Boston in early October

Any advice for the Boston area in early October? Where to stay? We are doing a airbnb. Getting around Boston itself will most likely be like any big city so any advice on parking would be helpful.

Really interested in the historical sites, lobster, whale watching (saw a tour - if possible?), the coast area, lobster, would love some Boston skyline shots - day and night. Oh, and lobster if I had not mentioned it.

I want to avoid the tourist traps (don't we all) so any advice will be great!

Thanks everyone!

Cab or Uber would be your best bet. Parking is expensive and many of the garages are tight go park and a lot of people don't care so expect dings on your car if you go that route. Not saying it will happen but it could.

As for attractions, Codzilla is pretty fun and so is the duck tour. Super duck tour is the newest one and not the original duck tour. The there's whale watches if you are interested in that and the Aquarium which is pretty fun.

Faneuil hall is nice and a lot usually goes on around there. Quincy market is great for food. Just go in there and check out which restaurant you want to try. I haven't had a negative experience in there in the past 10+years. There's all kinds of food and good lobster too.

North end, or as we call it, little Italy, has TONs of restaurants and bakery's. All are really good and again, nothing but positive experience from me. Mike's Pastry is a popular one but I avoid it since there are tons of other bakery's around that area that are great but without the crowd. Just don't go to any chain restaurants over there.

Faneuil hall, aquarium, little italy, and the Boston harbor are all walking distance so that's why I said to Uber it. I don't use Airbnb so I really can suggest where to stay. Tell us what you find and we can go from there.

Seaport is a bit pricey for restaurants like Del Frisco's but it's good. There's also Jery Remys which is really good and average price. But parking in the garage is $40 and you get a good view of the harbor. That's about a 20-30 min walk from Faneuil Hall.

Boston Commons is a nice relaxing place. Not as nice as NYC Central Park but I like it a lot. And I do go there whenever I have time to just relax for a few hours.

I also know a lot of tourist wants to check out Cheers but as someone who have lived here, I have never been there. Not my interest.

Charlestown Navy Yard is where I go a good photo of Boston skyline. If you walk behind the Aquarium. You can get some good shots of Boston as well. Sorrow drive is also another nice place to go but parking is not easy there.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tips!

If you can get around on mass transit sufficiently, do so! Boston has a nice 'underground' system, the MTBA. You can even get into Boston from the airport via the MTBA Silver line, and connect to other lines at South/Tufts/Boylston/D​owntown Crossing stations.

Be sure to see the USS Constitution, which is still a vessel in the active US Navy and was recently restored, whose hull simply caused a pirate ship's cannonball to bounce off...they immediately surrendered. The hop-on-hop-off buses are a nice alternative to catch the highlights and stop where it appeals to you.

I have been there for work. I walk around as much as I can. Chinatown has some nice restaurants, Gourmet Dumpling House (52 Beach Street) is quite good and I go there when I'm able to do so. Around the Navy Yard is Bunker Hill.

The USS Constitution seemed to be going a major refit back in May.

Here are links to my pictures from various trips, the images are geo tagged so you can see where I was when I took them.

https://www.flickr.com …/albums/7215766​9918536963
https://www.flickr.com …/albums/7215765​6639094216
https://www.flickr.com …/albums/7215764​8429857603

I just checked and the USS Constitution is indeed currently in drydock thru 2017, but USS CONSTITUTION is OPEN for public visitation:
(Summer hours are in effect from April 1, 2016 to October 1, 2016)
OPEN TUESDAY - FRIDAY, 2:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.
OPEN SATURDAY - SUNDAY, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
CLOSED MONDAY

"USS CONSTITUTION has relocated from her berth at Pier 1 in Charlestown Navy Yard to Dry Dock 1, also located in Charlestown Navy Yard (next to the USS CONSTITUTION Museum), for a 2+ year planned restoration period. 'Old Ironsides' enters dry dock roughly every 15-20 years, providing visitors a most rare experience of viewing CONSTITUTION's exposed hull out of the water!
While the ship is in dry dock for restoration, visitors will get the opportunity to board 'Old Ironsides' and explore her top (spar) deck and take photos by the ship's wheel and bell. As always, visitors will have the opportunity to interact with CONSTITUTION's crew of active duty U.S. Navy Sailors who will be available on board the ship, as well as dockside and inside the nearby USS CONSTITUTION Museum. These Sailors will explain and answer questions about the ship's history, talk about the ongoing restoration work, and share how CONSTITUTION has been restored in the past!"

Ordinarily you can go belowdecks, but not during refit.

Wilt wrote in post #18129526
I just checked and the USS Constitution is indeed currently in drydock thru 2017, but USS CONSTITUTION is OPEN for public visitation:
(Summer hours are in effect from April 1, 2016 to October 1, 2016)
OPEN TUESDAY - FRIDAY, 2:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.
OPEN SATURDAY - SUNDAY, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
CLOSED MONDAY

"USS CONSTITUTION has relocated from her berth at Pier 1 in Charlestown Navy Yard to Dry Dock 1, also located in Charlestown Navy Yard (next to the USS CONSTITUTION Museum), for a 2+ year planned restoration period. 'Old Ironsides' enters dry dock roughly every 15-20 years, providing visitors a most rare experience of viewing CONSTITUTION's exposed hull out of the water!
While the ship is in dry dock for restoration, visitors will get the opportunity to board 'Old Ironsides' and explore her top (spar) deck and take photos by the ship's wheel and bell. As always, visitors will have the opportunity to interact with CONSTITUTION's crew of active duty U.S. Navy Sailors who will be available on board the ship, as well as dockside and inside the nearby USS CONSTITUTION Museum. These Sailors will explain and answer questions about the ship's history, talk about the ongoing restoration work, and share how CONSTITUTION has been restored in the past!"

Ordinarily you can go belowdecks, but not during refit.

Hopefully, they don't forget Joshua Humphreys' diagonal bracing this time