00:00 ten things to know before you go to
00:01 Boston I'm Chris this is yellow
00:03 productions I do travel guides that are
00:05 fun informative entertaining this video
00:07 it's part of my series of things to know
00:09 about great cities in the world where I
00:11 tell you everything you need to know to
00:12 visit including how to get in how to get
00:14 out what to eat what to do and even
00:16 where to stay but in this video I'm
00:18 talking all about Boston so first let's
00:21 start with some general information
00:22 about Boston Boston is the capital of
00:24 the u.s. state of Massachusetts it is in
00:27 New England which is the northeast of
00:30 the United States the nickname of Boston
00:33 is Beantown because the early residents
00:36 of Boston really love to eat baked beans
00:38 baked in molasses but by the way nobody
00:41 here actually calls it Beantown anymore
00:43 visiting Boston is like visiting a
00:45 history class in person Boston is the
00:47 cradle of much of the United States's
00:49 history including playing a significant
00:51 role in the American Revolution it has
00:53 the first public library in the United
00:55 States and the first lighthouse Boston
00:58 is a city of neighborhoods was
00:59 twenty-three distinct neighborhoods so
01:01 there's lots of different character
01:03 around the city you'll find a ton of
01:04 parks public green space is 17% of
01:07 Boston you are never more than a half
01:09 mile from a park it's a very compact
01:12 city so compact that actually 13% of the
01:15 citizens here commute to work by foot
01:18 giving Boston the highest percentage of
01:20 pedestrian commuters in major cities in
01:22 the United States the second thing to
01:24 know is about the top attractions in
01:25 Boston and Boston's biggest attraction
01:27 it's the Freedom Trail it is a two and a
01:30 half mile trail through Boston that goes
01:32 through 16 of Boston's major historical
01:35 sites there's a red brick line that you
01:37 can follow along and it'll bring you to
01:39 Fanueil Hall the Paul Revere house and
01:42 the Old North Church if you're coming to
01:44 Boston and you're gonna do one thing
01:46 take a walk along the Freedom Trail if
01:49 you take the Freedom Trail to the end
01:51 it'll take you to the north end the home
01:53 of Boston's Little Italy district make
01:56 sure to get a cannoli from Mike's pastry
01:57 or modern pastry get lunch or get dinner
02:00 the Italian food here is really good the
02:02 next big attractions where I'm standing
02:04 it's Boston Common it is the United
02:06 States of America's first public park it
02:09 was founded in 1634 it's a big grassy
02:13 there's a big parking garage underneath
02:14 it so if you're looking for someplace to
02:16 park because you're driving into the
02:17 city you can park in here and oh by the
02:19 way if you're looking for something eat
02:21 and I'm going to talk about food later
02:22 but because I'm standing right by
02:23 there's an Earl of Sandwich in this
02:25 little kiosk right here which is one of
02:27 my favorite sandwiches anywhere check
02:29 out the Earl's club it's a really good
02:31 hot sandwich and right next to Boston
02:33 Common is the Boston Public Garden this
02:36 was the United States first Botanic
02:39 Garden founded in 1837 and while Boston
02:42 Common is better for a picnic or
02:43 lounging around the Boston Public Garden
02:45 is better for a stroll or a jog
02:48 pretty neat garden has got a lake in the
02:51 and it's got this iconic bridge right
02:53 here if you're a presidential history
02:55 buff you'll want to check out the JFK
02:57 Presidential Library all about the life
02:59 of the 35th US president it's a little
03:03 bit off the beaten path but if you like
03:04 presidential libraries you should
03:06 definitely check out this one Beacon
03:08 Hill which is just on the other side of
03:09 Boston's public garden just behind me is
03:12 known as Boston's most beautiful
03:13 neighborhood known for its charming
03:15 narrow cobblestone streets federal-style
03:17 rowhouses and gas-lit street lamps to
03:20 get there if you're in Boston come and
03:21 walk through the public guard and cross
03:23 that bridge that I showed you earlier
03:24 and just go down Beacon Street in about
03:27 a quarter of a mile
03:28 you'll be at Beacon Hill sports fans
03:30 will want to make a pilgrimage to Fenway
03:31 Park home to the Boston Red Sox built in
03:35 it's the oldest major league baseball
03:37 stadium still in use today and back to
03:40 the Freedom Trail I'm gonna be doing
03:41 each scene in this video at a different
03:42 spot along the Freedom Trail so if
03:44 you're kind of looking to follow along
03:46 start here in Boston comment at the
03:49 Visitor Center actually if you go into
03:51 Google Maps and you just type in Freedom
03:52 Trail you will find it and if you're
03:54 looking for the walk well you can just
03:56 follow the tourist hordes that way if
03:58 you don't want to do it by yourself
03:59 you can join walking tours there's often
