If there is a city more deeply rooted in the history of this great nation, I don’t know what it would be. Founded in 1630 by English Puritans on a portion of the Massachusetts coast to-be, not far from the original landing place of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Boston is one of our oldest cities, and the unique nature of its founding has much to do with its continued prevalence on the American stage.
The Puritans, unsatisfied with the lax religious culture of England in the 16th and 17th centuries, founded the city and colony on the guidance of a religious and moral imperative to improve the lives and culture of its citizens. As a result, the Boston region hosted the beginnings of some of our most honored institutions, including our first college, Harvard, and our first public school, the Boston Latin School (still active to this day).
With the focus on education and the prominence of the individual came unrest under the burdened rule of the English crown, and indeed when the first acts of physical rebellion occurred, many of them were in the Boston area: the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, the Battle of Bunker Hill and finally the Siege of Boston to name a few.
What’s so incredible about Boston is how many of these fascinating places and events can still be experienced in and around town if you know where to look (and it’s not hard).
The most important historical attraction in Boston is the Freedom Trail, a 2.5 mile walking tour that will guide you to 16 historic sites including Boston Common, the Massachusetts State House, King’s Chapel, the site of the Boston Massacre, the Paul Revere House, the USS Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument.
Vastly improving the do-it-yourself friendliness of the tour, the entire trail is marked on the ground with a red brick line. You can, of course, walk the entire thing for free, or you can pay around $12 for a 90-minute guided experience. If you go with the guided experience, you’ll have to make the difficult choice that plagues every Bostonian at one time or another: to Ben Franklin or not to Ben Franklin? (Learn more here).
For Boston hotels, I like the Embassy Suites Boston – at Logan Airport Hotel. As you might have guessed, it’s well-located near the airport, but it’s also only about four miles out from the start of the Freedom Trail, so it’s a nice choice all around.
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