DK Travel : Boston

“The Hub,” “Beantown,” “Baaahstin” – call it what you will, New England’s largest city exists to be explored. Its colonial-era architecture, vibrant seafaring heritage, and irrepressible Yankee character make it one of the country’s most distinctive locales. Yet for all its big-city amenities – world-class restaurants, museums, and shops – Boston remains surprisingly compact and eminently walkable.

Peddock’s Island

Peddock’s is one of Boston Harbor’s largest and most diverse islands. Hiking trails circle a pond, salt marsh, and coastal forest and pass numerous buildings of interest including Fort Andrews, active in harbor defense from 1904 through to World War II. The island is known for its black crowned night herons and for the beach plums and wild roses which bloom profusely in the dunes.
Penang

Nominally “pan-Asian,” Penang has a chiefly Malay menu, ranging from inexpensive noodle staples to more contemporary concoctions.
People-watching on Boston Common

Corralled by bustling, commercial Tremont Street, stately Beacon Street, and genteel Charles Street, Boston Common lies at the confluence of three disparate worlds. Whatever the season, a stroll through the common yields a veritable cross section of the city’s residents. (see Boston Common & Public Garden).
Pepper Gallery

In welcome contrast to her peers, Audrey Pepper looks for a sense of playfulness in the pieces she exhibits – plenty of bold colors and amusing juxtapositions.
Pho Pasteur

This efficient kitchen churns out amazingly subtle French Vietnamese cuisine.
Pho Republique

Hipsters come in droves for the French-Vietnamese food – duck crepes, braised spareribs – the atmosphere, and the mango martinis.
Phoenix Landing

By day, enjoy pints of Guinness and excellent pub grub at the mahogany bar. By night, cut loose to an ever-changing roster of hip-hop, jungle, and notable dub DJs.
PhotoWalks

My wife and I took a photo tour of Beacon Hill and the Back Bay with PhotoWalks, a tour specialising in providing the history of the area and also tips and ideas on how to photograph unusual and iconic images of Boston. The tour was superb and possibly the best tour we have ever taken on all our globetrotting holidays. Saba Alhadi, the tour guide, was a superb tourguide, her passion for Boston and photography was immediately infectious and fired our love of this wonderful city and photography as an artform. I can highly recommend this tour for inclusion in your guidebooks, it is little known and I we only came across the tour by accident on surfing the internet for information about Boston. I assure you that all those who undertake a tour of Boston, there are 5 tours on offer, will have a wondefully satisfying, informative, relaxing and stimulating few hours with Saba. Her website is www.photowalks.com

Many thanks Paul Cuddeford
PhotoWalks of Boston

PhotoWalks is the premier provider of photo tours in Boston. Each guided walking tour is presented with fascinating commentary and photography tips. Explore this historic city from a different angle and capture amazing photographs while sightseeing. Learn how to see creatively. All ages and skill levels welcome.

Five separate PhotoWalks tours are offered:

• Beacon Hill (year round) • Back Bay (year round) • Freedom Trail *includes the North End (year round) • Public Garden • Waterfront

Tour prices for 2009: $30 adults, $12 (youth 10-17), $8 (children 8-11). Includes the e-booklet, PhotoWalks Guide to Creative Photography. Tours are approximately 90 minutes.

www.photowalks.com (617) 851-2273 E-Mail: saba@photowalks.com
Piano Row

In the late 19th century, the HQs of leading piano makers Steinert, Vose, Starck, Mason and Hamlin, and Wurlitzer were located on the section of Boylston Street facing Boston Common, giving the block (now a historic district) its nickname as Piano Row. Nearly a century later, those Beaux Arts buildings still echo with music. The Colonial Theatre, its ornate interior fully restored to the sumptuous 1900 original, is an active venue for drama and musicals, while Boylston Place is a small-scale club and nightlife center.

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