Boston is traditional and trendy, scholarly and passionate, upscale and blue collar. Its character is one of colonial sensibility energized by immigrant customs, and all Bostonians, regardless of background, display a pride that is centuries deep.

Bostonians are proud of their pivotal role in the birth of America - and want you to experience it. They cherish their diverse immigrant heritage - and want you to feel it. They pride themselves in being the center of academia - and want you to know it. They are passionate about their sports teams and their politics - and want you to hear it.

Boston is early America enveloped by contemporary America: quaint cobblestone streets surrounded by the "Big Dig", the 1713 vintage brick Old State House, from whose balcony Bostonians heard the first reading of the Declaration of Independence, dwarfed by contemporary glass office towers; the massive late 19 th century Richardsonian Romanesque Trinity Church, one of the most significant buildings in the U.S., side by side with the 20 th century, John Hancock Tower, 60 sleek stories high.

The historic magnitude of those who lie buried in the simple colonial era Granary Burying Ground is not diminished by the surrounding sounds of a bustling urban downtown. The importance of the two lanterns signaling “by sea” from the Old North Church shares equal billing with the excitement of attending an event at the TD Banknorth Garden, a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex.

Boston's rich ethnicity is best experienced through its food. Savor homemade gnocchi in the North End; try a traditional Irish Breakfast (or stouts and ales) at a pub near Faneuil Hall; feast on lamb prepared the Mediterranean, Turkish, Indian, Russian or Afghan way in Cambridge; fill up fried clams or chowder along the wharf; taste delicate dim sum morsels in Chinatown; enjoy intimate fine dining in a brick townhouse in Beacon Hill.

Participate in activities in Boston's famous public parks, stadiums and historic sites. Yell at the top of your lungs at Fenway Park, walk through Harvard Yard, stroll Boston Common, where the Redcoats encamped. Visit all 17 sites along the Freedom Trail, glide on a Swan Boat, ice skate on Frog Pond, climb aboard "Old Ironsides."

Treat yourself to wonderful theater in the restored jewels of the Theater District: the Shubert, theWilbur, the Charles, the Colonial, the Wang. Enjoy ballet at the Boston Center for the Arts, symphony at the acoustically perfect Symphony Hall, art at the Museum of Fine Arts. Stop to read in magnificent Bates Hall in Boston Public Library, shop along sophisticated Newbury Street or in urban malls linked by glass walkways.

With all this and more to do, Boston is surprisingly small and easy to navigate. It is approachable, walkable, and the pride felt in its role in the "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is catchable.

Weather:
Recorded temperatures in Boston were first kept in 1871, with the first observations taken at the Old State House. The coolest month is January; the warmest is July.
 

Seasons
Weather-wise, Boston has four distinct seasons. In terms of tourist activity, high season is April- June and September-October; shoulder season is July-August and November-December; low season is January-March. The wealth of activities in Boston, indoors and out, lures visitors to Boston year-round. The time to visit depends on your interests.

The New Year starts with First Night, an alternative tradition to New Year’s Eve revelry, showcasing cultural events for all ages. In March, Boston gears up for the week-long events of St. Patrick’s Day. The return of the Swan Boats in the Public Garden in April signals the advent of spring, as does the Boston Marathon as well as the opening of baseball season. Be sure to dress in layers in the spring as Boston’s weather can change quickly when the sea breeze comes in off the cool waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The warmth of summer brings on outdoor activities - concerts, parades and patriotic re-enactments. May- June, stroll through fragrant lilac bushes at the Arnold Arboretum. On Mother’s Day waddle in the Public Garden in tribute to “ Make Way for Ducklings,” or attend Bunker Hill Weekend in June. Celebrate the 4 th of July in the “Cradle of Liberty” with fireworks over the Charles River and the Boston Pops performing in the Hatch Shell; in August, the Dragon Parade snakes through Chinatown. As fall
air crisps, explore the fairs and feasts celebrating the harvest bounty.

Boston dresses up magnificently for the holidays. With white twinkle lights reflecting on the snow-covered ground, the city glows. Elegant Commonwealth Avenue is spectacular with miniature white lights entwined in the branches of uniform rows of trees in the median along its length. Copley Square is centered by a majestic lighted evergreen; another stands elegantly in front of the Prudential Center. Lovely brownstone homes are decorated; shops on Newbury Street glitter and gleam; people bustle everywhere. In cold January- March locals and visitors treat themselves to great theater, wonderful ballet performances, fine museum exhibits and savoring different restaurant menus.

