Faneuil Hall Marketplace

Since Boston's most popular attraction opened in 1976, cities all over the country have imitated the "festival market" concept. Each complex of shops, food counters, restaurants, bars, and public spaces reflects its city, and Faneuil Hall Marketplace is no exception. Its popularity with visitors and suburbanites is so great that you might understandably think the only Bostonians here are employees.

The marketplace includes five buildings -- the central three-building complex is on the National Register of Historic Places -- set on brick and stone plazas that teem with crowds shopping, eating, performing, cheering for performers, and people-watching. In warm weather, it's busy from early morning until well past dark. Quincy Market (you'll also hear the whole complex called by that name) is the three-level Greek revival-style building at the center of the marketplace. It reopened after extensive renovations on August 26, 1976, 150 years after Mayor Josiah Quincy opened the original market. The South Market building reopened on August 26, 1977, the North Market building on August 26, 1978.

The central corridor of Quincy Market is the food court, where you can find anything from a fresh-shucked oyster to a full Greek dinner to sweets of all sorts. On either side of this building, under glass canopies, are full-service restaurants as well as pushcarts that sell everything from crafts created by New England artisans to hokey souvenirs. Here you'll find a bar that exactly replicates the set of the TV show Cheers. In the plaza between the South Canopy and the South Market building is an information kiosk, and throughout the complex you'll find a mix of predictable chain stores and unique shops. On warm evenings, the tables that spill outdoors from the restaurants and bars fill with people. One constant since the year after the market -- the original market -- opened is Durgin-Park, a traditional New England restaurant.

The original Faneuil Hall sometimes gets lost in the shuffle, but it's well worth a visit. At press time, the first floor was closed for construction of a new National Park Service Visitor Center.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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