Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
name that still appears on many signs.) The incredibly helpful website includes
descriptions of properties and activities, and has a planning area to help you make the
most of your time.
BEACHES
The beaches in Boston proper are not worth the trouble. Besides being bone-chilling,
Boston Harbor water is subject to being declared unsafe for swimming. If you want
to swim, book a hotel with a pool. If you want the sand-between-your-toes experience,
visit the North Shore or Walden Pond in Concord. See chapter 11 or consult the DCR
(see the introduction to this section) for information on suburban beaches.
BIKING
Even the few expert cyclists who feel comfortable with Boston's layout will be better
off in Cambridge, which has many bike lanes (Boston's first are in the planning stage),
or on the area's many bike paths. State law requires that children under 12 wear hel-
mets. Bicycles are forbidden on buses and the Green Line at all times and during rush
hours on the other lines of the subway system.
On summer Sundays from 11am to 7pm, a flat 1
1
⁄
2
-mile stretch of
Memorial Drive
in Cambridge, from Western Avenue to the Eliot Bridge (Central Sq. to west Cam-
bridge), closes to cars. It's also popular with pedestrians and in-line skaters, and it can
get quite crowded. The
Dr. Paul Dudley White Charles River Bike Path
is an
18-mile circuit that begins at Science Park (near the Museum of Science) and runs
along both sides of the river as far as Watertown. You can enter and exit at many
points along the way. Bikers share the path with joggers and in-line skaters, especially
in Boston near the Esplanade and in Cambridge near Harvard Square. The DCR (see
the introduction to this section) maintains this path and the 5-mile
Pierre Lallement
Bike Path,
in Southwest Corridor Park, which starts behind Copley Place and runs
through the South End and Roxbury along the route of the MBTA Orange Line to
Franklin Park. The 11-mile
Minuteman Bikeway
(www.minutemanbikeway.
org) starts at Alewife station at the end of the Red Line in Cambridge. It runs through
Arlington and Lexington to Bedford along an old railroad bed and is a wonderful way
to reach the historic sites in Lexington.
Rental shops require you to show a driver's license or passport and leave a deposit
using a major credit card. Back Bay Bicycles offers hourly rentals for around $10 an
hour, with a minimum of 2 hours. Daily flat rates start at $25. Check out
Back Bay
Bicycles,
366 Commonwealth Ave., near Mass. Ave. (
&
617/247-2336;
www.back
baybicycles.com);
Boston Bicycle,
842 Beacon St., about 3 blocks from Kenmore
Square (
&
617/236-0752;
www.cambridgebicycle.com); and
Cambridge Bicycle,
259 Massachusetts Ave. (
&
617/876-6555;
www.cambridgebicycle.com), near MIT.
For additional information, contact
MassBike
(
&
617/542-BIKE;
www.massbike.org).
GOLF
You won't get far in the suburbs without seeing a golf course, and given the sport's
popularity, you won't be the only one looking. If possible, opt for the lower prices and
smaller crowds that you'll find on weekdays. The
Massachusetts Golf Association
(
&
800/356-2201
or 774/430-9100; www.mgalinks.org) represents more than 400
golf courses around the state. It has a searchable online database and will send you a
list of courses on request.
One of the best public courses in the area,
Newton Commonwealth Golf Course,
212 Kenrick St., Newton (
&
617/630-1971;
www.sterlinggolf.com), is a challenging
