Boston will always hold a special place in my heart. As the nearest big city to me growing up and the place where many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins called home, my family made myriad trips for holidays, Red Sox games, strolls down Newbury Street, and Frog Pond skating. When it came time to choose a college, I was a little bit torn between a “traditional” campus and wanting to be smack center in a city… the city won out, and I moved to downtown Boston for the next 3 years. (I loved it so much that I stayed in the city during summers to graduate early.)

I’m lucky that my family lives in New Hampshire and that provides a very easy excuse to visit Boston whenever I’m back (the cheapest flights are almost always in and out of Boston rather than the other smaller New England airports). I was back recently for a family friend’s wedding and got to spend just over 24 hours in Boston. Here are my top picks if you’re visiting with a limited timetable!

• An ideal Boston day centers around your trip to Fenway Park, the oldest ballpark in MLB and home to the (greatest team of all time) Red Sox. If you’re visiting in spring, summer, or fall, check out the game calendar and try to snag a seat! If you’re visiting in the off-season, the stadium still offers tours year-round. I love doing a stadium tour because you’re always guaranteed to walk out with a historical tidbit you didn’t know beforehand.
• A fantastic breakfast or lunch option, Flour Bakery‘s sticky buns are award winning and what dreams are made of. There are eight locations scattered around Boston and Cambridge, so you’re never far from delicious treats! From the same chef, Joanne Chang, Myers & Chang offers up a fantastic lunch or dinner menu, so all around I recommend sampling from the Chang family of foodstuffs while you’re here!
• One of my favorite places to stop by on any trip, and particularly if it’s raining, snowing, or too freezing to be outside, is the Boston Public Library. The first publicly funded library in the U.S. and second-largest library (dwarfed only by the Library of Congress!), BPL is more than just books: it houses murals by John Singer Sargent (only three exist in the world!), Edwin Austin Abbey, and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. If you happen to visit during the summer, free concerts are held on Wednesday nights and Friday afternoons in the courtyard!
• A spot to explore no matter the weather is definitely The Boston Common and The Public Garden. Originally created as grazing grounds for locals’ cows (The Common) and a members-only leisure space for the wealthy (The Garden), both spaces are now free to the public and beautiful examples of greenspace immersed in an urban setting.
• I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend grabbing an iced coffee and old fashioned donut from Dunkin’ Donuts while you’re in Boston. Fit in with the locals by calling it “dunks” or “dunkies.”

Any Boston natives in our readership? Anyone else attend college at one of the 35 schools in Boston?? Have favorite things to do in Bean Town? Let us know in the comments!