04:01 neatly dressed people that'll stand out
04:04 around here that'll be happy to guide
04:05 you on a walking tour for a few bucks
04:08 but Chris where's that red brick line
04:09 you were talking about it's right here
04:12 it starts at the Visitor Center then you
04:14 can follow it right along this way can I
04:17 follow it backwards oh this will
04:19 probably be dangerous
04:21 and the third thing to know for Boston
04:22 is about food Boston is a foodie city
04:24 and there's a lot of great food in
04:26 Boston where should you go to get great
04:28 food well it's touristy but it's a mecca
04:30 for food its Quincy Market its Boston's
04:33 like original food hall it has 35
04:36 different vendors and some people might
04:39 say it's an expensive food court which
04:41 it is and it can get really busy but
04:44 it's a great option if you're doing the
04:45 Freedom Trail because it's kind of along
04:47 the way and you can stop in and get a
04:49 lot of tasty treats but what should you
04:51 definitely eat when you're in Boston
04:52 well you should definitely eat the
04:54 seafood the seafood in Boston is amazing
04:57 and what do I have here I have a lobster
04:59 roll and I have a Boston chowder on New
05:04 England clam chowder which is a white
05:05 chowder we'll look at that in a moment
05:07 but Lobster is particularly famous in
05:10 Boston and the New England area and
05:13 lobster rolls often come in two
05:15 varieties this is a cold lobster roll
05:17 I'm gonna show you a hot lobster roll
05:20 but the cold lobster roll it's on kind
05:23 of what looks like a hot dog bun it's
05:26 chilled lobster meat mayonnaise and it's
05:29 also got some lettuce down in there so
05:32 let's dive into this
05:36 so there's a lot of lobster meat in it
05:39 sometimes you need get lobster roll
05:40 they're too heavy on the Mayo lots of
05:43 big chunks of lobster in here the roll
05:45 is really good its buttery and the
05:47 lettuce I wouldn't even know it's there
05:49 and wash this all down with the lemonade
05:53 this was $26 from the wicked lobster
05:57 company which is also the same as the
06:00 Boston chowder company so let me dive
06:02 into this New England chowder the
06:06 chowder is really good its creamy its
06:09 flavorful and it's got that clam taste
06:12 it's got potatoes it's got lots of great
06:14 ingredients in it honestly I like the
06:19 chowder better than the lobster roll
06:21 because I'm not a huge lobster fan but I
06:25 do think you do have to get the lobster
06:28 rolls when you're here to pro tips if
06:30 you're coming to eat at Quincy Market
06:31 first comment off hours if you're coming
06:33 for lunch try to get here before 11:30
06:36 or after 2:00 and there's seating
06:39 upstairs walk up the stairs and find the
06:41 seating up here it'll be way less
06:43 crowded than the seating downstairs now
06:45 my seems slightly less than excited
06:47 about that cold lobster I was just
06:49 eating well it's because last night I
06:50 had an amazing hot lobster roll a Yankee
06:53 lobster fish market this is down in the
06:55 Seaport District so it's a little bit
06:57 off the beaten tourist path but they
06:59 specialize in lobster rolls at this
07:01 place and the hot lobster roll was $26
07:04 it came with french fries but it was
07:06 Lobster and butter and
07:08 roll and it was truly delicious so a
07:10 lobster roll cost more at Yangtze
07:12 Lobster but it was actually quite
07:14 amazing so if you find yourself in the
07:16 Seaport District check out Yankee
07:18 lobster so at this point you must be
07:20 thinking to yourself isn't there
07:21 something else other to eat than lobster
07:24 rolls and clam chowder in Boston yes
07:26 there's a ton of other things to eat
07:28 other than lobster rolls and clam
07:29 chowder seafood in general is really
07:31 great you'll find a lot of seafood
07:32 restaurants with more than just Lobster
07:34 the Italian food is amazing I mentioned
07:37 the end of the Freedom Trail the north
07:38 end great place for Italian food but
07:40 you'll find great Italian food around
07:42 the city in addition to Italian food
07:43 boston is known for Italian pastries in
07:46 particular cannolis there are two places
07:48 that are famous for cannolis modern
07:51 pastry and Mike's pastry so I got the
07:53 cannoli here from modern pastry they
07:55 kind of wrap it up nice in this box and
07:57 put this little string around it to make
07:59 it so I guess you don't like eat it too
08:01 much as you're going home so I got to
08:03 destroy this and get to the cannoli and
08:05 here we go the traditional one is $3.75
08:08 they make it as you order it so the
08:10 shells are separate and the ricotta
08:11 separate they have a whole bunch of
08:13 different flavors and variety I just
08:15 like the traditional which is regular
08:17 ricotta powdered sugar in this let's
08:23 mmm-hmm it's really good ma'am you
08:27 didn't know this was ricotta cheese you
08:29 wouldn't know was cheese it's really
08:30 amazing ever since I had these in Boston
