The City Guide

How the book works

Part One picks the Boston 20, the city’s essential experiences, and the themes that run through it: history, food, museums, kids, sports. Part Two is planning: getting here and around, timed itineraries, the year month by month. Part Three walks eight trails, stop by stop. Part Four covers eating, drinking, shopping and hotels citywide.

Part Five, the neighborhoods, is the heart of the book. Boston has 23 official neighborhoods; the book follows the city’s 27 districts, so the Wharf District, the Leather District, Longwood and the Harbor Islands get chapters of their own, and Cambridge, across the river, has one too. Each chapter opens with a snapshot, then a street map whose numbers match the sight entries that follow, then where to eat and where to stay. Every sight, restaurant and hotel has one main entry, in its neighborhood; elsewhere the book points to it with a page number.

Before you go

Everything in this edition was checked in September and October 2026. Hours, prices, routes and seasonal openings change, so confirm the details that matter on the official site before you set out. What changes by the hour (the T, the weather, this week’s events) stays on ExploreBoston.com; the “Live on ExploreBoston.com” boxes link to it.

Icons

Each listing’s details line starts with its kind:

• Sights
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• Shops and markets
• Nightlife
• Performing arts
• Activities
• Beaches

The keys

Must-see

The sights a first visit should not miss.

Worth a visit

Strong choices that reward the time.

If you have time

For a longer stay or a particular interest.

$–$$$$ restaurants

Price per person for a typical meal without drinks: $ under $20 · $$ $20–$40 · $$$ $40–$70 · $$$$ over $70.

$–$$$$ hotels

A standard double room per night, before tax, across the year: $ under $200 · $$ $200–$349 · $$$ $350–$549 · $$$$ $550 and up.

3 map numbers

On a neighborhood’s street map, the brass numbers are its sights, in the order of the entries.

C map letters

The gray letters on the same map are the chapter’s restaurants, lettered in the order of its Where to eat.

Luxury · Upscale · Boutique · Mid-range · Value

A hotel’s style and level of service; its $ band is the price, so a grand old hotel can be Luxury at $$.

T

The nearest subway or trolley station, with its lines: Red, Orange, Blue, Green (branches B, C, D, E) and the Silver Line bus.

p. 216

A page number after a name points to its main entry. In the PDF, every page number is a link.