NYC & Boston?

[more adventurous]

I am planning a trip to NYC in May and am considering tacking on Boston to the itinerary. I've been to NYC several times, but my H hasn't, and neither of us have been to Boston. My cousin lives in Salem, so I'm sure we'll want to do some things there as well.

Are these two/three cities too much for a week? I don't want to feel too rushed and I also want some time to relax a little. I know that NYC will be crazy, but if we get that in first, will Boston be a little more relaxing/slower-paced? I'm thinking maybe 4 full days in NYC and 3 full days in Boston/Salem (not including travel days). Thoughts?

AAM2012 I saw that you did NYC & Boston back in 2012 (via search). Any insight on how much time to spend in each city?

P.S. Thank you to everyone who helped me with Prague/Austria/Germany recs over the past several months! I'll do a trip recap as soon as I get all of my blog posts up!

[imimahoney]

I live right outside Boston and you could easily do the city in 2 days. It's small enough to walk if it is warm weather and Salem is only an hour north so you can just tack an extra half day to full day depending on your itinerary and you will be completely fine.

If you are planning on mass transit the bus is super cheap from NYC but traffic can majorly suck. The train is fast and relaxing and gets you right into the city. You can than take the commuter rail to the Salem stop and explore for the day.

[osumelissa]

You can reasonably do both - 4 days in NYC and 3 for Boston/Salem. I haven't been to Salem so not sure what is there, but Boston is a great, and extremely walkable, city. From NYC, I took the Amtrak up to Boston - great choice because it drops you right off in Back Bay.

[osumelissa]

Nov 11, 2014 16:03:38 GMT -5 more adventurous said:

P.S. Thank you to everyone who helped me with Prague/Austria/Germany recs over the past several months! I'll do a trip recap as soon as I get all of my blog posts up!

Can't wait to read your trip recap! I am planning a Prague/Berlin trip for March, so would love to get some ideas!

[v]

Definitely doable! You'll be able to cover a lot of ground in New York in 3-4 days.

[anna7602]

Another vote for doable!

[magdala]

Is it doable? Sure. Will you see everything? No. Both cities have a ton to offer. May is generally gorgeous Spring weather in both cities. It is your vacation, you get to set the pace and it can be as hectic or as calm as you want. Sit down with DH and prioritize how you want to spend your time in each City.

[more adventurous]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I'm hoping since I've done NYC before that it will be easier for me to prioritize what I liked best and to skip the things that I didn't think were worth the time. My brother and SIL (who also lived there for 10 years) may join us, so that will be a huge help in planning, but if anyone has tips for either, I'm all ears! In searching, I saw that a few years ago many people suggested Top of the Rock versus the Empire State Building due to crowds. I absolutely hated the wait for the ESB several years ago. Is Top of the Rock still a solid alternative with shorter lines?

RockNVoll Any reason in particular that you wouldn't prioritize Salem? I'm guessing there won't be a ton of things that we'll want to see there, but I just figured we would end up in the area since that's where my cousin and her husband are located. If it's not worth the time I'm sure we could just get them to meet up with us in Boston each day instead.

[more adventurous]

Nov 11, 2014 21:58:28 GMT -5 osumelissa said:

Can't wait to read your trip recap! I am planning a Prague/Berlin trip for March, so would love to get some ideas!

If you like reading blogs, I have the first few days of our Prague trip up! LINK

[devonpow]

Nov 12, 2014 14:47:23 GMT -5 more adventurous said:

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I'm hoping since I've done NYC before that it will be easier for me to prioritize what I liked best and to skip the things that I didn't think were worth the time. My brother and SIL (who also lived there for 10 years) may join us, so that will be a huge help in planning, but if anyone has tips for either, I'm all ears! In searching, I saw that a few years ago many people suggested Top of the Rock versus the Empire State Building due to crowds. I absolutely hated the wait for the ESB several years ago. Is Top of the Rock still a solid alternative with shorter lines?