08:34 from Mike's pastry the other one I've
08:37 been looking for cannolis that are just
08:39 as good and I cannot find them mmm
08:44 except maybe in Italy nope hmm even if
08:49 you don't like cannolis I suggest you
08:52 give one of these a try it really might
08:54 change your mind you should know about
08:55 Dunkin Donuts Boston runs on Dunkin
08:58 Donuts why is that because Dunkin Donuts
09:00 was actually started here in Boston and
09:02 yes it seems like there's a Dunkin
09:04 Donuts on almost every street corner
09:06 Dunkin Donuts in addition to being known
09:09 for their doughnuts is also really well
09:11 known for their coffee one thing you
09:13 won't find in Boston is happy hour happy
09:15 hour is illegal in Boston there's
09:18 actually a law that prohibits
09:19 restaurants and bars from selling timed
09:22 deals on alcoholic drinks so if you do
09:26 come after work what you'll find you'll
09:28 find deals on food but you'll never find
09:31 a time deal on alcoholic beverages the
09:33 fourth thing to know is about getting
09:35 into Boston chances are if you're flying
09:37 into Boston you'll be coming into Boston
09:39 Logan Airport where is it we can
09:41 probably hear the plane above me right
09:42 now that's the financial district of
09:44 Boston and just across the harbor right
09:47 here Boston Logan Airport it's just
09:49 right there it's three short miles from
09:51 the financial district of Boston which
09:53 makes it really easy and convenient to
09:55 fly into and get into the city so how do
09:58 you get into the city from there well
10:00 you got a few major options you can take
10:02 the subway there's the blue line you
10:03 have to take a little shuttle bus to
10:05 take the blue line there's also this
10:06 thing called the Silver Line which is
10:08 like a hybrid bus subway you can take
10:12 that to South Station the main station
10:14 Boston and then go from there the best
10:16 part about taking the Silver Line it's
10:18 free for passengers arriving at the
10:19 airport if you're taking uber lyft or
10:23 it'll cost you about $30 to get from the
10:25 airport into the city even though it's
10:27 not very far there's
10:28 and also taxis in Boston they're
10:31 notoriously expensive if you want to do
10:33 something more unique you can take the
10:35 MBTA Harbor Express
10:37 it's a ferry that'll take you across the
10:38 harbor to downtown Boston in just seven
10:41 minutes it's really convenient if you're
10:43 staying in the Seaport District or the
10:45 financial district another great way to
10:47 get into Boston is to take the Amtrak
10:49 train you can take Amtrak from New York
10:51 City it'll get you to Boston in just
10:52 four hours you could also take Amtrak
10:54 from Portland Maine also four hours to
10:57 Boston if you're driving from New York
10:59 City takes a little longer it takes five
11:01 hours the fifth thing you know is about
11:02 getting around Boston and navigating
11:05 Boston is kind of like navigating a maze
11:07 if you don't have some kind of map
11:09 you're gonna have no hope because none
11:11 of the streets here run straight and so
11:14 if you are trying to drive in Boston it
11:17 is a nightmare don't do it don't drive
11:19 in Boston none of the streets are
11:21 straight they're all one ways and they
11:23 always seem to be one way in the way
11:25 that isn't the way that you want to go
11:26 and also if you haven't heard Boston is
11:29 famous for this thing called the Big Dig
11:30 it's like the most expensive highway
11:32 project in any city in the US and it has
11:35 all these tunnels that go underneath
11:36 Boston super hard to navigate you know
11:39 Google Maps doesn't get GPS down there
11:41 and so it's just hard don't drive in
11:44 Boston I warned you now if you are crazy
11:46 enough to drive you'll find very limited
11:48 street parking in Boston where you will
11:50 find parking in parking garages parking
11:52 will be about fifty dollars a day and
11:54 expect to hear car horns a lot if you
11:57 thought step on that gas as soon as the
11:59 light turns green people will be honking
12:01 at you you can also take the subway to
12:03 get around the subway in Boston is the
12:05 United States's first subway built in
12:08 1897 and yes it smells feels and sounds
12:12 just like it it is not the smoothest
12:15 subway actually it's quite bumpy but
12:18 that's part of the charm rides are 275
12:21 or ride the subway lines are color-coded
12:23 there's four main lines the red line
12:25 green line blue line and orange line you
12:27 can buy a 7-day tea pass or you can buy
12:29 a reloadable Charlie card fares are two
12:31 dollars and seventy five cents each but
12:33 you get a fifty cent discount if you buy
12:35 the Charlie card but I will say it's
12:37 often faster to walk than wait for a
12:39 train if you're going around down
12:40 can't take the bus there's plenty of
12:42 buses that run around downtown Boston
12:44 and there's a particularly interesting
12:45 one known as the Silver Line which is
