36 Hours in Boston

36 Hours

In Boston — oft-beset by slush and cynicism — summer brings a deep sigh of relief, as hunched shoulders finally relax and beer gardens pop open like tulips. First-term mayor Michelle Wu, 39, the first woman and person of color elected to lead the city, has brought an ambitious environmental agenda and new ways of looking at the urban landscape . The result is a destination steeped in history, as ever, with reinvented outdoor spaces for drinking, dining and recreating, and more change in the air. Waterfront redevelopment has spread farther and wider, spawning new harbor-adjacent art spaces and breweries, while a forward-looking focus on water transportation means more ferries and water taxis to get you where you're going, while enjoying sparkling views and salty breezes.

Fenway Park , the home of the Boston Red Sox and the oldest, smallest ballpark in baseball, offers daily tours full of colorful history. Yvonne's serves elegant food and unusual cocktails, with ingredients that include marshmallow, carrot and salted sage, in a dazzling reinvented space. The Boston Harborwalk , a "linear park" stretching more than 40 miles, traces the zigs and zags of Boston's waterfront. The ICA Watershed , a seasonal satellite of Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art, brings free exhibitions to harborside East Boston every summer. UnCommon Stage , an outdoor performance space run by Emerson College in partnership with the city, hosts free performances in a beer garden on Boston Common , the country's oldest public park." The Embrace ," a new public sculpture on the Common, celebrates the love between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, who first met as students in Boston. Granary Burying Ground , established in 1660, is the final resting place of the founding fathers Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere (plus Benjamin Franklin's parents). African Meeting House on Beacon Hill, part of the Museum of African American History , is considered the oldest surviving Black church building in the country. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum explores political history and the mystique of the Kennedy family in an architectural gem on Dorchester Bay. is a bakery with Danish-Israeli roots, across the street from Boston Common. Temple Records pays tribute to Japanese listening bars and serves sushi downstairs. Time Out Market Boston , a massive food hall near Fenway Park, showcases a range of Boston favorites like lobster rolls and three-way roast beef sandwiches. Carmella's Market is an old-school Italian market in East Boston for giant takeout subs. Downeast Cider House offers four-flavor flights of cider in its tap room near the waterfront. Tea by the Sea is a spacious harborside cafe offering bubble tea and smoothies. The Tall Ship is a floating oyster bar with sunset views in East Boston. Rincon Limeno , a neighborhood favorite, has a friendly vibe and authentic Peruvian food. Sullivan's is a summer institution for hot dogs, lobster rolls and ice cream in South Boston. Dorchester Brewing has a rooftop deck and tasty smoked meats from M&M BBQ . Comfort Kitchen in the Dorchester neighborhood has won accolades for its global comfort food, including okra, plantains, jerk-roasted duck and curried monkfish. Music Research Library is a light-filled record store on a quiet street, with a peaceful, library-like ambience and two listening stations. Beacon Hill Books & Cafe opened in 2022 but feels like a neighborhood institution, with five floors of books in a charming 19th-century townhouse. December Thieves is a Beacon Hill boutique known for unusual jewelry, like rings of polished resin and dangling silver earrings shaped like bare winter branches. Yacht Haven Inn & Marina , on Commercial Wharf in the historic North End, has an unrivaled harborside location. The boutique hotel has 10 spacious rooms, some with private decks overlooking the water; you can also rent a slip to berth your boat. Rooms start at around $500. The Verb Hotel , next door to Fenway Park, has won a faithful following for its funky take on hospitality, with turntables in every room and a lending library of 1,700 records in the lobby. Breakfast (included) is way above average, with live music and fruit smoothies made to order; the former Howard Johnson's even has a heated outdoor pool. Rooms start at around $300., a no-frills budget option, offers a prime Boston location close to historic attractions and the Italian restaurants of the North End, and next door to the TD Garden, home of the Boston Celtics and the Boston Bruins. Rooms start at around $200. Boston is compact and largely , though you'll need other transport to reach some of its most dynamic neighborhoods. Its beleaguered system, known as the T , has struggled with delays and breakdowns of late, but remains the cheapest, fastest way to get around in many cases. A CharlieCard can be purchased at any station, and widespread testing of one-tap credit card entry is under way. The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, known as the M.B.T.A., also offers a beefed-up summer schedule (Charlestown and East Boston routes $2 to $4 one way). Soak up art and music in the park Kick off the weekend in the oldest city park in the United States, the Boston Common , where a new summer performance space run by Emerson College, UnCommon Stage , features free live music in a beer garden pouring classic drafts from the Boston mainstay Harpoon Brewery . When you're ready for a stretch, amble over to "The Embrace" and debate the merits of the Common's newest and most hotly debated public monument , a massive, semi-abstract bronze work paying tribute to the love between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, in the city where they met. Then drop in across the street at Bakey, a fragrant pastry showcase with Danish-Israeli roots, to stock up on chocolate, almond or raspberry babka ($6) for the morning (or a late-night snack).