Population
In the 2000 Census, the population of the city of Boston was 589,131, 36% of whom were between the ages of 25 and 44. As a city of immigrants, Boston is rich in ambience, food and flavors.

Size
Boston is 89.63 square miles in size. It was incorporated as a town in 1630; as a city in 1822. Commonly known as the “Cradle of Liberty” for its pivotal role in the American Revolution, it is also
called the “Hub” for its civic pride as a cultural pioneer and for being “first” in many accomplishments: first public library, first public schools, first college, first subway system.

Transportation
Gridlock is the reason Boston established the first subway system in North America. Boston has no street grid, making it very confusing for visitors, and parking is impossible to find. Boston’s subway system, the T-line, is easy to find and use. It is such a great way to get around Boston that daily ridership exceeds 600,000.

Although called a subway line, routes are underground, elevated and street level. Four T-lines serve the metropolitan Boston area: Red, Green, Orange and Blue, and maps are posted in the stations and on trains. Visitors are more than likely to use the Green and Red Lines, as most attractions are along them. Trolleys, street cars and buses supplement the “T.” Be aware, however, that the T-lines stop running at 12:30 am. The cost is a minimal $1.25, including transfers.

A great way to see the city is on a narrated tour aboard Old Town Trolley Tours � of Boston. Operating year-round, the friendly, fun and informative conductors manage the traffic as they show you the sights, easily visible from the trolley’s great vantage point. With so much to see and do in Boston, the tour will help you determine what you will want to visit throughout the rest of your stay so that you can easily and confidently explore on your own. One of the most attractive features of the tour is the ability to get on and off the trolley as you wish at any of the 17 stops within walking distance of all the significant sites.

Accommodations
Boston lodging caters to visitors. As a major tourist and convention destination, Boston has over 20,000 hotel rooms in hotels of over 50 rooms, and more in a multitude of smaller hotels and inns. Choices include huge major brand hotels in downtown, near the Banknorth Center, around the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and along the waterfront; boutique hotels in Back Bay offering splendid service; delightful historic gems on Beacon Hill; and charming Victorian getaways in Cambridge.

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Boston is a historic touchstone, a cultural mecca, a culinary delight. It pleases the intellectual, the sports fan, the history buff and the shopping maven - all within a compact space. There are treasures and finds in all neighborhoods. To experience as much of Boston as possible, approach it strategically.

Start with a tour aboard the Old Town Trolley Tours ® of Boston. It’s the best first thing you can do. The 1 hour and 40 minute fully narrated tour is fun, informative, and you will see Boston’s vast collection of historic architectural treasures, parks and distinct neighborhoods from the vantage point of the trolley. You can take the once around loop tour, jotting down places of interest you would like to return to at your leisure or, you can get off at any of the 17 strategic stops throughout the city to explore on your own. When you have seen all you want to see around a stop, hop on the next available trolley and resume your tour. With your ticket purchase you’ll receive Old Town Trolley’s helpful Day Planner, highlighting the important sites around each stop.

See all the 16 historic sites along the Freedom Trail.
Many who visit Boston for the first time are eager to see the important colonial landmarks, all of which can be seen along the Freedom Trail, a red line on the sidewalk connecting the 16 historic sites of colonial Boston. You can walk the 3-mile trail or you can get to each site aboard the Old Town Trolleyas each site is but a short walk from 8 of the stops along the tour.

Get a bird’s eye view of Boston. On a clear day you can see forever from the 50 th floor Prudential Center Skywalk Observatory.

Tour a museum. Interact in the Children’s Museum; watch science at work in the Museum of Science; step inside the giant stained glass globe in the Mapparium; see New England’s rich sports heritage displayed in the Sports Museum. Be amazed at technology at the MIT Museum; appreciate the life and times of our 35th president at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum. Marvel at the art: famous American paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, art spanning centuries at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, contemporary works at the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the outstanding exhibits at the three Harvard Art Museums.

Attend the theatre. Find out what’s playing and attend a performance at one of Boston’s many fine restored theaters.

Experience the New England Aquarium. The giant Ocean Tank, penguin and sealion exhibits, incredible nature films at the IMAX theater and more provide a day of family entertainment.

See Boston by sea aboard a Harbor Cruise. Go whale watching.

