Hidden Gems of Boston
- Danielle Dybiec
- Nov 11, 2025
- 5 min read
Boston is easily reached by train, so if you're on the east coast and avoiding airports this month, it's an excellent choice for an exciting getaway. Boston is filled with world-class art, pivotal American history, luxurious hotels, and lots of fun things to see and do. I recommend watching This is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist before you go. It took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (pictured above), and the case remains unsolved!
6/16/2025 excerpt of article produced by Virtuoso with Meet Boston can be found here.
Mythological cocktails, Gilded Age museums, and other coastal city treasures.
American Revolution history, world-class universities, Fenway Park and its legendary Green Monster, and one of America’s most notorious accents – Boston has its marquee attractions, plus amazing seafood, landmark Federal-style architecture, a stack of art museums, excellent hotels, and a vibrant cultural scene. Between the skyscrapers and Victorian row houses, Massachusetts’ coastal capital city holds surprises around every corner too. Plan to spend at least three days exploring the city’s greatest hits, but don’t miss these unexpected discoveries.
Seeing Green
No Bostonian lives farther than a ten-minute walk from a park. Stretching from the Back Bay to the Jamaica Plain neighborhood is the Emerald Necklace, a seven-mile chain of green spaces that includes Jamaica Pond, Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, the James P. Kelleher Rose Garden, and Boston Common, America’s oldest public park. Pack a picnic and make for the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a mile-and-a-half-long green space built above the section of Interstate 93 that tunnels through downtown. In the summer, many of Boston’s recreational areas feature free fitness classes, food trucks, live music, and an abundance of public art displays. The new Boston Public Art Triennial, a five-month citywide event running through October 31, 2025, showcases 15 major commissions across some of Boston’s most diverse neighborhoods.
Renaissance Art and Presidential Tomes
Everyone clocks the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Institute of Contemporary Art, but Boston’s lesser-known museums and galleries shed light on the city’s storied history. At the MassArt Art Museum, a contemporary museum belonging to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, experimental, emerging, and underrepresented artists take center stage. Across the Charles River in the suburb of Cambridge, the Harvard Art Museums display some of the country’s most important collections of Italian Renaissance, Asian, and French Impressionist art. And atop Beacon Hill, across from the Massachusetts State House, the Boston Athenaeum – founded in 1807 – is the country’s oldest private library, home to an impressive collection that includes rare Revolutionary-era artworks and a selection of books from George Washington’s personal library.
Ask your Virtuoso travel advisor to arrange a behind-the-scenes tour of the eclectic Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which includes access to the collections and private quarters of the Gilded Age arts patron, as well as the space’s Renzo Piano-designed expansion. The museum is also the site of Boston’s (and perhaps the world’s) most notorious art heist: The still-unsolved case involved two men disguised as police officers who, in 1990, stole 13 artworks, now valued by some at upwards of $1 billion.
A Neighborhood Tasting Tour
From the heart of downtown, 23 diverse neighborhoods spiral outward in all directions, each with its own distinct – and delicious – reason to visit: East Boston for its waterfront, Jamaica Plain for east access to the Franklin Park Zoo, Dorchester for its Vietnamese restaurants and LGBTQ+ bar scene, and the list goes on. The James Beard Foundation has recognized Boston’s culinary prowess, honoring low-key local favorites such as Sullivan’s Castle Island in the South End and downtown’s Somaek, known for its traditional Korean fare. The North End neighborhood is home to city’s oldest Italian enclave – thousands of southern Italians immigrated to the area in the late nineteenth century – and plenty of restaurants serving family-style favorites. In nearby Back Bay, La Padrona, inside the 150-room Raffles Boston, innovates on the city’s Italian heritage in dishes such as burnt-wheat rigatoni and clams, and lobster and uni risotto.
A Little Bit of Magic
Sure, a city with a speakeasy is no surprise, but at Hecate, cocktails come with an air of mythological mystery. Hidden beneath Krasi, a Greek restaurant in the Back Bay, the 24-seat, candlelit bar, named after the Greek goddess of magic and crossroads, is reached via a secret alleyway door. The cocktail menu resembles a book of spells, and Hecate’s mixologists infuse drinks with unexpected ingredients such as sea buckthorn and palo santo. Bar snacks appropriately skew Greek: stuffed dates, spicy feta with crispy chicken skin, and popcorn with tzatziki dust. Pro tip: Hecate doesn’t take reservations, so plan to get there early (between 5 and 6) or late (around 11) for a nightcap.
High Tea and History
While most travelers know about the Boston Tea Party, few have visited the museum dedicated to the historic event. At the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, that pivotal Revolutionary War event comes to life via dramatic reenactments, interactive exhibits, and full-scale replicas of eighteenth-century ships. Along with spying original artifacts such as Boston Tea Part tea chests, visitors can sample the same tea variety that was dumped in the harbor, alongside scones and sandwiches, at Abigail’s Tea Room. For another proper afternoon tea, make reservations for the Courtyard Tea Room inside the Beaux-Arts Boston Public Library.
All That Jazz
Boston’s musical roots go way back: In the 1930s and ’40s, the city’s thriving jazz scene dominated buzzing clubs such as The Hi-Hat and Wally’s Paradise, featuring both local talent and national stars such as Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday. Known today as Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club, the family-owned boîte still hits the blue notes with live music every day. A five-minute drive west, The Beehive, an underground restaurant and bar, hosts nightly jazz, blues, soul, and funk performances.
Urban Island-Hopping
The 43-mile Boston Harborwalk is the jumping-off point for sunset cruises and whale-watching tours (from May through October). But from Rowes Wharf, located behind the iconic jumbo archway at the 232-room Boston Harbor Hotel, travelers can hop a ferry (running through October) to 12 of the 34 isles of Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park. On Spectacle Island, spend the day hiking, swimming in the harbor, and taking in city views.
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