Lonely Planet Boston (City Guide) [Paperback]

Mara Vorhees (Author), John Spelman (Author)

Book Description

Series: City Guide | Publication Date: April 1, 2007

Cradle of democracy, Boston continues to drive progressive American culture, with a thriving arts scene and some of the country's top universities. Stroll through history in this eminently walkable city, enjoying lively neighborhoods, emerald parks and waterfront views. Our local authors reveal the best of Boston, from precolonial artifacts to 21st-century wonders.

Find Freedom - relive the revolution in full color with our special Freedom Trail section.

No Need To Study - explore college hot spots around Harvard, Boston College and MIT and in Cambridge, Fenway and Kenmore Square.

Stir The Melting Pot - experience American landmarks like Boston Common alongside ethnic neighborhoods like the Italian North End with our walking tours.

Beyong The Bean - learn the secret to 'killah chowdah,' where to find the best late-night grub, and why many world-class chefs call Boston home.

Explore More - hike, bike and canoe your way through Cape Cod, Concord and Salem with our informed Excursions chapter.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...for the adventurous traveler who wants to live like a native.' --Real Simple Magazine, June 2005

From the Publisher

Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 3rd edition (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1741048753
• ISBN-13: 978-1741048759
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,248,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

It was 1988 when Mara first travelled abroad, spending a summer in Scandinavia with a side trip into the Soviet Union. The high-school summer exchange program would shape her life, as it inspired her to learn to speak Russian and to try to end the Cold War.

As a student, she further broadened her horizons, circling the globe on a research fellowship from the Circumnavigators' Foundation. This trip took her from Belize to Budapest, from Senegal to Singapore, comparing the successes and failures of international development projects.

Despite the draw of many foreign lands, she still found herself returning to the former Soviet Union time and time again. Before the Soviet collapse, she taught English in Kyiv, Ukraine, for a year; and during the most tumultuous transition years, she worked on a foreign aid project in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

The pen-wielding traveller has since taken to seeing and saving the world by other means, writing guidebooks for Lonely Planet. Mara has also written for National Geographic Traveler, Executive Travel, the Boston Globe and the LA Times, amongst others. She is an on-line travel expert at Triporati.com and Tripsketch.com. When not traipsing around the planet, she lives in a pink house in Somerville, Massachusetts. Follow her adventures at www.maravorhees.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's fine., January 17, 2009

By 

Gregory Fung (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Planet Boston (City Guide) (Paperback)

The LP Boston guide is fine. It's encyclopedic in nature with all the detail you'll ever need ... and more. Everything in it is accurate and quite interesting, and the restaurant suggestions are all quite good. It's clearly written by people who know and love the city. But, and here's the reason for my 3-star rating, I find it a bit overwhelming and without a sense of prioritization. If you know the city already, hey, the extra stuff is a bonus. But if you're visiting and not intending on becoming a scholar on Beantown, I'm not sure you need everything in this book. And it's hard to sift through what you need to know and what you don't. So bottom line: if you are looking for more of a reference-type guide book on Boston, this one's for you. If you're looking for a single-volume I'm-going-to-take-it-with-me-everywhere book to bring while visiting Boston, I'd look at Frommer's or Michelin first.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A little bit too short..., May 28, 2010

By 

Ofir Frenkel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Boston Encounter (Paperback)

This is the Encounter version of Lonely Planet, which means much less content and much more photos and other stuff that you don't really need. On the other hand lots of useful stuff that is usually part of the regular Lonely Planet are missing, so I'd buy the regular version instead!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovin' the Lonely P..., October 3, 2009

By 

alwaysonlinebuyer (chicago, il) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lonely Planet Boston (City Travel Guide) (Paperback)

My qualifications to review: I've been to 24 countries and have a LP for each... plus, the city LPs. It's rare to have a bad LP. (Like, for instance, LP:Tokyo sucked. The author was def somebody's niece who was a wanna-be writer!) And this is yet another winner! Lovin' the Lonely!!! It even has an Itinerary Builder that is basically a graph. It lists the 'hoods, then 3 of the best sights, eating, and drinking in each 'hood. Never seen LP do that before but it's great!