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Tours of the City

Walking Tours
Boston By Little Feet (tel: (617) 367 2345) offers a special hour-long version of the Freedom Trail aimed at 6-12 year olds. They also organise Boston By Foot, which is a 90-minute tour of the major city areas, from Copley Square to the North End, using the 'T' and also exploring one or two of the unused stations.

The Revolutionary Pub Crawl (tel: (617) 624 6707) is self-explanatory and meets at the Aquarium subway station at 1900 on Fridays and Saturdays. Crawlers must be over 21 years.

The Literary Trail of Greater Boston (tel: (617) 574 5950) organise walking tours that leave from the hotel, Omni Parker House, 60 School Street, and take in homes, meeting places and districts popular with the nineteenth-century literary circle. Another angle on Boston is offered by Ben Franklin's Boston (tel: (781) 648 0628), following Franklin through his Colonial parts of the city.

For walking tours with an ethnic flavour, Boston Walks (tel: (617) 489 5020; website: http://bostonwalks.tripod.com), specialises in Jewish tours, as well as offering Irish and Italian ones as well. These can be guided walking or bicycling tours, or even self-guided with a book.

Trolley Bus Tours
The oldest and most popular trolley bus tour is the two-hour tour on the Beantown Trolley run by Brush Hill Tours (tel: (617) 986 6100 or (800) 343 1328; website: www.beantowntrolley.com; cost: US$22). Old Town Trolley Tours (tel: (617) 269 7010; website: www.trolleytours.com; cost: US$20) operates two-hour general city tours, as well as 'subject' tours, such as Discover Cambridge and JFK's Boston. Other options include: Cityview Luxury Trolley Tours (tel: (617) 363 0181), Discover Boston Multilingual Trolley Tours (tel: (617) 742 1440); and Minuteman Tours (tel: (617) 876 5539).

Boat Tours
Boston By Boat (tel: (617) 422 0392) runs the hourly boat shuttles up the river between Museum Wharf and North End. The AC Cruise Line Company (tel: (617) 261 6633; website: www.accruiseline.com) offers cruises to Gloucester (US$20), as well as whale-watching (US$22.40). Massachusetts Bay Lines (tel: (617) 542 8000; website: www.massbaylines.com) runs a replica paddle-steamer, the Harbor Belle, with narrated trips in the harbour. The Charles Riverboat Company (tel: (617) 621 3001) runs narrated cruises on the river and the harbour. Lunchtime and dinner cruises with cabaret-style entertainment, are provided by Spirit of Boston (tel: (617) 748 1499). A similar experience on yachts is offered by Odyssey (tel ( 617) 654 9700). Boston Harbor Cruises (tel: (617) 227 4320) operate cruises to the offshore Harbor Islands - the Inner Harbor Cruise and the Outer Harbor Cruise.

The season for whale-watching is April-October and trips are offered by the New England Aquarium (tel: (617) 973 5200 or 5277, recorded information; website: www.neaq.org; cost: US$31) and Boston Harbor Whale Watch (tel: (617) 345 9866; website: www.bostonwhale.com; cost: US$21).

Other Tours
One of the most unusual transport tours is run by Boston Duck Tours (tel: (617) 723 3825; website: www.bostonducktours.com; cost: US$22). Tours are in refurbished WWII amphibious vehicles - called 'ducks' - which cruise the land and the Charles River. Tours depart every 30 minutes from the Prudential Center, 101 Huntington Avenue.



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