12:47 kind of a bus subway hybrid that's the
12:50 one that I mentioned you can take from
12:51 the airport into the city there's a lot
12:52 of water in Boston so consider fair use
12:54 and water taxis as an option for getting
12:56 around and you'll find uber and lyft to
12:58 be plentiful in the city taxis at the
13:00 major hotels though the best way to get
13:02 around is with your own two feet by
13:04 walking with downtown Boston being just
13:07 2 square miles most of the tourist
13:09 attractions are packed into a very small
13:10 area so walking will be your best friend
13:14 though I will find out the streets and
13:16 sidewalks have a lot of cobblestones and
13:18 bricks so ladies be aware if you're
13:21 the six thing that knows when to go
13:23 summer is peak tourist season that's
13:25 June July in August that's when it's the
13:27 busiest it's also one of the most
13:28 popular locals will recommend coming in
13:31 fall September and October there's less
13:34 people here the leaves are starting to
13:36 that's the quintessential Boston season
13:39 now you could come in winter December
13:41 January February the hotels will be a
13:43 lot cheaper because nobody will be here
13:46 for good reason it is really super cold
13:49 winter is coming actually winter comes
13:51 to Boston it's a significant winter
13:53 every year I warned you spring is also
13:56 another very pleasant season
13:57 temperature-wise though spring does
13:59 bring a lot of rain the biggest holidays
14:02 in Boston number one is st. Patrick's
14:03 Day the second not a holiday but a big
14:06 day the Boston Marathon and then every
14:08 year in December 16th they reenact the
14:11 Boston Tea Party the 7th thing you know
14:13 is about the language and now you might
14:14 be thinking Chris don't they speak
14:15 English in Boston well they do but
14:18 there's a really thick Boston accent and
14:20 there's a really interesting New England
14:22 slang in this region so the Boston
14:24 accent not everybody has it but when you
14:27 hear it you'll definitely know it so now
14:29 let me talk about some of the slang so
14:31 means the first one wicked pissah if you
14:34 hear something's wicked pissah that
14:36 means it's really good
14:37 you saw me eat it that wicked lobster
14:39 that means it was good lobster and
14:41 actually at that restaurant they took
14:43 off the arse at the end and ended them
14:45 with a v' the Boston accent and slang
14:47 typically really doesn't pronounce the
14:50 lobster becomes lobster chowder becomes
14:54 chowder now some more unique words if
14:56 you're looking for a liquor store that
14:58 if you're looking for a sandwich they
15:00 call it a grinder and if you're looking
15:01 to eat dinner well that might be supper
15:04 Oh and then Dunkin Donuts that I
15:05 mentioned the short for that is just
15:07 dunks the eighth thing to know is about
15:09 Wi-Fi the city of Boston has a
15:11 metropolitan Wi-Fi network called wicked
15:14 Wi-Fi I mentioned wicked means good so
15:17 this is like really good Wi-Fi and if
15:20 you just walk it around the city you'll
15:21 see signs that say we could Wi-Fi just
15:24 look for the SSID wicked free Wi-Fi
15:26 the nice thing to know is about hotels
15:28 Boston has a lot of hotels but it's an
15:31 old city so many of them are old and
15:34 historic what's that mean if I mean that
15:37 air-conditioning and elevators might not
15:39 in your hotel of choice so of
15:41 air-conditioning and elevators are
15:43 important to you well make sure to check
15:45 that before you book particularly in an
15:48 air B&B and the 10 thing to know is
15:50 about universities Boston is a college
15:53 town more than 20 colleges call Boston
15:55 home and the most famous ones Harvard
15:58 and MIT they're actually not technically
16:00 in Boston they're across the river in
16:02 Cambridge this river and hold the river
16:03 that's over there but it is worthwhile
16:06 checking out Harvard and MIT I've been
16:09 to both not on this trip but on previous
16:11 trips and I went to MIT to the bookstore
16:13 to get a t-shirt that says MIT why so I
16:16 can wear it around and then when people
16:17 ask me Chris did you go to MIT I can say
16:21 I absolutely did to the bookstore to get
16:23 this t-shirt but the great thing about
16:25 all these students here it makes for a
16:27 lot of cheap eats and a lot of nightlife
16:29 and a lot of kind of twenty-something
16:31 friendly activities so if you find
16:32 yourself in that age group or just
16:34 someone who liked chibis which I am then
16:36 you will enjoy Boston because there's
16:38 over a hundred and forty thousand
16:40 students that call Boston home well
16:42 another thing you might want to know is
16:44 I've got more things to know videos if
16:46 you're planning to go to New York City
16:47 where you're planning to go to
16:48 Washington DC you might enjoy checking
16:50 out my videos on those you'll find links
16:52 description as well I won't say goodbye
16:53 because I'll see you in one of those