RockNVoll Any reason in particular that you wouldn't prioritize Salem? I'm guessing there won't be a ton of things that we'll want to see there, but I just figured we would end up in the area since that's where my cousin and her husband are located. If it's not worth the time I'm sure we could just get them to meet up with us in Boston each day instead.

Butting in - I actually think Salem and Marblehead (Right next to Salem) are fun for a day trip, especially if you know people there. I mean, the witch museums and all that are cheesy but can be fun, and you can go to the House of the 7 Gables, etc in Salem. Marblehead is gorgeous and in good weather a fun place to walk around. There is a lot in the North Shore are that I think is worth a visit if you have the time. 

[more adventurous]

Nov 12, 2014 17:07:00 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

I'm not knocking Salem, it's just that if you've never been to Boston before I think there's a good amount to do in the city proper in the time that you have. If you really want to check out the witch museum stuff then have at it, plus your cousin is already up there.

Hmm, yeah, that's exactly what I was wondering. Maybe we should tack on an extra day then, so that we don't lose out on any time in the city? I guess maybe I should also see what her plan would be as far as how much time they would be spending with us anyway. I don't think I would be big on the witch stuff, but it might be ok for some hokey fun if we had extra time?

[more adventurous]

devonpow Marblehead looks really pretty! Thanks for the suggestion!

[hazel]

I visited Boston last year and loved it. I spent 1.5 days in Cape Cod and 2.5 in Boston. I think 3 full days would be a great amount of time for a first visit. I managed to do about half of Rock-n-Voll's list. I was actually so excited to go to Fenway I bought my ticket to the game before I bought my plane ticket. And then it poured the entire game so I didn't even get to walk around the stadium. I'll just have to back one day.

Off to read your travel blog. I went to Prague this past Spring and now it's my favorite city. Another place I can't wait to visit again!

[AAM2012]

Nov 11, 2014 16:03:38 GMT -5 more adventurous said:

I am planning a trip to NYC in May and am considering tacking on Boston to the itinerary. I've been to NYC several times, but my H hasn't, and neither of us have been to Boston. My cousin lives in Salem, so I'm sure we'll want to do some things there as well.

Are these two/three cities too much for a week? I don't want to feel too rushed and I also want some time to relax a little. I know that NYC will be crazy, but if we get that in first, will Boston be a little more relaxing/slower-paced? I'm thinking maybe 4 full days in NYC and 3 full days in Boston/Salem (not including travel days). Thoughts?

AAM2012 I saw that you did NYC & Boston back in 2012 (via search). Any insight on how much time to spend in each city?

P.S. Thank you to everyone who helped me with Prague/Austria/Germany recs over the past several months! I'll do a trip recap as soon as I get all of my blog posts up!

I don't think they're too much to do in a week, at all. We flew into NYC and spent about 2-2.5 full days in NYC and then took the train to Boston for 1.5-2 days (sorry memory is bad on the timeframe) and then drove to Maine for a wedding.

I think you could easily do 3-4 days in NYC and the remainder in Boston. I wasn't too impressed with Boston (sorry) but maybe we didn't have enough time to really do the right things. We did go do the tour of the baseball stadium and the duck tour, both were fun.

We did get to go to a Yankees game in NYC and it was the best experience ever! We had so much fun and I highly recommend doing that, even if you're not a huge baseball fan. We got out tickets on stubhub and got really great seats for <$100.

[osumelissa]

Nov 12, 2014 14:50:21 GMT -5 more adventurous said:

Nov 11, 2014 21:58:28 GMT -5 osumelissa said:

Can't wait to read your trip recap! I am planning a Prague/Berlin trip for March, so would love to get some ideas!

If you like reading blogs, I have the first few days of our Prague trip up! LINK

This is awesome thank you! The apartment you stayed in looks awesome and sounds like it was in a great spot. Do you know how I could find it on AirBNB? I am planning to rent flats in both Prague and Berlin for our trip.

