destinations:city guides: boston

Start by getting a sense of history and a bit of exercise: The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile-long walking trail through downtown Boston, the North End and Charlestown that winds among 16 historic sites, including the Old State House and King's Chapel. While you're downtown, be sure to visit Faneuil Hall, the cobblestone marketplace of shops and restaurants anchored by three restored 19th-century buildings. Stop for lunch at Rustic Kitchen or Kingfish, both new hotspots of local celebrity chef Todd English, or pop inside Quincy Market for a casual bite to eat from the stall-like vendors.

From there, the Boston Aquarium is just across Atlantic Avenue; the new jellyfish installation joins the signature four-story shark tank and the open-air penguin enclosure in the soaring central atrium. If weather permits, whale-watching excursions depart just outside the aquarium. Cruise staff are so confident of their ability to deliver you a whale sighting that you'll get a free pass to the aquarium if they don't.

A sea change from here: Hop the blue line of the T (Boston's subway system), transfer to the green line at Government Center and head for the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). Spare a few moments, if possible, to hop off at the Symphony station to see the dramatic, 14-acre Christian Science Plaza, with its huge reflecting pool and austere concrete surroundings.

At the MFA, the commanding marble edifice hints at the high-profile works contained inside—among other things, one of the best Egyptian collections in the world, with 95 percent of its 40,000 objects coming straight from excavations in Egypt and the Sudan. The MFA is also renowned for its Degas collection—set on its course 100 years ago, when the museum became the first to purchase one of his pieces—and works by Monet, of which it owns more than any museum outside Paris.

If time allows, stroll across the Fens—a lesser-known gem of the Emerald Necklace—and allow yourself a few stolen moments in the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. This mansion turned museum has inspired a cult following with its peaceful corridors, lined with masterpieces by artists ranging from Dante to Rembrandt.

Many business travelers try to tack a weekend onto Boston jaunts because there are so many great side-trips just beyond the city. If you have only a day, take a drive to Concord along Route 126 and stroll around Walden Pond, where Thoreau wrote his treatise from his handmade cabin. Or, for a culinary pilgrimage, head north to the seaside resort town of Ogunquit, Maine, for the simple pleasure of a lobster at Barnacle Billy's (it's only an hour up Route 95). For an overnight trip, venture southeast to the grassy dunes of Cape Cod; Chatham is an artsy enclave with wonderful inns, beaches, galleries and restaurants. Ferries depart from Woods Hole to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.