30th Birthday suprise

- Walking around Boston looking at the old and the new perfectly merged together

- The people -- they are down to earth, friendly, and seem genuinely pleased to meet you

- Shopping -- for someone from Scotland, the shopping was both varied and in expensive compared to prices at home.

Quick Tips:

Just to make sure you know, new 'non smoking' laws were introduced on 5th May 2003, which means that you can no longer smoke anywhere someone works, including bars, pubs, and restaurants

Best Way To Get Around:

You are best walking around the city, although taxis are not expensive, the traffic made the journey time long.

There is a great subway infrastructure, which is a cheap way of getting around the city

I booked this hotel using Expedia and when I arrived at the hotel my booking wasn't shown however this was sorted out after a short time. We were then given a 'deluxe room' which was to sleep 3 of us. This room was terrible and smelt damp. In addition, the door on one of the bathrooms would not open from the inside, so my friend got stuck inside – fortunately, I was still in the room. We complained about the room, but we were told that the hotel was full.

The following morning, we asked for a room change and although told initially that the hotel was full, we were finally given another room, which although did not smell was not much better. The room we booked had two bathrooms, but these were so small that it would actually have been better to have one larger room. They also desperately needed modernizing.

We travelled from Scotland and were suffering jetlag on our first morning and were awake at 3:30am. When two of us went to the lobby to try to get some coffee, we were told by reception that it would be available at 6am!! This hotel is allegedly a 3 to 4 star hotel and it was unbelievable that we could not get a coffee any where. The coffee finally arrived at 6:30am.

This hotel is based in a fantastic location where you can walk to many of the sights; however, the quality of the hotel is not great and I would not return.

This tour is like nothing I have ever seen or heard of (especially not in Scotland). The vehicles are from WWII and allow you to drive through the city seeing the major sights and then also 'drive' into the river and see Boston from the water.

The tour guides are all fantastic and really make the experience. All people on the trip have to quack; however, the most amazing thing is that the locals, including a police car we passed, quack back!

If you are staying in Boston for a few days, I would higly recommend this trip as it lets you get around the city, learn about the history, and get a wacky feel of Boston within a couple of hours.