Boston College

Located in: Chestnut Hill, Newton.

Chestnut Hill Reservoir
This national landmark boasts one of the city’s best jogging trails, but it’s just as well-suited to a scenic walk. The view of the Boston College campus is iconic; the spires of Gasson Hall are clearly visible over the trees that surround the reservoir. While it used to function as Boston’s main water supply, it’s now purely recreational and offers such seasonal amusements as a skating rink and a swimming pool.

Oishii Sushi
Chestnut Hill’s favorite Japanese eatery presents as ordinary and cramped, but its patrons swear it offers the best sushi in the Boston area. That’s no easy feat in a city that prides itself on seafood. Aficionados will enjoy their more creative fusions, while everyone can benefit from a helping of blowtorch-seared tuna.

Boston University

Located in: Boston, between the Fenway-Kenmore, Allston, and Brookline neighborhoods.

The Museum of Fine Arts
The MFA’s holdings total over 450,000, making it one of the largest museums in the country. Popular permanent exhibitions include ancient Egyptian artifacts, French Impressionist paintings, Japanese pottery, and eighteenth and nineteenth century American paintings. Additionally, it’s all housed in one of the city’s most recognizable edifices, an immense neoclassical building with columns and a rotunda. The building and its contents are must-sees for any art lover.

Great Bay
This place is the Back Bay’s source for all manner of seafood, from classic fried snacks to modern sushi-like arrangements. Additionally, its Island Bar offers such spirited creations as “Pomegranate Peer Pressure,” a vodka nip, and “Hemingway Didn’t Drink Here,” concocted with rum and grapefruit sorbet. Though its menu caters pretty exclusively to pescatarians, land lovers can indulge in a steak or a pork chop.

Harvard University

Located in: Cambridge

The Peabody Museum and the Harvard Museum of Natural History
The Peabody is one of the world’s most prominent curators of anthropological material; its holdings incorporate casts of ancient monuments, exhibits devoted to North America’s indigenous populations, and an array of artifacts from the Pacific Islands. Also housed in the same facility is Harvard’s famous Museum of Natural History, which displays fossilized creatures, mounted dinosaurs and mammals, meteorites, and the incredibly beautiful collection of Blaschka Glass Flowers.

Café Pamplona
This campus-adjacent classic is one of Cambridge’s most storied eateries; Pamplona is a tribute to its late owner’s memories of her native Spain. Wait staff dress in a sleek uniform and provide entertaining conversation, lending the café a uniquely conscientious atmosphere. Its menu centers around specialty coffees and intricate desserts, though grilled Cuban sandwiches and flavorful soups are also popular with Harvard regulars.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Located in: Cambridge

List Visual Arts Center
The LVAC is the city’s most famous modern art museum, specializing in installation art and multimedia presentations. The institution, housed in an iconic I.M. Pei facility, serves as MIT’s foremost champion of funding for the arts. Permanent collections center on more traditional forms of artistic expression and include paintings by Pablo Picasso, while exhibitions like the constant Media Test Wall screen experimental projects to eager passers-by.

Hungry Mother
A Cambridge favorite, Hungry Mother garners accolades for its down home, family dinner atmosphere and its innovative whiskey cocktails. The menu runs the gamut of Southern fare and includes generous plates of $4 appetizers. Indulge in fried oysters, mushroom gnocchi, pork shoulder, and brown sugar ice cream, and enjoy the campy atmosphere and free logo buttons.

Northeastern University

Located in: Boston, Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood

Fenway Park
Fenway Park may be an obvious choice of a landmark, but its hallowed grounds are one of the most enduring and legendary icons in all of sports. It is, in fact, the oldest stadium in major league baseball. Fans should plan their college visits around game attendance, but everyone can enjoy the park’s historic splendors. A knowledgeable staff offers regular, inexpensive tours of the stadium that focus on landmarks, Red Sox lore, and preservation.

Sorellina
This Back Bay establishment is a local favorite for fancy meals, offering updated iterations of regional Italian classics and a sizeable list of complimentary wines. Entrees tend to be budget-breaking, but diners are eager to sing their praises in spite of the cost. One specialty that won’t break the bank is a plate of Truffle Oil French Fries, perfect for a light meal or a late evening snack.

Tufts University

Located in: Medford/Somerville

New England Aquarium
Boston’s waterfront preservation society operates a series of permanent exhibitions, an IMAX theatre, and an adjacent whale watch. Its main draw is its atrium, which contains a massive cylindrical tank designed to approximate a Caribbean coral reef. The tank houses a slew of species, including sharks, turtles, and colorful reef-dwelling fish, and its base perimeter is home to a few varieties of penguin. Younger visitors will especially enjoy the “Edge of the Sea” tide pool, a touch tank dedicated to New England coastal life.

