Where to stay in Boston

I stayed at Irving House in Cambridge - easy walk to the Harvard campus and to the metro. Irving house was lovely. Great breakfast.

Thanks for the recommendation, Insbig.

Do not try to drive in the Boston area. The traffic is awful and Bostonians are some of the worst and impolite drivers.

My daughter lives in suburban Boston and I love going there, in the Summer. There are areas to avoid, but sorry, I could not tell you.
However, the touristy historic areas downtown are safe.

We stayed at the Sheraton Boston Hotel last fall and it was in a great location. A T-stop was located right next door which we could access by cutting thru the mall. We took the T to MIT but honestly it would have been quicker to walk. We could actually see the MIT campus from our hotel room. It was only one mile away. We walked EVERYWHERE in Boston (except MIT). We did walk from MIT to Harvard but the T would have been better that day. It was a little cold. The Sheraton area felt safe and it was quiet in our room.

There are so many options for you. As long as you are near a subway station you are fine, near the red or green line. However, the most efficient would be near the Common for Park Street Station, as that station gives you access directly to the green and red lines for all your campus tours. You could also just park in the Boston Common garage for the duration of your stay. The Parker House has the ideal location for you, IMO. They may also have a different parking suggestion.

It is not that scary to drive in Boston. It is inefficient once there, but easy enough to get downtown and park. Boston proper is safe…you are not traveling anywhere it is not, and the limited questionable area where you would never be, I drove through all the time during the day. The subway rides are also easy. I am a Boston driver, or was until recently. I am not rude. LOL

You need to get back into the city to get from the green line to the red line, so it would be much more efficient to stay near Park Street Station.

Maybe it's because I lived in Boston (and Chicago and D.C. and L.A. and Seattle) but really, Boston driving and Boston drivers are not that bad. Especially now that the Central Artery is down, there's automatic tolling out of Logan and three tunnels under the harbor. But I digress. I can't recommend a particular hotel but geographically, given where you will be visiting, I would suggest staying closer to B.C. in Brookline. Tufts is kind of the geographic outlier so you might want to visit there on your way in or out of the city. And taking the T into Cambridge should be fairly easy (Green line to Red line).

I hate to disagree with Trotter after he supported our drivers, but BC is your outlier as the other 3 schools are on the red line. But again, Trotter’s would work as you just need to be near a subway station.

Downtown Crossing is a great, convenient area.

Wray, since you live on the north shore I defer to you. You know how us south shore folk are. On the other hand you have that bridge........

Oh, Trotter, it is complicated as I am a recent south shore transplant…but now the bridge I am sorry to go over is the one off this island! The one you reference, I go around. LOL But I started my Boston journey decades ago just outside of Cleveland Circle…

Thanks very much, I really appreciate all of the suggestions. I've booked us a room at the Parker House; it will be a nice treat.

For the record, I'm not afraid or intimidated to drive in Boston, I just don't want to :-). I love staying in places that have good public transportation, like Boston, and taking a car holiday; living in rural Vermont like I do now, I can't go anywhere without getting in my car.

Personally, I don't find Boston driving -- and drivers -- to be bad. I do wish the rest of Massachusetts would just maybe, a little, sometimes, possibly, ever, drive in the right lane on the interstate so the rest of us could pass, but I think that's a pipe dream.

Anyway, thank you again, and we're looking forward to our little trip!

It’s convenient to use the T to get around the Boston metro area and I’ve done that for years. Just be sure to allow a little extra time (just in case there are any delays) if you need to get to an appointment. Also be sure to check the MBTA website www.mbta.com for the Red or Green lines (or bus routes if applicable) to check for any current or upcoming alerts about construction projects or other changes which might impact your travel.