Seeking advice about Boston and Cape Cod

Hi - a couple of thoughts:

1) You can take the Blue Line from the airport to Aquarium station, and that will leave you right by Long Wharf, where you can catch the fast ferry to Ptown (from Boston Harbor Cruises). The other fast ferry leaves from the Seaport district, and there are water taxis from the airport (as well as the Silver Line).

2) Staying in Ptown vs staying in Boston post-workshop - it all depends what you will enjoy doing (sightseeing vs beach, etc). Ptown will be crowded, for sure, and will also be expensive. My friends stayed at the Harborside Inn in Boston before a recent Ptown trip, if you need a lodging rec, and liked it a lot. It's walking distance from Long Wharf and right next to Quincy Market, and the Aquarium T station is right outside the hotel.

Wow, great info, Maria, thanks! The Harborside Inn looks reasonable enough to sway me towards Boston.

You're so welcome! There will be plenty to keep you happily occupied in Boston. If you need any other suggestions, let me know.

Check out routes for Peter Pan buses, they may have a bus that goes there.

Thanks, Geovagriffith. I'm always pleasantly surprised at how good the public transportation coverage is in the Northeast (although it's improved a lot here, too).

Out of all the states I've visited, Provincetown is easily my favourite small town. The problem with your dates is that hotel/inn prices in Provincetown in early July will not be cheaper than in Boston (could be wrong). Two other issues. For a day trip trip from Provincetown to Boston, the bus takes forever with a vey early start. The ferry schedule, at least when I was on the Cape last September, is mainly geared for day-trippers from Boston to Provincetown, not the other way round (could be wrong again, and I never understood this).

Whatever you decide, Boston is a great city (for North America), worth a couple of days at least. Provincetown is a fabulous little place, good for relaxing, hiking and biking. I actually looked into renting for a week or two this summer, too expensive for me.

Thanks, Gunderson. It's looking like maybe a bit of Provincetown, and somewhat more of Boston (my birth place, as it happens).

Well, yikes. I just discovered that even staying at a Boston YMCA in July costs at least three times as much as... staying at the Vanderbilt YMCA in Manhattan. College dorm rooms are not an option. Also looked into staying in Provincetown, but in July, places seem to require 5 night minimums. This trip is seeming less and less feasible. Italy was so much easier - sigh. Thanks for letting me vent.
edit: whew! All the venting must have paid off. Got everything booked, including onsite housing at the workshop (includes kitchen!), and reasonable place in Cambridge for a couple of nights afterwards.

You asked how appealing Provincetown is nowadays.

It depends on your definition of appealing. Provincetown is mostly a vacation destination with beaches, restaurants, bars. Typical vacation stuff.

Boston is one of the country's, if not the world's, greatest cities. For me, I would be itching to check it out after the five-day workshop in P'town. You don't say how much you want to spend for a hotel in Boston, but it sounds like not much. You can save money on lodging if you book someplace further away from the city that's still available by the "T" (public transportation including buses, trains, subway, and trolley.)

Here's the MBTA website: https://www.mbta.com/schedules/subway

Some places to consider staying that are on public transit, safe, and not far from the city include Arlington, Medford, Newton and Quincy.

Thanks, moss! I did manage to book a couple of nights at Irving House, in Cambridge, which I think will work out nicely. For my full day in Boston, I'm thinking the Aquarium, the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum, and the Public Gardens, and the next morning there might be time to explore the Harvard campus a bit.

Your itinerary of Aquarium, Public Garden and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum sounds like a really good day. It gives you plenty of time to spend in those three locations. Boston is a very compact city, so you can walk from the Aquarium to the Public Garden to get a taste of the city. It's only 1-2 blocks out of the direct walking route to walk through the old cobblestone, gaslit streets of Beacon Hill.

I like the idea of walking! And the Public Garden to the Museum looks like a feasible walk also, at least on the map.