Tu y Yo
Authentic Mexican cuisine is hard to come by in New England, but Tu y Yo’s fresh fare comes surprisingly close to the real thing. Adventurous diners can sample such delicacies as grasshoppers and frog legs, while others might want to stick to tacos and the infamously delicious sangria. Most patrons say the drink is deceptively strong, so it might serve as an enticement to try some odder menu staples.

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The State House

Perhaps the city’s most recognizable edifice, the State House’s iconic gold dome was originally a wood and copper construction, plated by Paul Revere. It’s the actual home base of Massachusetts’ state government, but it’s also an architectural and artistic curiosity. Visit the war murals and the House of Representatives chambers for the diplomatic experience. And, for a bit of folkloric Massachusetts kitsch, pay a visit to the Sacred Cod, an immense hanging monument to the state’s fishing industry that was famously stolen by Harvard practical jokers in 1933.

Old South Meeting House

Boston’s erstwhile largest building is now dwarfed by skyscrapers, but its Revolutionary significance makes it one of the city’s most oft-visited landmarks. In its heyday, it was both a Puritan house of worship and a patriot congregation, most famously playing host to the planning of the Boston Tea Party. It now functions as a museum, housing a permanent “Voices of Protest” exhibition that charts the building’s various contributions to the American narrative.

Faneuil Hall

“The Cradle of Liberty,” an infamous meeting place and English-style market, is one of the most popular stops on the Freedom Trail. It now functions as a hybrid of a market and a mall, one in a series of shopping destinations alongside Quincy Market and the North and South Markets. Besides its distinctive façade and pilasters, its most recognizable feature is its grasshopper weather vane. According to popular lore, revolutionaries used the vane as a symbol to indicate loyalties; if a soldier couldn’t identify what was atop Faneuil Hall, he was deemed an enemy spy.

Paul Revere House

The only private dwelling on the Freedom Trail is also its oldest site, existing in downtown Boston since 1680. The house was already something of a relic when patriot Paul Revere moved into it in 1770. A charming contrast to its surrounding apartment towers, the house has operated as a parsonage, a candy store, a cigar factory, and currently as a museum. Among the house’s holdings are accounts and depictions of Revere’s famous Midnight Ride, one of the folkloric gems of the Revolutionary War era.

The Old North Church

A logical next step following the Revere house, the Old North Church is one of the key monuments of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. It’s the site of the famed “one if by land, two if by sea” signal system, the origin of the Revolutionary message relay. Now Boston’s oldest active church and a National Historic Landmark, the church hosts a gallery of its Colonial-era mementos that includes the original Revere lantern. Also, it regularly produces beautiful music for the whole North End to enjoy thanks to its eight change ringing bells, utilized by MIT’s Guild of Bell Ringers.

Bunker Hill Monument

This granite obelisk is a victim of misnaming, residing atop Breed’s Hill rather than Bunker. Likewise, its namesake epic battle, the first major skirmish of the Revolutionary era, also took place on Breed’s Hill. The obelisk is one of Boston’s most recognizable icons, poised atop roughly three hundred steps and memorializing, in particular, a local doctor and freemason who died in the battle. The site also houses a statue of Colonel William Prescott, one of Boston’s most famous Revolutionary heroes.

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The Back Bay’s most prestigious address houses Boston’s only rooftop pool, a seasonal luxury that complements the Colonnade’s modern aesthetic. Rooms are outfitted with pillow-top beds, flat-screen televisions, marble baths, and floor-to-ceiling windows for spectacular views of the bay and the Copley Square vicinity. Despite its modern and tech-friendly updates in its guest rooms, the hotel strives to maintain a classic ambience with its 1940s-inspired French restaurant, Brasserie Jo. The restaurant is one of the city’s preeminent destinations for French fare, and hotel patrons will appreciate its well-stocked bar.

The Liberty

If the Liberty exudes distinct personality, it’s all because of the Massachusetts penitentiary system. The building used to function as the Charles Street Jail, and features of its past life persevere in the hotel’s updated décor. In fact, the renovated lobby houses a few relic jail cells, and its bar is cleverly called Clink. Most guest rooms are contained in a new facility, an adjoining 16-story tower, and have little in common with their penal predecessors. Thanks to a $120 million renovation, the Liberty promises to be Boston’s premier ironically-named luxury hotel.

