Things to do in Boston

5 hours outside traffic. That means a round trip by train alone eats up around 8 hours, leaving only a handful of hours in the city if attempted in a single day.

Once there, the Freedom Trail is a free, self-guided 4 km route linking 16 historic sites, Fenway Park offers paid guided tours outside game days, and Cambridge and Harvard sit just across the Charles River. An overnight stay is the more realistic way to see Boston without the journey consuming the visit.