Where to go and what to do with out-of-town guests - The Boston Globe (2024)

If you have families visiting with young ones, head to the award-winning Boston’s Children’s Museum, hosting the Summer of Curiosity, with an outdoor kitchen, STEAM Lab, and KidStage. Its popular Hundred Acre Wood has been extended through Labor Day. Tip: Martin’s Park playground located next to the museum is also a hit with kids.

We’ve done the Freedom Trail, so many times. Instead, visit the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, where you’ll meet the Sons & Daughters of Liberty, including Samuel Adams, tour a full-scale replica of an 18th-century sailing ship docked on the same body of water where the original Tea Party occurred, and watch a 3-D re-enactment of the events leading up to the American Revolution. You’ll also see the last surviving tea chest from the rebellion of 1773. And go ahead: get in the act and throw the tea overboard!

The New England Aquarium is always a winner and always has something new to offer. This summer, through Labor Day, it is hosting The Exploration Station for young learners, with animals and themed activities, and a new film, “Animal Kingdom,” running on its giant screen. Stop by the new Dockside Beer Garden on Central Wharf for refueling. If it’s a hot day, head to the Rose Kennedy Greenway, where the kids can splash around in the fountains. The Greenway also has food trucks, a Saturday artisan market, carousel, and summer movie showings.

We’d suggest a little different itinerary for your adult visitors. Chances are they’ve already seen many of Boston’s top attractions and museums. Instead, consider the Harvard Museums, including the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, encompassing 50 galleries of art, with permanent and changing exhibits, and the restored Calderwood Courtyard is a lovely place to rest. Also, visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History, with its rare mineral and gemstone collection, including a 1,600-pound amethyst geode, The Rockefeller Beetles collection (100 insects!), and the not-to-be-missed Glass Flowers exhibition.

Then, take your guests to View Boston on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Center with a 360-degree observation deck. Soak in the lofty views, and then grab drinks at Stratus, dubbed Boston’s Highest Rooftop Bar.

The vibrant SoWa Art + Design district, with more than 20 galleries within a two-block radius, is a fun place to take guests. On Sundays, it’s also home to the SoWa Open Market with a lively gathering of local artisans, craft makers, designers, and farmers.

For something a bit more peaceful, tour the Forest Hills Cemetery, with 275 acres filled with art, historic architecture, stone walls, giant boulders, mature trees, rare plants, and a four-acre lake. Founded in 1848 and on the National Register of Historic Places, it’s considered one of the finest garden cemeteries in the country.

Finally, who doesn’t like a boat ride? For families, we suggest the City Experiences Historic Boston Harbor Cruise. The narrated tour is short and sweet, a one-hour cruise with lots of fun information and great views of the harbor, city skyline, and the USS Constitution. Adult visitors might also enjoy the Charles River Boat Company’s two-hour architectural tour along Boston Harbor, the Charles River Locks, and the Charles River basin.

Only in New England

If you have teens visiting, we can almost guarantee that they will want to visit Salem. Reserve tickets for the ultra-popular Salem Witch Museum, with an immersive and decidedly creepy depiction of the events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and a separate exhibition, “Witches: Evolving Perceptions,” exploring the changing meaning of the word witch. While in town, you can get your aura read and pick up spell books and potions at several outlets.

On the beach

Whether it’s summer or fall in New England, you’ll want to take your guests to the beach. You’ll score lots of street cred with the kiddos if you take them to OOB (Old Orchard Beach), an old-fashioned, honky-tonk seaside town in southern Maine. You can’t beat the beach, with seven miles of soft white sand. But there’s more, including an historic 500-foot-long pier, lined with souvenir shops, bars and restaurants, and Palace Playland, the only beachside amusem*nt park in New England. The park has arcade games and more than 25 rides, including kiddie rides, roller coasters and a hand-painted merry-go-round. Even adults enjoy the Ferris Wheel, with bird’s-eye views of the ocean and coastline. Cotton candy, anyone?

We love ourselves a bit of honky-tonk fun, but let’s say your adult visitors’ tastes are a bit more refined. We’d suggest a day at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate. This grand 59-room mansion, set on 165 acres, was modeled after a 17th-century English country house. Take a tour of the estate, and stroll through the restored Allee and manicured gardens, and across the sweeping lawn that leads to the ocean. Trails lead to beautiful Crane Beach, sprawling more than 1,200 acres, with miles of barrier beach, sand dunes, salt marshes, and maritime forests.

In the mountains

And we have mountains! Guests willing, we reserve one day to play in the peaks. Usually, we head straight for the White Mountains of New Hampshire. For nonstop adventures, you can’t beat Lincoln, N.H., set on the western slopes of the White Mountains. There are gondola rides, hiking, dirt biking, an outdoor Ninja course, and glacial caves to explore at Loon Mountain Resort. Don’t miss the unique (and infamous) Clark’s Bears, with a live bear show, arcade games, train ride, and amusem*nt rides. You can go on a moose safari with Pemi Valley Moose Tours, and take a train ride through the mountains on the Granite State Scenic Railway. Alpine Adventures has a 240-foot above-ground zipline course and offers off-road tours in a six-wheel Swiss Army Pinzgauer. And there’s tons of hiking in the area, including the flat Lincoln Woods Trail, along the Pemigewasset River.

For a more sedate (but no less interesting) day in the mountains, we take adult guests on a road trip. Head up I-93 through Franconia Notch, with stops at Flume Gorge, with a two-mile boardwalk loop trail through a natural chasm with 90-foot granite walls; The Basin, a large pothole in the Pemigewasset River, and The Old Man of the Mountain Profile Plaza. If you have time, continue on Route 302 to the grand Omni Mount Washington Resort. A drink on the historic hotel’s wraparound porch, overlooking the Presidential Mountain Range, is always a good idea. Complete the journey, traveling through picturesque Crawford Notch, with a stop, and perhaps a short hike, at the Appalachian Mountain Club Highland Center.

Or you can throw your guests the cars keys, pin a few spots on their navigational app, and send them on their way. And miss all the fun? Naw.

Diane Bair and Pamela Wright can be reached at bairwright@gmail.com