How to Spend 24 Hours in Boston: Boston Travel Guide

Boston: the city I continue to return to and love more and more every time! Last week, my boyfriend and I took a little road trip from New Jersey to New England. Our first stop on the road trip was good old Boston. We arrived to Boston on a Sunday evening and departed Tuesday morning. We gave ourselves one FULL DAY to explore the city, enjoy lots of food, and sightsee. Want to know how we spent the perfect 24 hours in Boston? Keep on reading to see where we ate the most delicious food, took artsy photos, saw the best views, and more Boston fun!

NIGHT ONE

North End (Little Italy of Boston)

Before arriving to the city, I made a dinner reservation for two at an Italian Restaurant in the North End. I always crave pasta when I visit Boston, and they have many great options to chose from here. We dined at Casarecce Ristorante for the first time during our recent visit, and both enjoyed our dishes. I have eaten at a few Italian eateries in the North End before including Giacamo’s, Vinoteca di Monica, and Florentine Cafe. I recommend all of these as we enjoyed delicious pasta dishes in the ambience of Boston’s exciting Little Italy.

casarecce boston — fresh bread at Casarecce Ristorante

Dinner at Casarecce Ristorante

While we were waiting for our reservation time to come, we walked around Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market, which is not too far from the North End. We wandered the crowded streets of the North End and then made our way to Casarecce. The restaurant is small but quaint, and seemed quieter than the neighboring restaurants in the North End. We dined indoors and tables were a bit small, but gave us no issue. The restaurant seemed a little short staffed when we visited, so we waited more than a few minutes for our water. The waiter did apologize for that (which really was no big deal), and was overall very friendly and welcoming. At Casarecce, they start you with fresh bread and olive oil which is delicious. Some of the dishes are made with handmade pasta, and some are not. We both chose dishes made with fresh pasta. I ordered the gnocchi pesto ($24). The portion was pretty big, and the handmade gnocchi was very soft and decadent. The sauce was different from traditional basil pesto as it was pretty creamy and garlicky. My boyfriend ordered the chicken cacciatore ($24), which he enjoyed as well. This dish is lighter as it is not served in a rich cream sauce, but rather a rosemary-balsamic red wine glaze. This dish includes tender chicken breast, sautéed mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes, over handmade casarecce pasta. Overall, we enjoyed our meals here, and the prices ($21-$32/entree) were pretty in-line with the rest of the eateries we’ve been to in the North End.

Casarecce Rating

Food: 4.6/5
Service: 4.6/5
Atmosphere: 4.6/5
Overall: 4.6/5

Dessert at Mike’s Pastry

mike's pastry boston — Mike’s Pastry in the North End

Cannoli’s at Mike’s Pastry are a MUST when visiting Boston! They truly are the best (and biggest) cannoli’s I have personally ever eaten. At $5 per cannoli (cash only at the North End location), I can vouch that they are worth every penny. With so many flavors/fillings to choose from, plus other pastries, cookies, cakes etc… Mike’s Pastry is one of my favorite spots in Boston to grab a sweet treat.

The Next Day: A Full Day Exploring Boston

I am so happy we decided to visit Boston in October, because the fall foliage really makes it even better here! With this being our only full day in Boston, we knew we needed to prepare for a lot of walking. We had a great day wandering around the city (and eating of course). Here’s how we spent a full day in Boston.

Breakfast in Cambridge & Visiting Harvard University

We opted for a simple yet delicious smoothie bowl from Playa Bowls in downtown Cambridge. As a NJ-native, I am a huge fan of Playa Bowls and am happy to know you can get them in Boston as well. After breakfast, we walked around the Cambridge area which is full of shops, restaurants and bustling crowds of locals, students, and tourists walking around. I recommend walking around the famous Harvard University Campus as it truly is one of the nicest campuses with lots of history and stunning architecture. This is also a great spot for some artsy photos.

Parking in Downtown Boston for the Day

Following our lovely stroll through Cambridge, we drove over to downtown Boston where we spent the rest of our day. I recommend downloading the SpotHero app on your phone as it informs you of all available parking garages around the city, and their rates. We purchased parking for the entire day at The Garage at 10 St. James in Boston’s Back Bay area. It was only $18.75 for the entire day through the SpotHero app. Another garage we like in Boston is the Garage at Post Office Square.

The Boston Public Garden

If you park at St. James, it is only about a three minute walk to the Boston Public Garden. The Public Garden is great for a leisurely stroll with a touch of nature. The spacious grassy areas are great for picnicking, and there are many benches throughout the garden as well. There are historical monuments/statues in the garden, as well as a large body of water, a photogenic footbridge you can cross, flowers, and more beauty. My boyfriend and I spent about 20-30 minutes walking through here and enjoyed the scenery.

The Boston Common

From the Public Garden you can walk a few minutes over to the Boston Common. This is a huge grassy park that offers nice views of the city, space for outdoor activities, a carousel, and more. They also have public restrooms here which is great to know when you are walking around the city all day. We walked through the Boston Common for roughly 20-30 minutes and then we were on our way to the next spot!

