Can We Do These 2 Photo-ops in Boston in an Hour?

[Cruising Jedi]

We might have about 1 hour in Boston before we have to head for the ship, and my kids want the following Photo Ops: Out front of the famous Cheers bar sign, and on the grounds of Harvard, lol.

 

We will be returning to Boston in June and are going to delve into it more then, the tours etc. But this is nearly like a scavenger hunt thing they want to accomplish when we are in the Saturday morning before our cruise.

 

I am wondering if any Boston experts can tell me can we do this, or would these two locations be difficult or time consuming to get to in an hour?

 

I am having fun looking at maps and stuff, but an inside perspective always helps. :)

[138east]

That's going to be tough. Are you driving, taking the T, or hiring a cab? What is your starting point and why do you only have an hour?

 

Round trip to Harvard is at least an hour.

[Cruising Jedi]

I just want to say you're awesome, 138east.

 

We are going to still have our rental car I think...then again I have heard it is crazy to drive in Boston so maybe a cab?? We only have an hour because we should arrive in Boston around 11:00 (driving) and the travel agent said to board 12:00-12:30. Just seemed like if we could possibly squeeze those things in, at least its better than sitting in the terminal right?

 

Our starting point can be the best place for a starting point to be, lol, assuming we can just drive right in and begin.

[1025cruise]

Well, there's no good place to park at Cheers, or at Harvard..... If you were planning on arriving in town at 11:00, I'd head straight to the dock. Odds are they will just be starting to board.

[fredflint]

don't worry about boarding there is really not much to do when you first get onboard not sure what time the ship leaves but I would plan on boarding 2 hours before the end of boarding and spend more time at Harvard and the Cheers bar, MIT is just down the street from Harvard so you might want to swing by there too. Weekend traffic is not as bad as during the week. Parking is difficult so a cab might be the best way to go, I used to work on Mass ave by MIT and we used to get parking tickets every day but the joke was on them as the ticket cost less than a parking lot !

[138east]

What route are you taking to Boston? If you have a rental car, you also have to get rid of that AND get to the pier - what are your plans for that? As 1025cruise points out, parking is an issue near both destinations.

 

Do you have a GPS? Both Boston and Cambridge are a mess of random streets with many being one way and very often not the way you want to go.

[j603]

Boston is a nightmare to get around even when you are from here, forget about if you aren't. It was designed to confuse.Then throw in any variation, like a Red Sox game then look out! Lol

[138east]

I agree. Signs are poor. When we first moved here the philosophy of the area seemed to be "if you don't know where you're going, you don't belong here!". And of course there were the Big Dig years where everything was chaos downtown and the available routes changed daily.

[luvscruising2007]

I am reminded of a funny story. We were in Boston many years ago, at least 25 years. We were coming off of a bridge and there were about 5 different roads to follow. Well, one had a sign "do not enter", one had a sign "one way", there was a no right turn. We just started laughing hysterically because it was indeed a puzzle to figure out where we should go. Boston is crazy.