from the Logan Airport terminals.)
March 31st, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
The closing of the Blue line has been delayed to later in the spring, per an MBTA communication yesterday. I'm an elected member of Ward Committee in East Boston which has been working on the issue, and their response was pretty definitive so that is really good news.
One other thing that hasn't been mentioned: for travel between the Seaport, Downtown, and East Boston there are a lot of water taxis and ferries. They are a great (and cheap) way to check out the harbor without taking a tourist-oriented sightseeing boat. In any case they will be active a lot next week.
You can also get off the Orange Line at Haymarket, 5-10 minute walk to the Garden from there. Unless you decide to stop for a pint at Bell n Hand, one of the oldest pubs in the US.
March 29th, 2022 at 11:15 AM ^
I'd add that the green and orange lines that go from north station into the city are still shut down after a major building accident above the tunnels. So just be aware if you're heading that direction. Though as a fellow Boston denizen it's not that long of a walk (the whole city is relatively small) so you can always hoof it if you need to.
I'd add in that while Seaport is almost comically mall-esque right now it does have great views of the city and some decent breweries/restaurants so give it a look if you have the time.
March 29th, 2022 at 11:55 AM ^
I'm not an expert, but some thoughts:
1. I agree with Stanley Hudson and visit the North End. I don't have restaurant recommendations. Most of them are really small. Some are good. Do a quick review and make reservations. If you're not going to eat dinner there, still visit duck into a bakery and get something that looks good. A cannoli is always a good choice. Head over to the Old North Church and see where Ian finally got busted in National Treasure.
2. There are some good small Portuguese restaurants in Union Square (Sommerville off of Cambridge). As above better to Google recommendations.
3. One of the funs of the freedom trail is figuring out how many of the gravemarkers are of people you've heard of.
4. Union Oyster House is crowded (reservations) and touristy. Still, it's very old and so interesting just for that. It's probably overpriced some (not an expert) but the seafood is fine.
5. The Liberty Hotel used to be the Charles Street jail. Think of the Detroit Foundation Hotel. Might be fun for a drink if you're into that, but obviously priced.
6. MIT? Meh, but if you insist sneak into the building off Mass Ave and Memorial Drive and get lost in the infinite corridor. There's more interesting things at Harvard and Harvard Square.
7. Both the Science Museum on top of the dam of the Charles River and the Museum of Fine Arts are both very good if those interest you.
8. It might be too cold to enjoy Salem, but if you have to go, it's easy via commuter rail, excepting the note above about the accident.
9. Driving Boston without native knowledge is misery. There are 3 different streets named Washington. The plan is built off of cow paths. Usually when you make a mistake you can easily correct. In Boston, it's an unstable process and can lead to disaster.
10. Enjoy, and try to find the uniqueness of the area---a weird combo of 100K students, a modern city attracting people from all over and a place overly focused on its own insular history.
March 29th, 2022 at 12:17 PM ^
Residence Inn right across the Charlestown bridge is a short walk to TD and easy walk to North end Little Italy.
Courtyard Marriott is also right by TD for those other Bonvoy folks.
March 29th, 2022 at 12:30 PM ^
How can one make a recommendation of places to eat in Eastie without mentioning Santarpio's? Pizza is incredible. For a warm up, watch the Barstool Pizza review with Portnoy and Edelman, its a classic! North End is great and a very short walk to and from TD Garden. Lot of bars around TD, if you want down and dirty, Sullivan's Tap is a classic. Too bad the Fours closed! For those inclined, the Encore casino in Everett, about 10-15 minutes north, is great, Vegas like feel. Unfortunately you won't be able to bet any games, MA has head up ass on sports wagering, well unless you know someone like "Pickles"!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBHmPZshL2I
Hah! I really like Santarps (I lived a block away from it for a few years and ate a LOT of takeout pizza from there) but it is pretty polarizing to a lot of people I know. It's very distinctive to be sure. I always tell people that I knew I had lived in Boston for too long when I noticed the movie Spotlight showed Santarps takeout (incorrectly) in a box, when it was a paperbag/cardboard combo up until 2012.
