<p>My parents and myself will be visiting my D in western MA in two weeks. We are flying in from different locations to Boston and renting a car. The day that we leave, we willl have about a four hour window from the time we drop the rental car off at Logan. What can we do in that four hour window that will give us the Boston experience? We won’t have time for tours, excursions, museums etc., we just want to see Boston, and have lunch. My dad has Parkinson’s and is very mobile, but walking distance from a train would be a factor. Ideas on a quick look at Boston would be appriciated.</p>
<p>You’re dropping the car off at Logan and then you have four hours? If mobility is an issue, how about a taxi. You could take one almost anywhere in Boston. If it’s nice, I would go towards Boston Common. You could grab a bite to eat somewhere on Charles Street. But the Common is nice when the weather is nice. If it’s chilly, how about Quincy Market/Fanuiel Hall?</p>
<p>Yes, dropping the rental off at Logan. I have no idea on distances etc. to get to places. I was thinking Common, is there a good restaurant you could reccomend there?</p>
<p>Are you talking about driving into Boston, spending 4 hours, and then driving to Logan and dropping off the car? If so, I don’t recommend it. Driving through and parking in Boston is not for novices.</p>
<p>That being said - there are many wonderful restaurants around the Boston Common and Public Garden. I would suggest the Public Garden more than the Common (they’re across the street from each other), as the Garden is more “park like” with the lake in the center. If you’re in the Garden, just exit along Arlington Street across to Newbury (the prime shopping area with fabulous restaurants - Boston’s version of 5th Avenue) or Boylston Street.</p>
<p>I’d go to the Boston Common and Public Garden (think Central Park in NYC, but not as expansive), get my bearings there and maybe check out some of the Victorian homes on Beacon Hill adjacent to it, and then follow the Freedom Trail (the stripe painted or bricked along the sidewalk) to the North End. The North End is a charming Italian section of town with great restaurants; it also contains the Old North Church of Paul Revere fame.</p>
<p>You can return the car to Logan and take the T into Boston proper and the T back to the airport. This map at this link:</p>
<p>[MBTA</a> Subway 'The ‘T’ > Maps, Schedules, and Fare Information for the Boston Area Subway System](<a href=“Subway | Schedules & Maps | MBTA”>Subway | Schedules & Maps | MBTA)</p>
<p>has a tab at the top to take you to an interactive street map. Zooming in will help in judging distances for walking with your parents if they have limited mobility.</p>
<p>One idea is to take the blue line and switch to the green line and get off at Park St Station. You will be at the Boston Common and can see the State House form there. Perhaps you can research a restaurant for lunch based on what station you would like to choose. Four hours will go quickly if you are including a meal.</p>
<p>How about dropping the car off at Logan and then taking the water shuttle back to Boston?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.massport.com/logan-airport/Pages/WaterTransport.aspx[/url]”>http://www.massport.com/logan-airport/Pages/WaterTransport.aspx</a></p>
<p>You will get a great view of the city on the way over, and I believe you will be dropped off near the Aquarium, the North End and Fanuiel Hall, all good places to spend an hour or two.</p>
<p>Four hours? Take a Duck Boat tour.</p>
<p>Driving through and parking in Boston is not for novices.</p>
<p>Second that. You may end up spending much longer in the car than expected :P</p>
<p>You might just eat at Logan too - some decent restaurants have stations there. Don’t drive in Boston - you will just waste time. A cab from Logan to downtown will be pretty quick too.</p>
<p>The trolley tour takes you through the main points of the city in a relatively short time. You can get off and on all day. Boston common, Public Gardens and Fanueil Hall are all quintessential Boston and within walking distance each other and the T station. Have fun!</p>
<p>All good advice. Do not drive. It is hard and parking requires special karma and extra time or lots of $$. Take a taxi. The T might be a little hard for someone with Parkinson’s. I have lived in the Boston area for years and have never taken the trolley or the Duck Tour, but people have told me the Duck Tour is great.</p>
<p>There are probably a number of restaurants on the Common. The one that I’ve been to several times is in The Four Seasons. It is pretty good, but it is the kind of place I meet clients, which means it is on the more expensive side. On the less expensive side, I think that there is a Cosi sandwich shop (they are typically pretty good).</p>
<p>Enjoy.</p>
<p>I second GAdad’s suggestion of the Paul Revere’s Old North Church, and lunch at one of the Italian restaurants in the North End. </p>
<p>As for driving, that would give you the real Boston experience, for sure.</p>
<p>Take the airport bus to the T Blue Line station and take an inbound train to State station. Go upstairs and you will come out right at the Old State House and the site of the Boston Massacre. Walk north down Congress Street and you will come to the Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market area. This is very touristy but it is still a great place to visit and grab a bite to eat. The quintessential sit-down restaurant is Durgin Park with its famously rude waitresses. Truth be told, I havent been there in years though, so I dont know how the food is. </p>
<p>I prefer to walk down the middle of Quincy Market and grab lunch from a few different places and bring it to the common seating area under the middle dome. There is a place that makes New England clam chowder and serves it in an edible bread bowl. They also have a pretty good lobster roll, and there is another place down further that makes pretty good fried seafood. If you dont like seafood, there is just about every other kind of food imaginable.</p>
<p>When you are done, if you have time walk east towards the waterfront to the area by the New England Aquarium. You can walk around the back of the aquarium and right along the harbor. When youre ready to head back, there is a Blue Line station nearby and you can catch the train back to the airport. </p>
<p>Boston is a great city to visit - whatever you do, Im sure youll have fun!</p>
<p>If you want a great place for pizza near the airport, try Santarpios. If you do go into Boston, 4 hours is not a lot of time, I suggest springing for a cab, or do the water shuttle. If you take the water shuttle you can eat at Legal Seafoods and then walk to Faneuil Hall. </p>
<p>Have fun</p>