Walk through Harvard Square. Join the activity of students going to class, connecting in coffeehouses, browsing bookstores and enjoying impromptu street performers. The intellectual, bohemian Cambridge feels distinctly international as sounds of foreign languages and wonderful ethnic restaurants are everywhere.

Shop the many shops and carts in busy Faneuil Hall Marketplace or in the elegantboutiques and galleries on Newbury Street.

Climb aboard “Old Ironsides", the USS Constitution, in proud service in 1797.

Pick a different restaurant for every meal. Stop for a drink at Cheers of TV fame and voted the “Best Neighborhood Bar.” Take a pedal-powered Swan Boat ride, in the summer months only, in Boston Public Garden.

Boston is a compact city of neighborhoods, each created by heritage and history. A long tradition of welcoming immigrants has evolved into enclaves of distinct cultural traditions co-existing with the treasured icons and attitudes rooted in early America.

Downtown Boston Financial District. Dwarfed by contemporary office towers are sites pivotal in the events leading to the American Revolution: Faneuil Hall, the Old State House, the Old South Meeting House and Kings Chapel and Burying Ground.

North End. Boston’s Italian neighborhood is also Boston’s earliest colonial neighborhood, and both historic layers are clearly visible. Settled in the 17 th century, the historic American icons are nestled along narrow colonial streets: Paul Revere’s House, the Old NorthChurch, and Copp’s Hill Burying Ground. Surrounding these treasures are all things Italian: quaint restaurants and outdoor cafes filled with people; specialty, pastry shops, ice cream, and coffee shops offering all things savory and delicious.

The Waterfront District. Where “Redcoats” marched ashore in 1768 to restore order and where rebellious Bostonians dumped the tea, experience sea life in the New England Aquarium; build, climb and participate in the Children’s Museum; experience the fateful night at the Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum, currently closed for exciting renovations; take a cruise to see gigantic whales; enjoy great seafood restaurants.

Beacon Hill. Elegantly understated Federal, Georgian and Victorian homes fill Boston’s prestigious historic neighborhood. Find antiques on Charles Street, intimate restaurants on Cambridge Street. Walk along tiny cobblestone Acorn Street, stop for a drink at Cheers, tour the gold-domed State House, stroll through Boston Common.

Back Bay. Built on landfill in the mid 1800s as Boston outgrew its original settlement on Shawmut Peninsula, it is vibrant and upscale, commercial and residential. Commonwealth Avenue lined with elegant brownstones runs through it; Copley Square centers it. Structures of significance include the magnificent Trinity Church, the gilded Copley Fairmont Plaza, and the contemporary Prudential Tower. Shop in glass clad urban malls or along famous Newbury Street; find restaurants everywhere.

Theatre District/Chinatown. Theaters - some intimate little gems, others grandly opulent - present professional productions. Clustered together, with restaurants, bars, lounges and pubs nearby, the area caters to the theatre crowd. Nearby Chinatown bustles with family businesses, fresh markets, and lots of tiny Asian restaurants.

Fenway. Student attending major universities, patrons frequenting the Museum of Fine Arts and Symphony Hall, and fans cheering for their beloved Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park create an area of diverse interests.

Cambridge. Eclectic, intellectual, and culturally diverse, the community revolves around Harvard and MIT. It’s the place to find unique shops, an astounding collection of bookstores and the exotic culinary experience of countless ethnic restaurants.

March

St. Patrick’s Day - The longest-running Saint Patrick's Day celebration in the U.S. dates back to 1737. Festivities include Boston’s famous St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

New England Spring Flower Show - Annual show held in Boston and featuring 40 or more fully landscaped gardens.

April

Boston Marathon - annual marathon sporting event hosted by the city of Boston, on Patriot's Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, and most popular professional marathon races in the world. Professional runners from all over the world compete in the Boston Marathon each year, braving the hilly New England terrain and unpredictable weather to take part in the race.

June

Children’s Day - Part of Boston Harborfest, the annual Children's Day event provides kids ages 3-10 a fun way to celebrate through educational activities and entertainment provided by local artists. Free-of-charge events include music, magicians, jugglers, face painting, balloon activities, and more. Fun for the whole family!

July

4th of July Celebration - Independence Day is celebrated on the Charles River Esplanade; sunbathers and a flotilla of boats move in during the day, followed by fireworks after dark accompanied by classical and patriotic music performed by the Boston Pops.