Find your groove downtown In the city's Downtown Crossing shopping district, Temple Place has become a lively restaurant row of late, dense with clever concepts like the Wig Shop , a cocktail lounge tucked behind a storefront that remains a dead ringer for the wig shop it once was. Steps away, the new Temple Records is a tribute to the "listening bars" of 1950s Japan, with a custom sound system and an eclectic collection of vintage vinyl. Sip a pale green Off Minor cocktail (gin, Midori, basil, yuzu, absinthe, $16) and snack on addictive karaage fried chicken ($16) while trying to identify the album in rotation. Hidden one floor below, Records feels like a secret hideaway, a 22-seat wooden sushi bar serving tiny cups of sake and delicate cuts of sea urchin, eel, sea trout and caviar (plates from $7 to $25).

Luxuriate in old-world glamour For a glimpse of sumptuous old-world Boston, reinvented for a modern audience, there is nothing quite like Yvonne's , the dimly lit bar and restaurant that occupies the former Locke-Ober, an iconic Boston restaurant that opened in 1875 and endured for 137 years. Once the exclusive hideaway of bluebloods, the grandly appointed space retains its mysterious glamour, with whimsical touches like the portrait of Bill Murray, dressed in epaulets, that hangs above the fireplace in the library bar, and the smoky drama of the Rubicon, a gin, chartreuse and rosemary cocktail ($16) that is briefly set aflame. This is a room to dress up for, to see and be seen in; just don't forget to try the lobster ricotta dumplings in black truffle butter ($32) and the seared haloumi with orange-blossom honey and crispy chickpeas ($16).

Head for hallowed ground at Fenway Park Whatever your level of baseball fandom, a pilgrimage to Fenway Park feels necessary in Boston, whether it's to watch a Red Sox game or soak up the history of the sport's oldest, smallest ballpark on a Fenway tour ($25). You'll get plenty of Yankees trash talk in this hourlong expedition, plus colorful backstories on the Curse of the Bambino and the Green Monster, the towering outfield wall that boasts the oldest manual scoreboard in baseball. If sports aren't your thing, opt for another neighborhood gem, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum , in a Venetian-style palace. Afterward, stroll a half-mile down Brookline Avenue to the Time Out Market , a cavernous food hall stuffed with local favorites, including Cusser's three-way roast beef sandwich (with BBQ sauce, mayo and cheese, $13) and butter pecan crullers ($5) from Union Square Donuts .

Amble through the past Disneyland for history buffs lies on Beacon Hill, a short ride from Fenway on the MBTA Green Line. Wander through the Granary Burying Ground , established in 1660, a shady oasis beside busy Tremont Street, to pay respects to the founding fathers Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere, all of whom are buried here, along the city's 2.5-mile-long Freedom Trail . Hike uphill past the Massachusetts State House to find the African Meeting House , the country's oldest surviving Black church building, and the Museum of African American History ($15). Downhill on Charles Street, browse the unusual and beautiful jewelry at December Thieves , and explore Beacon Hill Books & Cafe , a Tasha Tudor illustration come to life with its steep staircases, reading nooks and fireplaces. Afternoon tea is served on Sundays ($65).

