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Providence is a great walking city: stroll Benefit Street’s “mile of history” to see an impressive group of Colonial and Federal houses; or visit Waterplace Park with its pretty walkways along the Providence River. Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill is Providence’s Little Italy, bustling with restaurants and cafés.

Although difficult to imagine, the Prudential Tower’s 52 stories seem dwarfed by the huge swathe of street-level shops and restaurants that comprise the Prudential Center. With its indoor shopping mall, food court, supermarket, cluster of residential towers, and massive convention center, the Prudential Center is like a self-contained city within a city. For a jaw-dropping view of Boston, visit the Skywalk on the tower’s 50th level (see Prudential Skywalk), or the Top of the Hub Lounge (see Top of the Hub Lounge) two floors above.

Located on the 50th floor of the Prudential Tower (see Prudential Center), this observatory provides a rewarding Boston geography lesson. Should the jaw-dropping, 360-degree views not keep the youngsters enthralled, the audio/ video tours of Boston’s neighborhoods will. The swift, ear-popping elevator ride to the top also offers quite a rush.

A witch may not have been killed in Salem since 1692, but witchcraft paraphernalia fills many stores, and several sites such as the Witch Museum (19 Washington Sq North) tell the tale of this dark episode. The city is more proud of its China Trade days (1780s–1880s), which are engagingly recounted on National Park walking tours. Visit the Peabody Essex Museum (East India Sq) to see the treasures sea captains brought home from distant ports.

Running parallel to Hanover Street, Salem is as narrow and intimate as Hanover is broad and public. Lined with a growing number of restaurants, this is also where North Enders shop for the necessities of daily life – from rabbit and veal to pillowy loaves of bread, which come fresh from local ovens around the clock. The Italian flavor of the neighborhood, though fading in recent years as gentrification inflates the cost of housing, remains its strongest on Salem Street’s narrow sidewalks.

A brick temple to mass transportation, the Neo-Classical Revival South Station was erected in 1898 at the height of rail travel in the US, and was once the country’s busiest train station. Following extensive restoration in 1989, it now serves as an Amtrak terminal for trains from the south and west of the city, as well as a “T” stop and a social and commercial center with a lively food court and occasional lunchtime concerts.

The first section of the five-mile (8-km) Southwest Corridor Park divides South End and Back Bay along the “T” orange line corridor. In the residential South End portion, a path strings together numerous small parks. Between Massachusetts Avenue and West Roxbury, the park broadens to include recreational amenities.

Renowned architect Charles Bulfinch completely redesigned the church’s original 1714 structure in 1802–4. This church is the only surviving example of his religious architecture. The complex Neo-Classical exterior contrasts with the open, airy, and relatively unadorned interior. In 1862, the Roman Catholic archdiocese took over the church to accommodate the area’s growing number of Irish immigrants. Rose Fitzgerald, daughter of Boston mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald and mother of President J. F. Kennedy (see John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)), is linked to the church. She was baptized here in 1890, and her funeral took place here in 1995.

The best part of a visit to Faneuil Hall Marketplace is that you never know who – or what – you will see. “Benjamin Franklin” might administer a quick colonial history quiz to an unsuspecting child, a juggler might ask another to participate in a performance, or a street musician might stick the mic in a child’s hand for a singsong. (see Faneuil Hall Marketplace)