Solo Female Travel in Boston

Solo travel experience

I found that Boston was a very clean city. It was bustling with students, and there was lots of great music. I did not stay long as I was just passing through on a solo road trip however, I do feel as if I could live there! Very lovely architecture and I didn’t find the driving too bad.

Solo travel experience

I went alone about a month ago, and the people were very nice and friendly. It was one of the easiest cities to tour solo. I spent 3 days eating and drinking.

Solo travel experience

You should go down the Freedom Trail, it will guide you through the city and past many historical sites. There are pleasant shops on Newbury St., some of them are a bit expensive, but it's a great neighborhood with a good selection of restaurants. Select Oyster Bar is a great place with a nice bar for eating alone. Boston is my favorite city, I've always found public transportation to be safe and easy to understand.

Boston is pretty safe for women. I would avoid areas such as Roxbury, Dorchester or Mattapan. If you stay around downtown, back bay, Fenway, you will be absolutely fine. I recommend going to a Red Sox game, Harvard sq, north end.

I come from MA and work in Boston. It's a really safe city. I used to work/stay out really late (midnight or later) in the city and would return home by suburban train or subway. I never felt threatened. It's just necessary to take normal precautions and stay alert. When it comes to food, North End has amazing Italian restaurants, and Back Bay has many cool restaurants and bars. I also recommend trying the lobster roll in the Seaport district.

Here are my suggestions of things to do: - Walk the Freedom Trail (it starts in central Boston and ends near the monument on Bunker Hill) - Newberry Street has a lot of upscale stores if you like to just wander and enjoy holidays - The Boston Public Library is free and amazing - I love the aquarium, but an adult ticket costs $35. - Boston Symphony Hall sometimes has last chance tickets ("rush tickets") for its POPS concerts - Castle Island is nice and takes you to Southie, which is an interesting part of town - Harvard is cool - The Christian Science Center has a Mapparium, which is a gigantic glass globe you can go into (tickets cost $6, but you can't take any pictures). It's at a location very close to Symphony Hall. - If you have the opportunity to leave the city, I highly recommend a visit to Walden Pond.

Nice walks you can take are: Common, Public Garden, Commonwealth Avenue Mall, and Newbury Street. I also recommend Charles Street and walks around Beacon Hill. I definitely recommend renting a Blue Bike and taking a ride around South End. There are my favorite restaurants and bars: Mida, Kava, Coppa, Toro, The Beehive, Delux. There is also La Voile on Newbury and Shojo in Chinatown. Life Alive Cafe is my favorite place for healthy meals and cocktails. To get a bit off the beaten path, it's worth taking the orange line to Green Street and strolling around Jamaica Plain, head to Centre Street and eat at JP Seafood. In JP there is also the fun Scottish restaurant The Haven, offering whiskey tastings. Next door is Sam Adams Brewery, offering tours. Nearby is also Arnold Arboretum - if you're there at the beginning of the month, it should be very pretty. North End is suitable for a short walk, but avoid eating there - it's mostly overrated, average dishes. If you've never been here, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a must; I also love ICA for the surroundings. Our subway (the "T") is the oldest in the country, so it's not known for its reliability; but if you're not in a hurry, it should do the job.

Things that I definitely recommend in the Boston area: walking the Freedom Trail (through the city to the monument on Bunker Hill - ends near the "T"), a trip to Harvard's campus in Cambridge, going to a concert or touring the Boston Symphony Orchestra's concert hall, a visit to Walden Pond (you'll need a car for this), a walk around downtown Boston and Boston Common, as well as a trip to the Aquarium (small, but one of my favorites out of the many I've visited). Regarding public transportation... trains and buses will get you where you need to go, but be aware they can be late. You only need one card for buses and trains. Everyone calls it the "T" (short for MBTA), so if you ask someone for directions and they tell you to take the "T", that's what they're referring to. If you're a confident cyclist, Boston is a bike-friendly city. But you need to wear a helmet because drivers here are terrible. I think there are many great places to stay, but I especially recommend Cambridge. This is my hometown, but I think it has a perfect mix of city and town. It feels lively here, especially if you stay closer to MIT (and closer to Boston), but it’s not overwhelming.