Downtown highrise buildings in Boston,Massachusetts.Credit:Getty Images
PENNY PINCH
Sample the West End's Italian flavour with cannoli ($4) at Maria's Pastry (mariaspastry.com),then taste the city's history on a walking tour along the Freedom Trail ($12,thefreedomtrail.org). The four-kilometre route includes graveyards full of famous names and sites from the Boston Tea Party,which sparked the American Revolution. Grab lunch from one of the stalls in Quincy Market ($9,faneuilhallmarketplace.com),then wander across Boston Common or along the parks of the Rose Kennedy Greenway,before taking a $3 subway ride to the Harvard University campus. There,the Hahvahd Tour ($10,harvardtour.com) offers a theatrical take on Ivy League tall tales and Mr Bartley's ($12,mrbartleys.com) serves juicy,politically named burgers. Sleep them off at nearby affordable bed and breakfast Irving House ($115,irvinghouse.com).
TOTAL: $165
EASY DOES IT
Breakfast and lunch are best rolled into one as part of Boston Food Tours'(bostonfoodtours.com) historically detailed and richly knowledgeable tours ($62) around the West End. Use a $12 public-transport day pass to head to Fenway Park,where tours of the Boston Red Sox's home stadium ($18,boston.redsox.mlb.com) give a good feel for the city's passionate love of baseball. The stadium oozes old-time,hot-dog-in-hand atmosphere. Back in the centre,visit the Old South Meeting House ($7,oldsouthmeetinghouse.org),Boston's best single site for understanding the causes of the 1773 Tea Party,which started there. In the evening,take a sunset kayak tour ($54,paddleboston.com) along the Charles River,before enjoying a seafood dinner at in-the-know local favourite Lineage ($30,lineagerestaurant.com). Sleep at the slick,centrally located Nine Zero ($280,ninezero.com).
TOTAL: $463
SPLASH OUT
Follow a hearty breakfast at Mooo ($28,mooorestaurant.com) with a three-hour whale-watching cruise ($49,bostonharborcruises.com),which includes a commentary about Boston's maritime heritage. Continue the ocean theme with seafood at the Union Oyster House ($26,unionoysterhouse.com),before taking a helicopter tour (nowcitytours.com) of the city and the coastline to the north ($790,with private sedan transfers). Take a taxi (about $33 return) to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum ($13,jfklibrary.org) for insights into the president's life and modern history. Wine-matched seasonal degustation dining at L'Espalier ($218,lespalier.com) should be followed with a $14 cocktail in the former Charles Street jail drunk tank,now Alibi (alibiboston.com). The rest of the jail has been turned into the luxurious Liberty Hotel ($414,libertyhotel.com).
TOTAL: $1604