Harborfest - Boston Harborfest is a seven-day Fourth of July celebration showcasing the colonial and maritime heritage of the cradle of the American Revolution. This award-winning festival strives to honor the past, celebrate the present, and inform the future with concerts,historical tours, reenactments and much, much more. Over 200 events during the Festival are concentrated in Boston’s historic downtown and waterfront districts, with sponsored main events taking place exclusively on Boston’s City Hall Plaza.

September

Taste of Boston - This annual event draws tens of thousands of New Englanders to gather on Boston’s City Hall Plaza to enjoy a day of fun, food and entertainment with their family and friends. City Hall Plaza is centrally located in the heart of Boston, near historic Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. The Taste of Boston is one of the top tourist attractions in the City of Boston with expected attendance of over 125,000 people!

Fall Foliage (Leaf Peeping) - Eastern Canada and the New England region are famous around the world for the brilliance of their "fall foliage," and a seasonal tourist industry has grown up around the few weeks in autumn when the leaves are at their peak. Some television and web-based weather forecasts even report on the status of the fall foliage throughout the season as a service to tourists. Fall foliage tourists are often referred to as "leaf peepers".

December

Boston Tea Party Re-enactment - On the cold evening of December 16, 1773, a large band of patriots, disguised as Mohawk Indians, burst from the South Meeting House with the spirit of freedom burning in their eyes. The patriots headed towards Griffin's Wharf and the three ships. Quickly, quietly, and in an orderly manner, the Sons of Liberty boarded each of the tea ships. Once on board, the patriots went to work striking the chests with axes and hatchets. Thousands of spectators watched in silence. Only the sounds of ax blades splitting wood rang out from Boston Harbor. Once the crates are open, the patriots dumped the tea into the sea. Relieve the event that many say sparked the American Revolution. Join in the festivities and declare your independence!

First Night - An outdoor artistic and cultural celebration on New Year's Eve, taking place from afternoon until midnight. First Night celebrates Boston’s local culture, often featuring music, dance, comedy, art, and always has plenty of food, fireworks, and ice sculptures.

If it’s happening you’ll find it in the weekly magazine Boston Phoenix. The Eight Days A Week Entertainment Section lists jazz, blues, theater, poetry readings, gallery showings, museum exhibits and much more.

Do as the Victorians did and stroll down meandering paths, under magnificent old trees, and around remarkable, ornate Victorian statuary in Forest Hills Cemetery, one of America’s first rural garden cemeteries. Located in Jamaica Plain, just minutes outside of downtown Boston, the grounds, also a wildlife sanctuary and botanical garden, are beautiful, and the literary giants buried there impressive: poets e.e. cummings and Anne Sexton, writer Ezra Pound, playwright Eugene O’Neill. Or, visit America’s first garden cemetery, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, outside of Cambridge. A tour of its memorials leaves no doubt as to Boston’s stature in the intellectual world: painter Winslow Homer; poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; writer Oliver Wendell Holmes; psychologist B. F. Skinner; inventor Buckminster Fuller. Woven throughout the hilly landscape are lovely gardens with over 5000 trees and thousands of manicured plants.

Take a peek into the opulent lifestyle of Boston’s 19th century “Brahmin” aristocracy on house tours on Beacon Hill. Call each house in advance for admission dates and times as they vary.The Nichols House, designed in 1804 by Charles Bulfinch, is filled with several generations of Nichols family possessions. The1859 Gibson House is a journey into a Victorian time capsule. The Prescott House, built in 1808, was remodeled in 1870 in the neo-Colonial style popular at that time.

Spend time in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for a range of experiences: the art – Titian’s The Rape of Europa, works by Michelangelo and Matisse, and significant Old Masters and Italian Renaissance masterpieces are intimately displayed; the architecture – delicate Italianate details evoke a Venetian Renaissance palazzo; the gardens – an interior, glass-covered manicured courtyard is a charming respite; the food – a delightful restaurant is open for lunch; the music - on certain weekends, there is chamber music too!

For a complete change of pace, take the T-line to Stony Brook for a tour the Samuel Adams Brewery, complete with product sampling.

