Visitor Information

Before You leave Home

The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2 Copley Place, Suite 105, Boston, MA 02116-6501 (tel. 888/SEE-BOSTON or 617/536-4100, 0171/431-3434 in the U.K.; www.bostonusa.com), offers a comprehensive visitor information kit ($10) that includes a travel planner, a guidebook, a map, pamphlets, and coupons for shopping, dining, attractions, and nightlife discounts. The bureau also publishes a Kids Love Boston guide ($5) and free smaller guides to specific seasons and special events.

For information about Cambridge, contact the Cambridge Office for Tourism, 4 Brattle St., Suite 208, Cambridge, MA 02138 (tel. 800/862-5678 or 617/441-2884; fax 617/441-7736; www.cambridge-usa.org).

The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, 10 Park Plaza, Suite 4510, Boston, MA 02116 (tel. 800/227-MASS or 617/973-8500; fax 617/973-8525; www.massvacation.com), distributes information about the whole state. Its free Getaway Guide magazine includes information about attractions and lodgings, a map, and a calendar.

After You Arrive

Head to a visitor information center to pick up free maps, brochures, listings of special exhibits and events, and other materials.

National Park Service rangers staff the Boston National Historical Park Visitor Center, 15 State St. (tel. 617/242-5642; www.nps.gov/bost; T: Blue or Orange Line to State St.), across the street from the Old State House, and lead seasonal free tours of the Freedom Trail. The center is open daily from 9am to 5pm. The ranger-staffed center at the Charlestown Navy Yard (tel. 617/242-5601) keeps the same hours.

The Freedom Trail, a line of red paint or painted brick on or in the sidewalk, begins at the Boston Common Information Center, 148 Tremont St., on the Common. The center is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30am to 5pm, Sunday from 9am to 5pm. The Prudential Information Center, on the main level of the Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St., is open Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. The Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (tel. 888/SEE-BOSTON or 617/536-4100; www.bostonusa.com) operates both centers.

There's a small information booth at Faneuil Hall Marketplace between Quincy Market and the South Market Building. It's outdoors and staffed in the spring, summer, and fall Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm, Sunday from noon to 6pm.

In Cambridge, an information kiosk (tel. 800/862-5678 or 617/497-1630) sits in the heart of Harvard Square, near the T entrance at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, John F. Kennedy Street, and Brattle Street. It's open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm, Sunday from 1 to 5pm.

Useful Websites

• Boston.com (www.boston.com): The comprehensive online home of the Boston Globe; also check out the affiliated website Explore New England (www.explorenewengland.com).
• Citysearch (http://boston.citysearch.com): Exhaustive listings, including restaurants and clubs, accompanied by professional and hit-or-miss amateur reviews.
• National Park Service (www.nps.gov): An endlessly helpful resource for visitors to Boston and its history-rich suburbs.
• MBTA (www.mbta.com): The go-to site for subway, trolley, bus, ferry, and commuter-rail schedules and route maps, plus fare and pass information and an interactive route planner.
• Hopstop (www.hopstop.com/?city=boston): This interactive site makes a decent backup to the MBTA route planner, which generally does a better job of accommodating local quirks.
• Gridskipper (www.gridskipper.com/travel/boston): Gawker Media's irreverent travel blog; check the homepage for coverage of eclectic general-interest topics.
• Bostonist (www.bostonist.com): A lively blog; features include original and rehashed news coverage and enjoyably random event listings.
• Boston-to-English Dictionary (www.boston-online.com/glossary.html): Hilarious yet useful lingo and slang.

Maps

Pick up free maps of downtown Boston and the subway lines at visitor information centers around the city, from hotel concierge desks and pamphlet racks, and from most trolley operators (ask the ticket seller). National Park Service maps, available from the visitor centers at 15 State St. and the Charlestown Navy Yard, are especially useful. Where magazine, available free at most hotels, contains maps of central Boston and the T.

Streetwise Boston ($6.95) and Artwise Boston ($7.95) are sturdy, laminated maps available at most bookstores. Less detailed and a bit unwieldy but more fun is MapEasy's GuideMap to Boston ($5.50), a hand-drawn map of central areas and major attractions.