Beacon Hill District

chicken, squash and maple salad at Tatte

From the Boston Common, we walked about ten minutes over to the famous Beacon Hill District. Acorn Street, in the heart of Beacon Hill, is one of the most iconic streets for photography in Boston and the entire country. We made sure to check it out again during our recent visit. Acorn Street takes you back in time as it is one of the few streets left with a traditional cobblestone road. Lined with red brick homes and aesthetic doorsteps, Acorn Street is definitely worth a visit if you are in Boston. Most of the streets in Beacon Hill are full a beautiful homes and you can easily spend hours enjoying the scenery here. Charles Street is the main street in Beacon Hill with plenty of shops and eateries. We grabbed a quick lunch at Tatte on Charles Street, a local bakery and cafe chain here in Boston. They offer fresh baked pastries and breads, yummy sandwiches, salads, and more. We love eating at Tatte when we visit Boston! Brimmer Street is another aesthetic street for photos as well.

Boston Public Library

We walked on Beacon Street (another street with aesthetic homes), and made our way to the Boston Public Library. This was our first time visiting the famous library, and it did not disappoint. Entry is free for the library, and you can easily spend an hour or more here if you really want to take it all in. There are numerous rooms to walk through, all offering beautiful architecture. Also, there tends to be a lot of students and locals studying/working here. Bates Hall, the main room where we saw people working, is beautiful and lined with many book cases. I highly recommend checking out the Boston Public Library, which is located by Copley Square.

Commonwealth Avenue Mall

From the library we walked over to the beautiful Commonwealth Ave which is lined with many brownstones. This is another one of my favorite photo spots in Boston! Commonwealth Ave is very picturesque and most of the homes really do-up their doorsteps for fall with aesthetic decor and shrubbery. The fall foliage really topped off our view of this beautiful street as well. In the middle of the street is a long pathway called the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. There are numerous statues throughout this path, as well as benches to sit and enjoy the ambience.

Newbury Street

Just about two blocks from Commonwealth Ave is Newbury Street. This street is full of shops, restaurants, cafe’s and more. If you are looking to spend some money or just window shop, this is the street for you! Last year when we visited, we ate at a few places on Newbury Street: Mother Juice (smoothie bowls, juice…) and Stephanie’s on Newbury (comfort food/good for dinner). This is also where we like to get our favorite ice cream at Emack & Bolio’s (but we saved that for after dinner).

Fenway Park

Fenway Park is about a 15-20 minute walk from Newbury Street, so we headed over there for the evening. When we visited on Monday, the Boston Red Sox had a game going on, so the Fenway area was packed and lively with fans. The Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood is fun to walk through with all the popping restaurants/bars, and hangout spots.

A Casual Dinner at Chilacates

It was approaching dinner time when we decided to leave the Fenway area. We decided to keep the walking going and head to the South End neighborhood of Boston. This is about thirty minutes away by foot from Fenway. We grabbed a casual dinner at Chilacates, a local Mexican Restaurant. They have a few locations throughout Boston, but we decided to dine at the South End one. We both ordered burritos and for a fast-casual restaurant, the flavor was pretty good and we enjoyed this spot. If you aren’t into walking that far for dinner, there are plenty of places to eat in the Fenway-Kenmore area, on Newbury Street, and in the Brookline neighborhood. A few months ago when we visited, we had dinner at Bar ‘Cino in Brookline which has delicious pizza/flatbread and pasta dishes, and is only about a 10-15 minute walk from Fenway Park.

Chilacates Mexican restaurant in South End

Dessert at Emack & Bolio’s

Yup, we really walked another 20-25 minutes just to get ice cream on a chilly fall night (we really like our ice cream). Emack & Bolio’s has a location on Newbury Street that we enjoy going to. I love going all in when I come here and getting one of the speciality cones with two large scoops of delicious ice cream. I have no shame in my almost $10 ice cream cone! It always tastes so good! Other dessert places we like are of course Mike’s Pastry for Cannoli’s, but also, Modern Pastry. Modern Pastry is located in the North End across from Mike’s, and also serves up delicious pastries. We had some yummy cakes from Mike’s during a past visit to Boston and really enjoyed them.

Boston: One of my Favorite Cities

Overall, there are so many amazing restaurants, bakeries, streets, sights to see, etc… in Boston. It would be hard to do it all in one day, but we feel we really saw a lot of the main treasures Boston has to offer during our 24 hours in the city. I will continue to return to this city every so often as it truly never gets old to me!

CHECK OUT MY VLOG ON YOUTUBE OF OUR TRIP TO BOSTON!

Other Things to Do in Boston

The Seaport District/Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum
The Full Freedom Trail (we only saw some points during our stay this time – I recommend checking out the Bunker Hill Monument)
Brookline Neighborhood (quaint and has some nice restaurants)
USS Constitution and Museum (a part of the Freedom Trail)
Charles River Esplanade