For the adventuresome, Boston’s many self-guided tours appeal to interests as diverse as Boston itself: the Irish Heritage Trail, the Woman’s Heritage Trail or the Boston Immigrant Heritage Trail. Inquire about specialty walking tours: the savory, aromatic North End Italian Market Tour; the prose and poetry of the Literary Trail Tour, or the once a year Secret Gardens of Cambridge or Hidden Garden of Beacon Hill tours.

Chocoholics, Boston is your town! America’s first chocolate mill produced Baker’s chocolate in 1780 in nearby Dorchester, a century before the Hershey bar. L. A. Burdick’s in Cambridge has the best hot chocolate imaginable and Rosie’s Bakery in Cambridge and Boston had fabulous chocolate delicacies. Drizzled, dripped, swirled; in mousse, tortes and cakes, Boston’s chocolate creations are a fine end to any meal. On Saturdays from January through April, don’t miss the sumptuous sampling of chocolate desserts on Old Town Trolley Tour ® of Boston’s Chocolate Tour.

Hidden gems for sweets and other tasty things include JP Licks in Jamaica Plain for home-made ice-cream and desserts made on site; The Cheese Shop in Wellesley Village on Central Street has the best array of cheese and crackers from all over the world. A must when in the North End is Bandini & Sons, an authentic Italian grocery. Near Quincy Market, jostle and haggle in the busy, noisy Haymarket, Boston’s great outdoor market, where you can buy fruit, vegetable and fish just off the boat.

Discover real finds at Fort Point Channel Artists Studios: one-of-a kind lamps, paintings, sculptures, fixtures, and more. Where else but Gargoyles to find an eclectic array of stained glass windows, statures, mouldings, tiles, marble and wood pieces salvaged from old churches and buildings. On Newbury Street, stop in Gallery Naga for unusual work of New England artists for painting, furniture and sculpture.

Boston is a place of history; Cambridge of intellect. While in Cambridge, save time to discover the out-of-the-ordinary. You can be a kid again, tinkering with nostalgic gadgets in Joie de Vivre. Marvel at the delicate “Glass Flowers,” 4000 glass botanical models hand blown in a collaborative effort by a German father and son between 1887 and 1936 on display in the Harvard Botanical Museum. A visit to the lower level of the Harvard Science Center will uncover a fascinating array of vintage scientific precision instruments, some dating to 1450, on display in the Collection of Historic Scientific Instruments. For lovers of meter and verse, a visit to the Grolier Poetry Book Shop is a must. Find antiquarian maps, atlases and nautical charts on display in the Harvard Map Collection in the Pusey Library, on Harvard Yard; uncover artifacts from ancient excavations in the Near East in the Semitic Museum.

Every local has a favorite restaurant - some tried and true; others, new, create a lot of excitement. Totally hip 33 Restaurant and Lounge is a trendy restaurant with great food and the best cocktail bar in Boston. Step into the late 60s and early 70s at Lucky’s; for the best oceanfront dining, take a ½ hour drive to Swampscott to the Red Rock Bistro, high on a cliff with the Boston skyline on the horizon.

Discover the parks in the Emerald Necklace. Boston’s tradition of setting aside park space for the use of all the people began in 1634 with the 48-acre Boston Common. In the late 1800s, a series of parks were added, linked by parkways and waterways into the descriptively named the Emerald Necklace. These parks, some open, some wooded, some incorporating marsh grasses, all beautifully and subtly engineered, offer places for people to play, read a book or sit in the sun. Designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, the 7-mile chain of 9 parks includes the Boston Common, large, green and open, a welcome incongruity in the middle of urban downtown Boston; the 1837 beautifully manicured Public Garden, the oldest public botanical garden in the country and home of the “Make Way for Ducklings’ statue; the elegant Commonwealth Avenue Mall; the Arnold Arboretum, where strolling paths wind through formally planted trees and plants;and the500 acre Franklin Park, which includes the Franklin Park Zoo.

Stroll through the Burying Grounds In tiny colonial enclaves remaining remarkably untouched in the middle of a busy city, the gravestones offer a window into early America. Copps Hill Burying Ground, established in 1660 in the North End, describes the area’s colonial population of artisans, merchants and free African Americans. The Granary Burying Ground is the final resting place of three signers of the Declaration of Independence; in King’s Chapel Burying Ground, well-known Puritans are buried.

Walk the Black Heritage Trail. Self-guided tour explores the history of Boston’s 19th century all free African American community as it passes by 14 pre-civil war structures, some of which were stops on the “Underground Railroad.” Pick up a map from the National Park Service booth in the Commons.