Catch a cross-harbor ferry to East Boston No Boston neighborhood has seen more recent transformation than East Boston, or Eastie, long a home to new immigrants and Logan Airport, and now morphing into a trendy waterfront playground. Change has brought parking woes and identity angst , but also a complex vibrancy. A seasonal ferry ($5 round trip) runs every 30 minutes from Long Wharf, near the New England Aquarium, across Boston Harbor to East Boston, or take the M.B.T.A. Blue Line to Maverick station. Stop by Carmella's Market, an authentic Italian corner store, for oversize meatball or chicken cutlet subs ($10 to $13) and picnic in Piers Park for the stunning skyline views across the harbor.

Absorb some art, then drink in tea and scenery Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art , in the Seaport neighborhood, runs a summer outpost in East Boston called the Watershed (free admission), in a former pipe factory. (A water taxi links the two sites .) An exhibition by the British artist Hew Locke, " The Procession ," through Sept. 2, explores memory and identity in an installation of 140 life-size sculptures of masked figures. For post-show contemplation, Downeast Cider House Taproom is steps away, offering four-flavor flights ($15). Or, if the wait there is too long, walk 15 minutes to Tea by the Sea , a spacious waterfront cafe with loungy leather couches, jewel-toned velvet footrests and an extensive menu of bubble teas, smoothies and revelatory delights, including mango coconut milk slush (drinks $5 to $10).

Party on board a tall ship For sunset views and lawn party energy, there is Tall Ship , a floating oyster bar moored at East Boston's Pier One. A lively seasonal venue favored by a youthful crowd, with cornhole, live music and a water shuttle ($4) to other harborfront hot spots, this is not the East Boston of old. But that neighborhood is still here, too. For dinner, try one of its gems: Rincon Limeno , in Day Square, serves Peruvian food in a friendly, unpretentious atmosphere. The ceviche is beloved by locals, but seafood-averse diners will find their own favorites, like the hearty Tacu Tacu ($25), a heaping plate of fried rice-and-bean cake, topped with steak or chicken, perfectly spiced and smothered in sauce. Sip a silky pisco sour on the back patio before catching the train back to your hotel.

Bike beside the bay Begin at Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood, where the soaring white profile of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum rises above the blue backdrop of Dorchester Bay. Rent bicycles from the BLUEBikes station in front of the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston ($10 per day; check bikes before you go to make sure they're working). Slip behind the J.F.K. library to pick up the Boston Harborwalk , a near-continuous, 43-mile "linear park" that traces the city's waterfront. Pedal along, listening to the waves, the gulls and the planes descending toward Logan Airport; stop to hunt for shells or shards of sea glass at beaches along the trail.

Indulge in a seaside ritual A ride of about four miles takes you to Castle Island, in South Boston , another oceanfront peninsula with walking trails, beaches and a rich military history; free tours of Fort Independence , which dates back to the 1600s, are offered on weekends. No Castle Island idyll is complete without a stop for sweet and salty sustenance at Sullivan's , a beloved Southie landmark serving burgers, hot dogs, lobster rolls and ice cream since 1951. A public front porch for the city's summer nights, the scene is equal parts chaotic and laid-back: children shrieking; dogs chasing balls; planes preparing for landing just above your head. Keep one eye on the sly Southie seagulls, who will dive-bomb your French fries ($3.75) when you least expect it.

Toast the birthplace of American brewing Beer arrived on the Mayflower, and helped to fuel the American Revolution, so it's no surprise to find a bevy of neighborhood breweries in Boston. Drop your bikes at the BLUEBikes station on Day Boulevard and catch an Uber to Dorchester Brewing , with its sunny outdoor deck, Skee-Ball and in-house Museum of Bad Art . Don't resist the juicy brisket sandwich ($15) from the M&M BBQ counter inside the taproom. (Ask for a fork.) More exotic fare, including jerk jackfruit sliders ($13), is a short walk away at Comfort Kitchen , a Black-owned cafe acclaimed for its globally inspired menu.