Good to hear a positive review of the Encore. I've been meaning to go check it out but haven't gotten around to it (for those familiar with Vegad it looks like a replica of the Wynn, its sister casino there).
March 29th, 2022 at 12:31 PM ^
Thanks for the write up. Flights out of Minneapolis/St Paul are absurd right now given Mankato and UM (NTUM) will be there, those fans must've gobbled up the good flights. Is Providence a plausible option? I assume there's a train
Providence is absolutely doable. It's about an hour away by train (which I'm pretty sure goes right from the airport) so you wouldn't need to rent a car even.
I booked providence too, I’ve done it before and it’s not a bad drive.
I grew up in Boston, but haven't lived there in some time. So I have a lot of knowledge, but it might be dated. I won't add too much specifics, although I will recommend that people looking to enjoy the area spend time in Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Prudential Center/Copley, and Quincy Market, as opposed to the North End or East Boston. The North End is cool and close to the venue, but not as enjoyable as other areas IMO. East Boston is a relatively new gentrified area, so don't know much about it. I will say Santarpio's is legit though. I'll also throw a quick eats shoutout to Anna's Taqueria (oh how I miss you) and Chacarero. Happy to answer any other questions.
I think all of the areas you mentioned are great still. I focused on East Boston as it has indeed changed a lot over the past 5-10 years and is the place that recent visitors invariably told me was the coolest place that they "discovered" as it wasn't in all the usual travel sites/books historically.
That said I could be biased :)
Saltie Girl in the Back Bay is my favorite restaurant in Boston. Interesting seafood that extends beyond the typical New England fare. We sat at the bar and ate a variety of tinned fish, fried lobster and waffles, and some very good apps. Cool little spot.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/saltie-girl-boston
I am not a huge sweets person, but I highly recommend a cannoli from the North End.
They are great. As with beignets in New Orleans, you don't NEED to get them from MIke's (the euilvalent of Cafe du Monde) if the line is too long as there are plenty of other places in the North End that serve them, though Mike's is an experience. Note that Mike's also has other locations including at the TD Garden and Harvard Square where the lines are rarely as long.
Heading there and appreciate the information. I will note that I passed a Sam Adam's brewery on the highway outside of Allentown last weekend. Would have thought I might have seen that on this upcoming trip. IN BOSTON.
For those interested in the sort of thing, Boston also has a lot of great breweries.
* Both harpoon (seaport area) and Sam Adams (Jamaica plain) have great brewery tours with free beer that are within walking distance of subway stations.
* My favorite non tour brewery in Boston is Night Shift brewery in everett. You'll need to Uber / Lyft or take buses to get to it or just drive yourself. Great variety of beers, great beer hall / taproom, and they let you bring in your own food (I've carried in Santarpios before, shared a slice with the bartender, and had a friend for life). I've heard they now have a downtown taproom too, but that one is fun.
* If you like the ipa's head to Lord Hobo brewery.
If you want cheaper accomodations that can still get to downtown easy, especially if you want a rental car to go see Concord / Lexington / Minute Man Natl Park / Salem, etc, check out the hotels right at the intersection of i93 & i95/ma128 in Woburn. You can take the commuter rail from Anderson / Woburn right into north station for not too much. There's also plenty of restaurants right there, you're about 20 min from Salem, 20 min from Lexington / Concord. You can also stay anywhere from Burlington to Waltham along the 95/128 corridor and depending on which one you're closer to can get on the T and the end of the red line at Alewife or the end of the green line "D" at Riverside. Some of the hotels there will even shuttle you to those public transit points.
March 31st, 2022 at 12:16 AM ^
Night Shift has a restaurant and brewery right next door to TD Garden at Lovejoy Wharf. Better experience than the OG taproom IMHO. Trillium in the Seaport is my favorite in the city these days (RIP Mystic).
March 30th, 2022 at 11:49 AM ^
I'll offer a super-niche dining recommendation: find a place with good fried clams. By "good fried clams," I mean, fried Ipswich clams, often called whole-belly clams. Ipswich clams are something that's unique to New England, and, more specifically, to the Boston area. The best ones come from the North Shore of Massachusetts. I went to high school in NH and college in RI, and I've traveled all over the US, and I've never seen fried Ipswich clams anywhere more than hour away from Boston.
