Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
is home to the
TD Banknorth Gar-
den
(sports and performance arena),
North Station,
and many nightspots
and restaurants. The neighborhood
gets safer by the day, but wandering
alone late at night (especially on the
side streets away from the Garden) is
not a good idea.
Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Employ-
ees aside, Boston residents tend to be
scarce at Faneuil Hall Marketplace
(also called Quincy Market, after its
central building). An irresistible draw
for out-of-towners and suburbanites,
this cluster of restored market build-
ings—bounded by the Waterfront, the
North End, Government Center, and
State Street
—is the city's most popular
attraction. You'll find restaurants, bars,
a food court, specialty shops, and
Faneuil Hall itself.
Haymarket,
off
I-93 on
Blackstone Street,
is home to
an open-air produce market on Fridays
and Saturdays.
Government Center
Love it or hate
it, Government Center's modern
design breaks up Boston's traditionally
staid architecture. Flanked by Beacon
Hill, Downtown Crossing, and Faneuil
Hall Marketplace, it's home to state
and federal offices, City Hall, and a
major T stop. Government Center's
major feature, the red-brick wasteland
of City Hall Plaza, lies between
Con-
gress
and
Cambridge streets.
The Financial District
Bounded
loosely by Downtown Crossing,
Sum-
mer Street, Atlantic Avenue,
and
State Street,
the Financial District is
the banking, insurance, and legal cen-
ter of the city. Aside from some popu-
lar after-work spots, it's generally quiet
at night.
Downtown Crossing
The intersec-
tion that gives Downtown Crossing its
name is at
Washington Street
where
Winter Street
becomes
Summer
Street.
The Freedom Trail runs along
one edge of this shopping and business
district between Boston Common,
Chinatown, the Financial District, and
Government Center. Most of the
neighborhood hops during the day and
slows down in the evening.
Beacon Hill
Narrow tree-lined
streets, brick and cobblestone alley-
ways, and architectural showpieces,
mostly in Federal style, make up this
largely residential area in the shadow of
the State House. Two of the loveliest
and most exclusive spots in Boston are
here: Mount Vernon Street and Louis-
burg Square (pronounced “Lewis-
burg,” and home to John and Teresa
Heinz Kerry). Bounded by Govern-
ment Center, Boston Common, the
Back Bay, and the river, this is where
you'll find Massachusetts General Hos-
pital.
Charles Street,
which divides
the Common from the Public Garden,
is the main street of Beacon Hill.
Other important thoroughfares are
Beacon Street,
on the north side of the
Common, and
Cambridge Street.
Charlestown
One of the oldest areas
of Boston is where you'll see the
Bunker Hill Monument and USS
Constitution
(“Old Ironsides”). Yuppi-
fication has brought some diversity to
what was once an almost entirely white
residential neighborhood, but pockets
remain that have earned their reputa-
tion for insularity.
South Boston Waterfront/Seaport
District
Across the Fort Point Chan-
nel from the Waterfront neighbor-
hood, this area is home to the
convention center, the World Trade
Center, the Institute of Contemporary
Art, three large hotels, the Fish Pier, a
federal courthouse, Museum Wharf,
one end of the Ted Williams Tunnel,
and a lot of construction. A scattering
of restaurants makes this area far more
