City Focus Boston

by Lisa Halvorsen

Although Boston's famous Freedom Trail has been a popular "Beantown" attraction since 1958, this past April a new type of tour debuted to inform visitors about the trail's many historic sites. The Freedom Trail Foundation has developed an Antenna Audio Tour that combines state-of-the-art technology with colorful commentary. Massachusetts personalities describe each of the 16 stops--Old North Church, Paul Revere's house, and the Old State House, among others--along the 2.5- mile trail, as well as spin intriguing tales about people, places, and events in Boston, including the 1950 Brinks Robbery and the Great Molasses Flood.

As an alternative to the walking tour, groups of 20 or more can book the Theater-on-Wheels, a brand-new mini coach tour of movie and TV sites that shows film clips and provides narrative on featured sites in the greater Boston area. Tours range from three hours to a full day. Groups can customize their tour by arranging for lunch, dinner, or drinks at a movie hot spot or by adding on the Fenway Tour, a behind-the scenes look at the Red Sox' home field with commentary on Field of Dreams, Fever Pitch, and other movies and TV shows filmed at the baseball stadium.

Boston By Boat recently began offering weekend ferry service from the Charlestown Shipyard, home of the USS Constitution (free tours Tuesday through Sunday), to South Boston's Seaport District with stops at key points along the waterfront including Lewis Point (Old North Church) and Christopher Columbus Park (Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, and New England Aquarium). For $10 your group can hop on and off all day. (One-way trips are $6.) Your ticket also is good for discounts on food and other purchases at designated restaurants, shops, and attractions.

The Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum, which was severely damaged by fire in 2001, is scheduled to reopen in summer 2006 after an extensive $13 million renovation. The new interpretive center will have twice the exhibit space with many new displays, living history programs, and videos about the Boston Tea Party. The showpiece of the renovated museum will be the Robinson Half Chest, named after the 15-year-old patriot who retrieved it from the water. It was acquired in January from a private collector and is one of only two known surviving tea chests from the Boston Tea Party.

Get more information at Leisuregrouptravel.com and Grouptravedirectory.com