By Jackson Wallace (CAS’22)
One of the greatest advantages of going to school in a large city is that there are so many activities to do and places to go. Whether you are looking for something to do close to Boston University, something that’s a little further into the city, or something in the surrounding area of Boston, there is somewhere to go.
For places that are within close walking distance of BU, the closest would be Fenway Park, which is about five minutes from East Campus. Periodically, there are student tickets to the games available for $9, which are a great experience for a group of friends. The more popular games are usually harder to get tickets for, but if you are a big fan of baseball it can be quite thrilling to watch the Sox play in important games. Another place that is a small walk from East Campus is Trident. Located on Newbury Street in the Back Bay neighborhood, Trident is a bookstore that also doubles as a cafe. They also host fun events such as a trivia night. One final location that is not too far from BU is the Museum of Fine Arts. BU students have free access to the museum with their student IDs. There is a lot of art at the museum and most people will tell you that you’ll want to go multiple times to get a full experience, plus there are frequent temporary exhibitions.
A little further away (i.e. requiring serious dedication to walking or public transit) is the North End neighborhood of Boston. This area of Boston is famed for its Italian heritage with numerous Italian restaurants and pastry shops. To get there, you’ll likely want to take the Green Line down to the Haymarket stop. If that makes no sense to you, don’t worry; you’ll pick up the subway lingo in no time at BU. A location out further still is the Harbor Islands. These require a ferry to get to but are beautiful to hike around on.
A final location that, while not located in Boston, is possible to get to by public transit is Salem, Massachusetts. Getting to Salem requires taking the commuter rail. Once there, there is plenty to do in Salem, from walking around the historic town to shopping. However, be warned that it gets quite crowded (and spooky) in Salem the closer it gets to Halloween.