United States

I had the lucky chance to spend some of my summer vacation with an aunt as she studied in MIT; which gave way to us visiting amazing cities around as vacations drew to an end.The trip started in Boston, where I stayed for the first part of the journey. I actually stayed in Cambridge, in some of the MIT residencies, which gave me the incredible opportunity to walk around campus every day as well as being walking distance from Harvard and just a bridge or metro ride away from actual Boston. Boston is a gorgeous, historical city, filled with students, amazing activities to do, and great places to eat.While in Boston I tried to walk as much as I could, from Boston Common to the New England Aquarium, or following the Freedom Trail; since most of the time I was around my little cousin, I had the chance to really appreciate all the beautiful parks there are around the city, between buildings where you wouldn’t expect them or along the river. As for places to eat or shop, you can find most everything in the city, one of the places I liked the most was Harvard Square, where you can visit the university, or walk around the neighborhood where there are a great variety of restaurants and shops, as well as great book shops where you can find really cool events with authors if you’re into that.After staying in Boston, on July 27th we took an airplane to Buffalo, where we would take a bus all the way to the Niagara Falls. We stayed there for two nights at the Hampton Inn. This hotel wasn’t really anything grand, it was basic for what you needed and sadly did not have a view to the falls; but there are some very pretty hotels nearby which do have a view. While staying there, our main purpose was to get to see the falls, and ride a boat in Maid of the Mist, which we did, and it was absolutely worth the trip. Besides visiting the falls, there are some nice places to eat, mostly you can find big restaurants in hotels, like Hard Rock, Rainforest Cafe, and such. If you’re into casinos, you can visit the Seneca Niagara Resort.On the 29th, we took a flight to New York City, where we stayed for four nights. Here, we stayed at the Millennium Hilton New York, a gorgeous hotel with an incredible view of the One World Trade Center. As always, New York City is a dream, filled with life, entertainment and everything you can think of. There is something for everyone in the city that never sleeps, from museums, walks, historical sites, music and theater; everything. Some of my favorite things to do are walking by Times Square taking photographs of every Broadway theater, stopping by Birdland and eating pizza, one of the great New York icons.After a great time in New York, we took a bus to Washington D.C, where we would stay until the 7th, the end of our trip. While we were there, we stayed with family, just a drive away from the city, near Stafford. When in Washington, a must do is a walk around the Smithsonian museum, my favorite is the air and space, which is paired with the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center just outside the city; during the trip I also had the chance to go watch a late night movie at the IMAX inside the air and space museum, which was incredible. Washington is a historic city with beautiful buildings that leaves you wide eyed at every turn, and there are gorgeous places to visit right outside as well, like Monticello and Monticello and Mount Vernon.

Boston

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Harvard University

New England Aquarium

Boston Common

Public Garden

Cheers

Prudential Center

Faneuil Hall Marketplace

Boston Harbor

Harvard Square

Freedom Trail

The Paul Revere House

Max Brenner

Park Street Church

Kendall Square

After staying in Boston, on July 27th we took an airplane to Buffalo, where we would take a bus all the way to the Niagara Falls. We stayed there for two nights at the Hampton Inn Niagara Falls. This hotel wasn’t really anything grand, it was basic for what you needed and sadly did not have a view to the falls; but there are some very pretty hotels nearby which do have a view. While staying there, our main purpose was to get to see the falls, and ride a boat in Maid of the Mist, which we did, and it was absolutely worth the trip. Besides visiting the falls, there are some nice places to eat, mostly you can find big restaurants in hotels, like Hard Rock, Rainforest Cafe, and such. If you’re into casinos, you can visit the Seneca Niagara Resort. It was a wonderful trip, the only thing I’d change would be to plan to be able to cross over to Canada, which has a beautiful town by the falls.

Niagara Falls

Maid of the Mist Boat Tour

Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino

Hard Rock Cafe

New York

One World Trade Center

The National September 11 Memorial Museum

Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

Birdland Jazz Club

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Times Square

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

After a great time in New York, we took a bus to Washington D.C, where we would stay until the 7th, the end of our trip. While we were there, we stayed with family, just a drive away from the city, near Stafford. When in Washington, a must do is a walk around the Smithsonian museums, you have around 19 museums to choose from, from art, history, a zoo, and many others. My favorite is the Air and Space museum, which is paired with the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center just outside the city; I find them astounding. While visiting the museums be sure to check what extra activities they may hold, this trip I had the chance to go watch a late night movie at the IMAX inside the Air and Space museum, which was incredible; specially since some of the models used to film the movie were right outside the theater.Washington is a historic city with beautiful buildings that leaves you wide eyed at every turn, besides the museums there are a bunch of monuments and government building to visit, each of them with beautiful architecture and a lot to learn. You can also find gorgeous places to visit right outside the city as well, like Monticello and Mount Vernon, the original houses and grounds which are super cool, fun to walk around and not that far away from the city.Since we were staying with family, we had the chance to eat mostly homemade meals, but I will never pass on the opportunity to eat a Pot Belly’s sandwich in the city. As in most of the big cities, there’s all kinds of food around for any taste, all you have to do is walk around and pick.

My Summer Traveling the East Coast

Highs & Lows

What would you have changed?

How was the food?

What tips would you give a friend?

Packing tips?

Transportation Tips?

Booking details?

Other popular trip reports

Adventures in Scotland and Amsterdam

Two Weeks In the Organized Chaos that is India

Couples trip to Sicily and Rome