Visit Boston for One Day - Things To Do & the Best Cannoli
North End, Boston
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Boston, Massachusetts is my favorite city in the United States. It’s full of history, beautiful architecture and amazing food. I’m sharing the best places to get cannolis in Boston and the must see historic places if you’re visiting Boston, MA.
When to visit Boston
Boston is my favorite in the fall! Bostonians do an amazing job decorating for Halloween (See pictures below) and the weather is lovely. Summer is also a great time to visit. Boston common park is beautiful in the summer. But fall in Boston will always have my heart!
Travel to Boston and avoid traffic
If you’re driving into Boston try to avoid rush hour traffic. I drove into Boston at 10AM and there was no traffic but I left around 6PM and the traffic was terrible.
Where to park in Boston
To park for the day we chose the Lewis Wharf parking lot. It was $23 for the day which was half the price of the Boston Common parking. Lewis Wharf is really close to North End which is great if you’re looking to get some cannolis or Italian food to go. The lots do fill up fast but there are other wharf parking lots along that same road.
Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park
Walking around Boston
You can easily take the subway system wherever you need to go. But Boston is a very walkable city and the last time I visited I didn’t even use the subway I parked my car and walked everywhere. Don’t plan on driving around to different locations because it can be hard to find parking.
North End Italian District
Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten is in North End Little Italy in Boston. If you love Italian food then you have to visit here. I love walking around North End and seeing all the old buildings and shops. Here are my favorite places to stop at!
Salumeria Italian Grocery Store
Local grocery stores are always a joy to visit and Salumeria is one charming Italian shop. They have a selection of Italian items, cheeses and meats. Since I was traveling I bought some cured meat to take home and it was delicious. You can order sandwiches here too so it’d be a great place to stop for lunch!
Best Places to Eat in Little Italy
Dino’s Cafe for Pasta and Italian Sandwiches
I absolutely love stopping at Dino’s Cafe they have the best pasta. There meatball sandwich and grilled chicken parmesan are ginormous and so so good. I stop here whenever I’m in the area. I was driving home from Canada road trip a few years ago and I drove completely out of my way to stop in Boston JUST to get some pasta from Dino’s!
Pizza at Parziale’s Bakery
Parziale’s Bakery (pictured above) opened in 1907 and is still family owned to this day. I was given this bakery as a recommendation by one of my Instagram followers to grab some pizza. They sell it by the slice and it was tasty and a cheap place to grab a bite to eat. Plan on getting pizza at lunch because they can sell out. We bought 4 slices of pizza and spent $9.
Who has the best cannolis in Boston?
I visited the top three bakeries in Boston to decide who has the best canollis. I’ve always gone to Bova’s Bakery for canollis but I thought I’d see if the other shops have it beat. Spoiler alert, they did! Let’s break down each one and then I’ll reveal my favorite.
Modern Pastry
Modern Pastry has the cutest exterior I absolutely love the sign outside!
Pros
Photogenic exterior
Larger cannolis – more bang for your buck
Offer powdered sugar on your cannoli
Beautiful display cases filled with Instagram worthy desserts
Cons
Not 24 hours
Not as tasty as Mike’s
Limited flavor options for cannolis
Bova’s Bakery
Bova’s Bakery in north end is such a cute shop and has been open for ages.
Pros
Outside of the shop is very photogenic
Not as busy
Good flavor selection
Open 24 hours
Cons
Cannolis don’t have powdered sugar option
Not as tasty as Mike’s Pastry or Modern Bakery
Canollis are slightly smaller but more bite size
Mike’s Pastry
Mike’s Pastry was a brand new stop for me and my #1 choice!
Pros
Tastiest cannolis
Powder sugar option offered
Wide selection of flavors for cannolis
Larger cannolis – more bang for your buck
Cons
Not a very photogenic exterior
Not 24 hours
Can be very busy
Cannoli takeaway
Mike’s Pastry gets the #1 spot for being the tastiest and only slightly better than Modern Pastry. Modern Pastry gets second place for not having as many flavor options. Bova’s cannolis don’t taste as good as the other two but the building is adorable and I love the small town shop. I didn’t think anything could beat Bova’s but wow was I wrong!
Things to do in Boston
Here are my absolute favorite things to do in Boston!
Visit Boston’s Cemeteries
Boston has some of the coolest cemeteries in the United States. The gravestones are very old and it’s quite the experience walking through the old graveyards to see who is buried there. There’s quite a few famous people buried here too like Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere.
Boston Public Market – Boston Beer Alley
For more delicious food and shopping options check out the Boston Marketplace. If you’re into trying different beers stop in Boston Beer Alley. You can buy individual beers which is always a great souvenir to bring home. I bought a beer from the Von Trapp Family in Vermont and I can’t wait to try it since my favorite movie is The Sound of Music.
Quincy Market
For great indoor and outdoor shopping check out Quincy Market. You can buy gifts and knick knacks along with tasty treats and local cuisine.
Brattle Book Shop
Oh my word this is one of the coolest bookstores I’ve ever been to! I love the alleyway next to the book shop where the sell cheap vintage books.
They range between $1-$5 per book and I bought quite a few $1 vintage Sci-Fi books that I don’t commonly see. I also got a vintage yellow book with witches on it for $5 that I’ll put out for Halloween.
The bookshop itself has three floors and is full of antique collectible books. The leather-bound books are so beautiful to look at.
I was surprised to see that they even sell vintage ephemera and postcards too! If you love vintage books and paper items then you have to stop here.
Historic sites worth visiting - Freedom Trail
If you’re walking around town it’s hard to miss the important historical spots in Boston. You can follow the brick trail that leads you to all the historic spots in Boston.
Park Street Church and the Paul Revere house
Park Street Church and the Paul Revere house are a must visit and easily walkable. For a full list of historic sites you can check out the list for the Freedom Trail.
U.S.S. Constitution & Boston tea party ship
If you’ve never been on a giant boat like the U.S.S. Constitution then I highly recommend it. I’ve never toured anything like it it was amazing to see in person. The ship is massive and full of history. You can also see a replica of the Boston tea party ship and visit the museum.
Boston Common
I love walking through Boston Common no matter what the season. It’s a beautiful park and a great place to sit and relax or eat some of your baked goods from North End.
Boston Common is America’s oldest park. I absolutely love the giant weeping willow trees!
Acorn Street
Acorn Street is a historic street that is so photogenic and beautiful. But it’s the houses all around Acorn Street that I love to look at especially in the fall when they have their fall decorations!
In my last visit there were two houses that hired professional decorating companies to create Halloween displays for their front steps. I’m telling you, they are impressive displays! If you’re there around Halloween definitely check them out.
I can not recommend Boston enough! I hope you found this post helpful and have an amazing trip to Boston, MA. For more travel inspiration you can check out the travel section of my blog.
