Planning trip to Boston in October with 9 and almost 3 year olds

[IansMom]

We are going to visit my brother who is in school. What should we plan to do or see? We will spend one day touring his school/campus. We will stay four or five nights (trying to decide if it’s worth staying a fifth night).

[truly scrumptious]

- Museum of science (lots of hands-on activities for all ages)
- The aquarium
- If the weather permits, the Public Gardens and the swan boats - I think you can picnic in the gardens or the common next door - really nice on a sunny fall day
- The Arboterum will probably be beautiful with the leaves changing - you can walk and/or bring kids bikes
- Check out bostonmamas.com closer to the date for lists of kid-friendly activities (she posts weekly lists). In October you'll likely have harvest festivals, etc.

[newnana]

Agree with all the previous rec's. Museum of science was one of our favorites, the other was the USS Constitution! https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/

The museum is very hands on for little ones, very informative for older ones, and the tour guides are fantastic.

The ferry from Charlestown to the Aquarium is super cheap and we found it a fun way to get around. Basically door to door in a few minutes from the USS Constitution to the Aquarium.

We stayed a week and it was easy to fill up that time there for us. The 9 year old might like to be part of the planning with a travel book beforehand like: https://www.amazon.com/Kids-Guide-Bo...ston+kids+book

We had a "what I saw in Boston" sticker book/activity book for DD that would be good for the older kiddo, but I'm having trouble finding it. It was recommended by someone on these boards!

And with all the kids, read Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey . It's a Caldecott award winner. There are the duck statues in Boston Public Gardens, make sure if you go there to get pictures of the family with the duck/ducklings! It's just fun.

[newnana]

Adding, this got me thinking there are a bunch of threads in the everything but disney section on Boston. It's what helped me plan my trip.

Remember to check if any museum/zoo memberships you have will get you in for free or a discount to anything in Boston. If not, the Go Boston card can help plan your trip and save some money:

https://www.smartdestinations.com/bo...m_campaign=bos

We're baseball fans and did Fenway when we were there for a game but would love to go back an just do a tour there sometime. For the game the kids area was phenomenal.

[magnoliaparadise]

Not sure of too much, but if you check the 'mommypoppins' site, there is a section for Boston that I have read and looks good.
For older kids there is a red trail that older kids/adults can walk throughout Boston - I think it's still there? Went on it years ago.
Cambridge - Harvard Square, of course.
Fanueil Hall is sweet and has entertainers/musicians/jugglers.
Trip to VT or NH for one day to go skiing/dog sledding/horse sled trails if it's not too warm? They have all sorts of stuff, though season for skiing in the NE is probably winding down.
Boston people are crazy about their sports. Any game you go to, baseball or basketball or ice hockey will be a cultural event just by watching the other people - Bostonians seem over the top about those things!

[khalloc]

Not sure of too much, but if you check the 'mommypoppins' site, there is a section for Boston that I have read and looks good.
For older kids there is a red trail that older kids/adults can walk throughout Boston - I think it's still there? Went on it years ago.
Cambridge - Harvard Square, of course.
Fanueil Hall is sweet and has entertainers/musicians/jugglers.
Trip to VT or NH for one day to go skiing/dog sledding/horse sled trails if it's not too warm? They have all sorts of stuff, though season for skiing in the NE is probably winding down.
Boston people are crazy about their sports. Any game you go to, baseball or basketball or ice hockey will be a cultural event just by watching the other people - Bostonians seem over the top about those things!

The trail you are thinking about is called the Freedom Trail. Yes its there and not going anywhere.

[dogmom]

October? Apple picking! If you do want to get out of the city.

You can also take the train to Salem and it’s Halloween central there starting in September. They have a nice art museum.

Take a boat to one or two of the Boston Harbor Islands. They leave from down at the Aquarium. If the weather is nice.

What school? There are some nice small museums as part of Harvard.

The zoo is small, but a great place to have the kids run around and a nice playground.

There is an awesome playground in the esplanade. So that’s a nice place to take a walk.

The Children's Museum if the waterfront is nice. More restaurants and stuff there now. Check out the Lawn of Ave D. It’s a green space with these huge sculpture swings that have performances.

The Rose Kennedy Greenway is nice to walk down. It connects South Station, past the warm where the aquarium is,to the North End them up to the Charles where you can walk across the bridge to the Museum if Science.

[dogmom]

October? Apple picking! If you do want to get out of the city.

You can also take the train to Salem and it’s Halloween central there starting in September. They have a nice art museum.

Take a boat to one or two of the Boston Harbor Islands. They leave from down at the Aquarium. If the weather is nice.

What school? There are some nice small museums as part of Harvard.

The zoo is small, but a great place to have the kids run around and a nice playground.

There is an awesome playground in the esplanade. So that’s a nice place to take a walk.

The Children's Museum if the waterfront is nice. More restaurants and stuff there now. Check out the Lawn of Ave D. It’s a green space with these huge sculpture swings that have performances.

The Rose Kennedy Greenway is nice to walk down. It connects South Station, past the warm where the aquarium is,to the North End them up to the Charles where you can walk across the bridge to the Museum if Science.

[Corie]

You can also take the train to Salem and it’s Halloween central there starting in September.

Yes!!!

When we lived in Rhode Island, we took the kids to Salem every year for Halloween. The kids still talk about it! So much fun!

[IansMom]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I’ll definitely look into them. Dogmom, my brother is at Harvard Law so we will be in and around Cambridge at least one day. We will definitely go to the Museum of Science. My 9 year old wants to be a scientist. We keep a membership to the science museum and it has reciprocity with MoS.

I have a question about the Aquarium. We have been to several aquariums over the years including ones in Chattanooga, Atlanta and New Orleans. Would it be worth it to go to the one in Boston as well?