When I travel, I generally try to find at least one restaurant that has something that's really good and that I can't get anywhere else. If you find merit in that approach, get some Ipswich clams.
They're not just unique. They're terrific. A lot of people want lobster when they come to New England, and, of course, that's a great choice. But Ipswich whole belly clams are outstanding, albeit in a different way. You can get very good lobster outside New England; but I'm not sure you can get Ipswich clams.
It's important to distinguish between clam strips and whole belly clams. They are not the same. A whole-belly clam is the clam itself; a clam strip is a piece of muscle that pokes outside the shell. Clam strips are cheap, and you can find them all over New England, usually in fried clam rolls. They are pretty good, but nothing like the whole belly clam. And Ipswich clams are the best whole-belly clams.
The linked article names some good places in the Boston area. I can vouch for Courthouse Seafood, which is within walking distance of the Garden, just across the river in Cambridge.
https://boston.eater.com/maps/best-fried-clams-boston
Awesome non touristy seafood place just north of the airport... Probably need a car: Belle Isle Seafood. Cash only, fish literally off the boat, they serve alcohol.
My Buddy and I were at Legal Seafood and they had lobster ordered every half pound up until a max at 6lbs with the price increase like $7 every half pound jump. He’s a really smart dude and sometimes can get wound up. It’s a thing of beauty.
So he ordered the 5 1/2 lb lobster 1st leaving me the opening to go for the 6 lb. We then spent a few minutes listening to him tell me how at that size a 1/2 lb more really was not worth it.
I got up to go to the bathroom and politely explained the situation to our waiter who smiled and said I got this. My lobster had claws draped off the plate onto the table and dwarfed my buddies lobster. The look on his face was priceless. One of the best meals I’ve ever had.
I always tell our clients flying in to Logan to take the water taxi across the harbor into Downtown. You will get a beautiful view of the city at a price lower than a taxi. Here's a link to more info: https://www.boston-discovery-guide.com/water-taxi-from-logan-airport.html
March 31st, 2022 at 11:48 AM ^
Yep, that's a great rec. I would add that one of the departure points for the water taxi, the (airport) Hyatt has the best views of the city and is a great place to grab a bite as well as their restaurant is better than those at similar hotels in other locations. If you have points, etc. to spend it's worth checking out.
March 31st, 2022 at 12:08 PM ^
Some quick updates to my initial message:
Lodging: I looked on Kayak at hotels and there is clearly a premium to be paid to be in Boston or Cambridge. If you have the don't have the means and/or would prefer to not bunk up with a bunch of folks in each room, places further afield are worth checking out as well, though if you can avoid renting a car by staying close to a train line that can reduce costs significantly. One option that is a decent mix of close in without being too expensive is the Holiday Inn in East Cambridge (https://www.kayak.com/hotels/Holiday-Inn-Express--Suites-Boston,Cambridge,Cambridge-p58084-h63304-details/2022-04-07/2022-04-10/2adults/2children-6-9?sid=RYCEmX5OC7#overview)
Transport: In terms of getting around, it looks like all of the subway (T) lines will be active next week, as the tunnels in downtown after the accident were inspected and cleared while the construction project affecting the Blue line from the airport has been delayed.
UM Alumni Event: The UM club of Boston announced that they are having an event next Thurs from 12 pm onwards near the TD Garden. You can look at their webpage (https://alumni.umich.edu/communities-clubs/boston/) for more information
Weather: It looks like next weeks forecast is partly cloudy (chance of rain on Weds) and low-mid 50s in terms of temperature. This is better than what I would generally predict but I would pack for a variety of conditions including wind, which can be pretty intense
Tickets: If you missed Rob F's message, here is the tweet he linked to showing where UM tickets were assigned https://twitter.com/umichhockey/status/1508838327130234884?t=K6GWOyPCOcD7_cle-mWMCw&s=19 . Fwiw, I think that the sightlines at the TD Garden are pretty good so if you do get tickets up top you should be okay.