Boston Omni Parker House

This hotel encapsulates the dark-wood and whiskey glamour of old New England, and, owing to a $30 million restoration, now caters to the modern audience with unique style. The property originally opened as a hotel in 1855, and neighbors many of the city’s Revolutionary War-era landmarks. City Hall, Boston Common, and the Old South Meeting House are all located within a block of the Omni Parker. One of its best features is its classic bar, which boasts a fireplace and stained glass windows and serves a selection of fine whiskeys and Boston crème martinis.

The Hotel Commonwealth

The Commonwealth’s multi-tiered complex contains some of Boston’s best dining and shopping: its bottom floor is a retail promenade, housing jewelry stores, clothing boutiques, a photography gallery, and assorted other luxury outposts. The hotel’s restaurant, the Great Bay, is an acclaimed destination for all things seafood, while other on-site eateries offer more casual dining. Perhaps most enticing are the hotel’s guest rooms, which are outfitted with Frette linens, L’Occitane toiletries, and complimentary DVD libraries for in-room viewing.

The Fairmont Copley Plaza

This gilded hotel dates back to 1912. Its façade and lobby interior are both distinct and unmatched in the Boston area; two golden lions welcome patrons at the main entrance, while the interior features gold moldings, tiered and sculpted ceilings, an array of French decorative antiques, and elaborate chandeliers. Its Oak Room Steakhouse and Oak Bar are among the city’s most elegant venues, and the bar even offers a drink called the “Engaging Martini” that’s served with a spiffy, expensive diamond. In spite of this, the Fairmont’s greatest draw is the fact that guests can book walking or jogging time with its resident pup, a black lab named Katie Copley.

The Boston Harbor Hotel

This aptly named harbor-adjacent hotel prides itself on its universally high marks; Conde Nast’s Traveler Gold List named it as one of the world’s finest places to stay. It’s safe to say they were wowed by their rooms’ views, since the hotel’s wide bay windows overlook the marina’s many yachts and sailboats. Furthermore, the hotel is a veritable drinker’s paradise. Its on-site draws include a wine tasting restaurant that matches wines to menu items and a Scotch bar that offers an array of fine single malts. It’s also the home of the Boston Wine Festival, a tasting event that runs from January to April every year.

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Boston’s historic buildings and Irish charm make it a lovely and fun-filled city to visit during the holiday season. Here’s a sampling of what’s available.

The Boston Christmas Tree: This huge decorated evergreen is located near the Park Street entrance to Boston Commons. The annual tree has been a gift from the people of Nova Scotia since 1971, a tribute to the assistance the people of Boston gave Halifax during the Halifax explosion of 1917.

Zoo Lights: Each season, Boston’s Stone Zoo transforms itself into a winter wonderland, with thousands of lights, visits from Santa and his helpers, and festive animal displays. The family event runs from Thanksgiving Day until December 30 (except for Christmas Day). Admission is $4 per person.

Christmas Revels: In its 37th year, this Christmas tradition celebrates the various ethnic holiday traditions around the globe. This year, the program features dance, costumes, and music of the Balkans. Performances are December 16, 17, 20-23, and 27-30 at the Sanders Theatre on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge. Tickets are $25 – $47.

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Salem, Massachusetts is known as the site of the infamous Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Today, the city capitalizes on this dark period in its history with a variety of Halloween activities.

Halloween activities
The city comes alive in October with “Haunted Happenings,” a citywide Halloween celebration. Activities begin early in October and continue through Halloween. Among the many offerings are theater productions, walking tours, a costume parade, and special events at the Salem Witch Museum. For more information, visit the Salem visitors’ website.

Other Salem sights
Salem offers a variety of historic sights and museums, too. Among these are the Peabody Essex Museum, home to an extensive collection of fine and decorative art, much of which was collected by merchants during the city’s era as a maritime mecca; the House of Seven Gables, actually the Turner-Ingersoll House, which inspired Nathanial Hawthorne to write the book of the same name; and the Salem Maritime Historic Site, a collection of 12 restored buildings from the 17th through the 19th centuries, a living museum of Salem’s seafaring past.

If you go
Salem is located just 16 miles north of Boston, along the Atlantic coast. The trip takes about 30 minutes by car or commuter train and about one hour by bus from downtown Boston. The city has many romantic bed-and-breakfast inns as well as the historic Hawthorn Hotel, which is located on Salem Common.

If you’re interested in haunted hotels in Salem (or otherwise), Hotels Cheap is your source for the best rates and availability.

(Photo via flickr cc)