A Holiday-Themed Itinerary for a Long Weekend in Boston, MA

Arrive in Boston and make your way to your hotel to check in. If you're staying in downtown Boston, you'll have plenty to see and do for the day right out of your front door.

If you're looking for a great lunch spot, head over to Newbury Street to see the Christmas decorations in the storefronts for the holidays. There's several quick spots for lunch, like Dirty Water Dough Company and GRECO, or if you're looking for more of a leisurely lunch, check out the famous Saltie Girl (lots of good seafood) or Joe's on Newbury (great people watching).

Enjoy shopping on Newbury Street! There's a lot of stores up and down both sides to explore.

For dinner, check out Sonsie (also a great wine/dessert bar for later) or La Voile, both in the Back Bay area, and stroll to see the lights on Newbury and in nearby Copley Square.

Boston showcases a lot of the arts, and among the most popular in the city is the Boston Ballet. Their Nutcracker each Christmas season is a spectacular, beautiful production that's worth seeing. Either catch the matinee or the evening show on your trip. Enjoy the Macy's department store windows and other lights in Downtown Crossing before or after the show.

Nearby is plenty of public transit to other parts of the city. You can take the red line at Downtown Crossing to South Station, then enjoy the walk over one of the three bridges (next to the Tea Party Museum!) to admire the probably frozen water and skyline as you walk into Seaport. Seaport is trendy, new, and shiny, and offers some upscale and modern shopping.

Visit Snowport at the Seaport. It's a Christmas market featuring 120 vendors, most of them local and selling handmade goods.

For dinner, check out 75 on Liberty Wharf for great harbor views, Legal Seafoods or Ocean Prime for great harborside seafood dining, or Committee down the street.

We can't forget one of the oldest and prettiest parts of Boston: Beacon Hill. Beacon Hill goes all out with Christmas decorations and, along with the Nutcracker production, is the top thing I recommend for visiting Boston at Christmas. Enjoy strolling along Acorn Street where the main shops and restaurants are located, as many of them have greenery and lights in the windows. Many of the residential side streets do as well - they showcase beautiful wreaths and floral decor that make the neighborhoods enchanting to stroll through (please remember that residents live here and respect their privacy, too.)

A short walk from Beacon Hill is the ice skating rink at Frog Pond on the Boston Commons. The normal summer-kiddy-pool is transformed into an ice skating rink for the holiday season and offers skating rentals throughout the day and evening with beautiful lights strung overhead in the trees.

Head back in to Beacon Hill for dinner/drinks at the Sevens Ale House, Emmets Pub & Restaurant, or No. 9 Park. Also nearby is Commonwealth Avenue, where at night you can walk down through the central park that has lights strung up through the trees.

If it's not your last day and you're still craving some holiday festivities, try heading north to the North Shore region, either by car (recommended if you want to go further to amazing places like the Crane Estate or the towns of Essex and Ipswich) or Boston's commuter rail from North Station. The commuter rail can drop you off at Salem, Beverly, or Manchester-by-the Sea, where you can enjoy New England in all her small-town glory and visit the cute shops and fantastic bakeries and restaurants.

Have a great trip!