In terms of buying tickets, the UM Club linked to Vivid Seats. While the tickets I got were for "all sessions", there are some reasonably priced ones for Thursday only which, based on my experience with March Madness regionals is a potentially money-saving option as invariably the price for the final drops when the fans of the losing semifinalists end up selling the back-end of their all-session tickets.
I am a bit surprised at how thin the inventory is for all the games. I wonder if prices may not drop that much (if at all) for the championship game even with the fans of the two losing teams selling their tickets because of how few seats there are overall with more people being able to travel/attend on a Saturday instead of a Thursday. Supply <<< demand?
This is pure speculation, but your observation as of now may be due to the fact that there are a LOT of hockey people in Boston and New England. Multiple people have told me that they are going even though they don’t have a rooting interest in a specific team. Ergo you may be right, although I still think there will be an increase in supply after Thursday.
New Englandhas are crazy about hockey. So that’s certainly a reason why the inventory is so low. College hockey trumps football, basketball and baseball. Hockey East is down as a conference, but New Englanders love their hockey and will show out with their colors this weekend.
I'll co-sign that. I used to hear about how Minnesota and the Dakotas had the craziest college hockey fans but man New Englanders can sure bring it as well.
One example of this for me is the annual Beanpot tournament (Harvard, Northeastern, BU, BC). I'd barely heard of it before moving here and have come to appreciate how big a deal it is, selling out even when none of the teams are particularly great. Reminds me a lot of the Big 5 basketball games in Philly where I grew up. The BU-BC rivalry I've found to be particularly nasty, which only adds to the passion and stakes.
Thanks for sharing this. My daughter just got accepted to BU, and though my wife did her grad school at Simmons 25 years ago, I've never been to Boston and am looking forward to seeing what the city has to offer.
I used to HATE Boston. Between being a Sixers fan and a Harvard/MIT hater (dad was a prof at Penn so a lot of irony there) I always thought it was snobby on so many levels.
The truth is that it is a great, albeit weird, city, I think of it as a town/gown situation at scale. Kendall square has the thirst concentration of tech and biotech in the world by a long shot while less then 2 miles away in Winthrop the provincial hockey rivalries are a separate universe upon itself.
If your daughter decides to come here she will have no shortage of opportunities to be a part of an amazing intellectual community while also being part of a “real” city that has a history that is at once diverse and distinct
I love it when local people post helpful tidbits like this. Thanks Niels!
I just got back from a trip to Boston yesterday, my first since the mid-90s. Recommend the place I stayed, the Battery Wharf Hotel right on the north end waterfront. I was making a pilgramage to the Garden for the Celtics-Heat game (grew up in AK as a Celtics fan), so was only in town for 18 hours. So no rental car, the hotel was a 10 minute walk to the Garden and probably 5 mins to amazing pizza/Italian food & at least 4 Italian bakeries. You can take a free courtesy shuttle (#66) from the baggage claim to the water taxi, and $15 boat ride to the north end - where you're dropped off literally 200-feet from the front door of the hotel. Search 'boston water taxi".
Recommend the original Regina's Pizza, grab a beer at the bar - very friendly folks. And Bova's Bakery for the cannoli & the largest sweet rolls I've ever seen. Wish I had more time, but I'll probably be back for the Dead & Co concert @ Foxboro.
Regina's is great.
One thing about coming out for anything ant Foxboro; see if the "football train" is running from downtown for the show. There are very few things in life I hate more than driving to that stadium, the traffic is unbelievably bad getting there and, given the fanbase for that particular show might be even slower than usual.....
I’m staying out by the aquarium, and looking for a restaurant along the walk to the garden. I’m just looking for a place for a couple beers, good pub fare and an “old” atmosphere. When I looked it up it seems like Bell in Hand or Sons of Boston are two viable options. Has anyone been here and which is better or would you recommend a different spot close to the route?
For old atmosphere I'm pretty sure Union Oyster house has a bar. It's on the way, has been around in one form or another since the 1700s and looks it. Some other options on the way are in the North End, but they are mostly restaurants (Italian) and I'm not sure about "old" vibe.
The last option is Canal St. which has newer bars but is right next to the Garden and will have a bunch of UM fans, giving it a tailgating feel
I suspect others might have ideas as well.
Hope that helps.
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