Walking Boston

Boston is a walker's town. It's as clear as the brick red path marking the Freedom Trail, the bright blue signs of the Harborwalk, and the green of the Emerald Necklace series of parks. Boston's nearly 400-year history has led to the development of hidden neighborhoods, historic sites, and iconic parks that tempt both Bostonians and visitors out onto the sidewalks, paths, and trails lacing this close-knit city. In addition, the Big Dig project, which helped revive downtown and the waterfront by moving Interstate 93 underground, has created an energy and excitement that has driven projects like the Harborwalk and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Walking Boston offers the best of Boston's new and old rambles. This portable guide features detailed maps, original photos, and public transportation information for every trip. Route summaries make each walk easy to follow, and a "Points of Interest" section summarizes each walk's highlights.

Exploring Boston's past and present: 12 walks that trace the creation of the city's man-made land in the central waterfront, Back Bay, South End, Charlestown, and elsewhere. At its founding, Boston was a small peninsula; over the last 375 years the city has doubled in size by filling in the surrounding tidal flats—areas covered with water at high tide and exposed at low. In Walking Tours of Boston's Made Land, historian Nancy Seasholes outlines twelve walks that trace where and why Boston's man-made land was created, and, along the way, uncovers fascinating and little-known pieces of Boston history. In the course of these walks—around the central waterfront, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the South End, Charlestown, and elsewhere—she shows us how Boston's past is always just below the surface of its present. Each walk is accompanied by a map that shows the route and original shoreline. The walks are illustrated with historical maps, historical photographs and views, and current photographs. All walks are accessible by public transportation.

This guide includes forty walks through Boston's major historic areas including: Beacon Hill, the Common, and Cambridge. With information such as history of the area, architecture, politics, religion, and intrigues of the past.