How to Spend an Epic 24 hours in Boston

If you only have 24 hours in Boston to visit the incredibly iconic and historic sites, look no further! This guide will help you make the most of your time in the city with a good variety of activities and food stops. Read on for the best things to do over 24 hours in Boston.

Things to know:

• Boston’s airport is really close to the city so an Uber or Lyft are affordable options. There are also public shuttles.
• We had a rental car and parked at our hotel but there are also plenty of garages. The best parking rates are on the weekends.
• The city is incredibly walkable. Once we parked at our hotel, we didn’t use the car again until we continued on our New England road trip. Bring good walking shoes!

Where to stay

We loved our stay at Hotel Indigo! It was centrally located, had great staff and beautiful rooms.

Morning

Start your day with breakfast at Tatte Bakery. There are many locations but I’d recommend the location at 70 Charles Street so you can enjoy the next stops on this list easily.

After breakfast, enjoy a short walk to the historic Acorn Street which still has the original cobblestones from the 1800’s! It’s a very photogenic (i.e. instagrammable) location so go early to get it to yourself.

Next, make a quick stop at the Bull & Finch Pub which inspired Cheers! You can grab something to drink if you’d like or just peek in and visit the gift shop.

Continue your stroll through Boston Public Garden, the first botanical garden in America. We brought our breakfast from Tatte here to enjoy at a bench overlooking one of the ponds.  It’s a great park to enjoy a little green space and people watching.

Connected to Boston Public Garden is Boston Common. Founded in 1634, it’s a very utilitarian green space but beautiful nonetheless. It’s really interesting to read about the history on plaques throughout the park.

For more history, continue on to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market before grabbing a snack at Boston Public Market, which is a year-round indoor market with about 30 local vendors. The Boston Public Market also hosts events so make sure to check their calendar for the date you’re in town.

Afternoon

For lunch, walk to the North End and grab a table at the popular Regina Pizzeria before grabbing dessert from Mike’s Pastry. There’s a fierce competition between Mike’s and Modern Pastry Shop so check out both to help settle the debate.

To walk off some calories, check out the Freedom Trail (either on a tour or self-guided) and then stop at the Boston Tea Party Museum.

For a relaxing spot to wind down the afternoon, check out Sip Cafe and sit on the patio.

Evening

To wrap up a great day in Boston, grab dinner at the oldest restaurant in America: Union Oyster House (open since 1826!) and then grab drinks next door at The Bell in Hand which is America’s oldest tavern (first pour was in 1795!).

Boston is home to tons of great venues so check to see if there are any shows or games on if you’re still up for more activity.

Are you ready to enjoy 24 hours in Boston?! What else would you add to this list?

For more US trip ideas, read here!