Visit the historic Churches. View the magnificent stained glass windows and breathtaking interior of the imposing Trinity Church. Visit the oldest church in Boston, the Old North Church, famous for the signal sent to Paul Revere on his midnight ride, and King’s Chapel, open to the public during limited hours for self-guided tours.

Walk along the Charles River on the Esplanade. In the summer watch rowing teams sculling on the river or catch a concert in the Hatch Shell. In the fall, stroll in the brisk air under a canopy of changing leaves and admire the views of downtown Boston.

Climb up the Bunker Hill Monument for a wonderful view of the harbor and skyline.

Attend a concert by students at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, free almost every night throughout the school year; tour the acoustically perfect Symphony Hall, free during Symphony season.

Visit the Boston Public Library, the “people’s palace” and first public library to allow people to borrow books, opened in 1895. Bates Hall, the reading room, is a magnificent must-see. The inscription on the north side of this architectural treasure summarizes the essence of all that is Boston: “The Commonwealth Requires the Education of the People as a Safeguard of Order and Liberty.”

Dining in Boston is a culinary delight. “Favorite” is simply a matter of individual taste, price and atmosphere. Some restaurants are big; others intimate. There are noisy ones, cozy ones; comfortable ones, elegant ones; fine ones and casual ones. There is even America’s official oldest one, the Union Oyster House, in Faneuil Hall.

The Union Oyster House is but one of several true Boston classics, many dating to the 1800s, long known as favorite gathering spots for local politicians and families. Comfortable, friendly places, many centered by massive carved mahogany bars serving draught beverages, serve traditional hearty New England homestyle fare: chowders, chicken pot pie, scrod, burgers, corn bread and Indian pudding. Boston classics include Amrheins in South Boston, Durgin Park in Quincy market (upstairs in the North Market), Jacob Wirth’s in the Theatre District.

Boston’s seaside location naturally makes for great seafood choices. Crab, cod, chowder, clams and lobster are found along the harbor in places such as Anthony’s Pier Four, Atlantic Fish Company and Barking Crab. Others, Legal Seafoods, Kingfish Hall and Naked Fish are scattered throughout downtown. All offer their version of the New England favorite, fired clams, but for the place where fried clams were invented, drive 30 miles out to Woodman’s in Essex.

Sightseeing in the Faneuil Hall area? Stop in Quincy Market for a quick cup of chowder from the Boston Chowda Co., a slice of pizza from Pizzeria Regina, a fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie from Boston Chipyard, or Black Rose for a touch of the Irish.

Genteel Beacon Hill is known for its intimate, upscale little restaurants in tucked away places. Try subterranean dining at Grotto, Persian dishes at La la Rokh or dine in restaurants named for the elegance of their location: 75 Chestnut and 9 Park. The famous Cheers is in Beacon Hill, as is the aptly named 21st Amendment.

The South End neighborhood is coming on strong as Boston’s trendy spot with bistros names 28 Degrees, Aquitane, Café Umbra, Icarus, Masa, each with individually chic décor and creative New American cuisine,

Immigrant groups settling in Boston has resulted in culinary experiences from all reaches of the globe, with concentrations of flavors and tastes found in specific neighborhoods. Trattorias with great Italian names such as Bricco, Teramia, and Mama Maria line the streets in the North End, many with generations-old regional recipes. For seafood the Sicilian way try The Daily Catch; for the tastiest pizza, Pizzeria Regina.

Irish pubs are everywhere and come in two varieties: ones with large crowds, sports playing on the TV screen and a multitude of beer and ale choices. Others, dark, smoky neighborhood places serving Guinness by the pint, offer a legitimate taste and atmosphere of the Emerald Isle. For a nice alternative to Sunday brunch, find one that serves a traditional Irish breakfast.

Tucked throughout Chinatown are restaurants from all regions in Asia. Chinese neighborhood restaurants, many family-owned, serving family-style, endless streams of steaming dishes of tasty morsels are brought out. Savor sushi and miso in Japanese restaurants; the sublime contrast of flavors and textures in Cambodian restaurants; dishes of smooth coconut laced with spice in Thai restaurants.

Cambridge has the highest concentration of ethnic restaurants in Boston: Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Indian, French, Portuguese, Afghan and North African. Authentic, and with atmospheres as different as the flavors, trying them is a trip around the globe.