Boston , City Tours, Travel Guide

It's easy enough to get to know Boston by following the Freedom Trail on foot. If you prefer to be guided, narrated trips run throughout the day aboard the hundred-minute Old Town Trolley Tours (tel 617/269-7010; $20, $7 kids aged 4-12) or the similarly priced Discover Boston Trolley Tours (tel 617/742-1440, ), which specializes in narrated audio tours in multiple languages. But nothing is as popular (or as novel) as a Boston Duck Tour (adults $22, kids 4-12 $12; tel 617/723-DUCK, ), a very entertaining romp by land and by sea aboard a real WWII amphibious landing vehicle. Same-day tickets are sold inside the Prudential Center daily April through November. Boston By Foot, 77 N Washington St (tel 617/367-2345), conducts ninety-minute walking tours for $8. Also useful are the bus excursions further afield to Lexington, Concord, Salem and Plymouth with Brush Hill Tours/Gray Line (tel 617/720-6342, or ). Boston Bike Tours (tel 617/308-5902, ), on Boston Common, can take you around for a couple of gentle hours by bike. A two-hour tour costs $18, or only $8 if you have your own bike; either way, a helmet, map and water are included.