3 days with 7 y/o

Is this too ambitious of an itinerary?

Thursday- flight arrives late afternoon. 1. Boston common/garden 2. Harvard Square for dinner.

Friday-- 1. brunch chinatown 2. either harbour cruise or ferry to uss constitution. 3. aquarium 4. children%26#39;s museum (since its free after 5 and open late) 5. not sure about dinner

Saturday-- 1. duck tour 2. museum of science 3. freedom trail 4. faneuil hall late lunch 5. mapparium 6. 5 wits 7. north end for dinner

(weather forecast 60% rain)

Sunday-- 1. whale watching (weather permitting) I%26#39;m not sure I want to do this. Sounds like fun, but I get sea-sick easily. weather says 25% chance rain. If we don%26#39;t go whale watching --I%26#39;m not sure what to do.

Oh, by the way, we%26#39;re staying at the Sheraton Boston and we%26#39;re using the Boston Go Card.

Any tips/suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

3 days with 7 y/o

Looks good. A couple of siggestions:

1. if you get sea-sick easily I would not go on a whale-watching tour unless you pop a Dramamine or something of that nature.

2. on Thursday checking into the hotel and Harvard Square for dinner will take up most of the late afternon and evening. Do the Common and Public Garden on Sunday if you decide not to go whale-watching.

3 days with 7 y/o

A tour of Fenway Park might be fun.

boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/ballpark/tour.jsp

I would move dinner in Harvard Square to Friday or Saturday when more of the jugglers, magicians and musicians are likely to be on the street. A 7 year old would love this.

Whale watching is great but if you%26#39;re prone to seasickness, you might want to reconsider or at least take something especially if the water%26#39;s choppy. There are shorter harbor cruises that don%26#39;t involve whales but can be enjoyable nonetheless.

For such an ambitious itinerary, I would skip the whale watch. You%26#39;ll need the 4+ hours elsewhere. You have a ';pile up'; of things there on Saturday that you could use on Sunday instead of the whale watch. As of right now, Saturday isn%26#39;t looking so good. I would suggest taking the Duck Tour early, then do a Museum of Science and Aquarium doubleheader.

Friday could be the Constitution cruise and then follow the Freedom Trail ';backwards'; into Boston from Charlestown. Then head to the Children%26#39;s Museum that night.

Thursday would be nice just to walk around the Back Bay where you%26#39;ll be staying. Walk over to the Public Garden and check that out. It%26#39;s also a good time to look around for breakfast places you might want to hit in the coming days since you%26#39;ll be close by your hotel. Definitely avoid eating at the Sheraton. Rip off.

Sunday, after breakfast, walk over to the Mapparium and then head off to Harvard Square. After that, head over to Fanueil Hall and hang out there. Then it%26#39;s a short walk to the North End for dinner. As always, it%26#39;s just suggestions, so do it the way you want to. Enjoy your vacation and Boston. :)

Saturday looks REALLY ambitious to me.

How old are your kids? Mine are 9 and 11 and for the past 3+ years, we%26#39;ve had a membership at the Museum of Science and they could easily spend 4+ hours in the Museum of Science each time we go.

Faneiul Hall on a Saturday is much more than a lunch spot ... there%26#39;s lots of pushcarts and some small stores which kids LOVE to shop ... and there%26#39;s street performers. You%26#39;d probably need to adopt a serious drill-sergeant attitude to get your family to Faneuil Hall, fed and back on the touring plan in under an hour, kwim?

And the Freedom Trail is so subjective as to how long it takes. Many people don%26#39;t realize that the ';Freedom Trail'; is a bunch of different historical sites linked by a painted line on the sidewalk that helps people navigate from site to site ... it%26#39;s not something you %26#39;do%26#39; in 45 minutes or an hour.

If you just walk and glance at the attractions .... from the Common to BunkerHill Monument ... you%26#39;re looking at 2+ hours (if you aren%26#39;t a runner) but you might want to stop and read a plaque or look at a gravestone (some of the old ones are quite interesting--my kids always loved the pictures from the time they were young) or walk INTO a building (like the Old North Church) actually look at something inside the Muesum at the at Bunker Hill. For a REAL history buff who wants to %26#39;see it all%26#39;, the Freedom trail is a 2-day event.

Just something to think about ... happy planning, enjoy your stay.

Ooops ... just realized your topic contained your child%26#39;s age ... there%26#39;s lots of things to interest at 7yo at the Museum of Science.

Also ... with regards to the whale watch/choppy water ... you can%26#39;t always judge what the ride will be like based on what you see in the harbor. Sometimes the harbor will look calm, and you get out beyond it (to get to the whales) and you find major chop. Wind creates chop. Sometiems a storm passing MILES out and not affecting the weather on land will also create chop.

On your Freedom Trail visit or when you take the ferry to the Charlestown, make sure you walk up the 294 steps at the Bunker Hill Monument, take a tour on the USS Constitution and visit the hands-on USS Constitution Museum. All three of these exhibits are free (but they would gladly take a donation) . In USS Constitution Museum on the second floor there is a whole section for hands on play. I think your 7 year old will enjoy it.

Have Fun - Enjoy the City!

olay regenerist