[more adventurous]

osumelissa Here's the apartment we stayed at in Prague: www.airbnb.com/rooms/2225678. We loved it. The location was fantastic. We also almost stayed in THIS one, but it was already booked by the time we were ready to commit.

[more adventurous]

RockNVoll Thank you for that awesome list!

AAM2012 (and others): Would you do a game at Yankees Stadium over Fenway? We were planning on being in Boston when the Rangers (our team) would be there, so we would want to see a game there. I like baseball, but I'm not really sure that I would want to do two baseball games in one trip.

[mbcdefg]

Nov 13, 2014 14:22:42 GMT -5 more adventurous said:

Would you do a game at Yankees Stadium over Fenway? We were planning on being in Boston when the Rangers (our team) would be there, so we would want to see a game there. I like baseball, but I'm not really sure that I would want to do two baseball games in one trip.

I'm biased since I'm a Red Sox fan, but I enjoy Fenway games more than Yankee Stadium games. Fenway is such a charming, classic ballpark, and the crowd/atmosphere is really nice. Even my Yankees-loving husband likes Fenway. Yankees games are exciting too, but I feel like Fenway has more "soul."

And you'll probably have an easier time getting to Fenway (and finding things to do in the surrounding area) than you will at Yankee Stadium. I liked Boston Beer Works, Tasty Burger, and Citizen Public House & Oyster Bar, which are all within a block of the ballpark.

If nothing else, the tour at Fenway is really great. I went to Boston and Salem with a girlfriend a few years ago - she HATES sports but wound up loving the Fenway Park guided tour. I've done it a couple of times and they take you up onto the Green Monster, which is cool.

We were in Salem two nights, I think, and that was more than enough for me. My friend was really into it because she likes ghosts and all that, but I'm a skeptic and I preferred the historical aspect rather than the cheesy ghost/witch stuff she wanted to see. We did the tour at The House of the Seven Gables, which was neat: www.7gables.org/

I liked the Harbor Cruise in Boston, which takes you out in the Bay and gives some historical background of the city, as well as the lobster rolls at James Hook & Co.

[v]

Nov 13, 2014 14:22:42 GMT -5 more adventurous said:

RockNVoll Thank you for that awesome list!

AAM2012 (and others): Would you do a game at Yankees Stadium over Fenway? We were planning on being in Boston when the Rangers (our team) would be there, so we would want to see a game there. I like baseball, but I'm not really sure that I would want to do two baseball games in one trip.

Do Fenway! Old school stadium should win out over new (and not particularly nice) stadium, and seeing your own team play is a big plus!!!

[more adventurous]

Nov 13, 2014 16:13:33 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Agree with everyone else about Fenway over Yankee Stadium (though that was a really loaded question you asked, LOL).

If you want restaurant recs around town, I have those too.

Haha, good point! I didn't even think about how controversial that question could be!

Thank you. I'll wait until it gets a little closer and we know exactly where we're staying and whatnot to bug you for those.

[AAM2012]

Nov 13, 2014 14:22:42 GMT -5 more adventurous said:

RockNVoll Thank you for that awesome list!

AAM2012 (and others): Would you do a game at Yankees Stadium over Fenway? We were planning on being in Boston when the Rangers (our team) would be there, so we would want to see a game there. I like baseball, but I'm not really sure that I would want to do two baseball games in one trip.

The only reason we went to Yankees stadium is because while we were there they were playing our team (the Rays). So if your team is playing at Fenway I would go to that game instead.

Have fun!

[osumelissa]

Totally agree with everyone to do Fenway over Yankees stadium. When we went to NYC and Boston a few years ago, we went to three games. We hit up a Mets game at Shea (it was the final year of Shea), Yankees game at Yankee stadium, and then a Red Sox game at Fenway. We are big baseball fans though.

The atmosphere outside and around Fenway before a game is awesome! Make sure to check out Yawkey (not sure the spelling is right) Way.