What Travelers Say About Boston
Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and one of the oldest cities in the United States, founded by English Puritans in 1630. It sits at the heart of New England, and a great deal of early American history happened right on these streets: the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the first battles of the Revolution all played out here. Because the city grew up long before the car, the centre is compact and genuinely walkable, which makes it one of the easiest big US cities to explore on foot.
It is also a college town at heart. Harvard, founded in 1636, and MIT sit just across the river in Cambridge, and the student population gives the place a young, brainy energy along with plenty of bookshops, cafes, and bars. Bostonians have a reputation for being blunt, fiercely proud of their sports teams, and instantly recognisable by their accent. A Red Sox game at Fenway Park is practically a civic ritual.
The food leans hard on the sea. Clam chowder, oysters, and lobster rolls are everywhere, and taste best near the harbour. Add in leafy old neighbourhoods like Beacon Hill, the green chain of parks known as the Emerald Necklace, and four proper seasons, and Boston ends up feeling closer to a European city than almost anywhere else in America.