Family Multi-Generational Vacation in Boston
If you are thinking of traveling to Boston for a family vacation or a family reunion vacation, we just did a nice staycation. The Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge is a wonderfully child-friendly hotel that I’d recommend for being conveniently located and not astronomically expensive. There are lots of museums for kids: Boston Children’s Museum, Museum of Science, and New England Aquarium. Of these three, the Museum of Science is large enough to handle crowds so plan on that for the weekend when museums are the most crowded.
The bonus feature is that you can take the Boston Duck Tour from the Museum of Science as well. For the other two museums, I’d recommend going later in the afternoon when the little ones leave for their nap. You only need a few hours anyway.
We did the Boston Pops Holiday Concert and Blue Man Group for the first time. My kids gave them both the thumbs up! They are especially great for multi-generations. We saw lots of grandparents with grandkids and extended families at both shows.
Boston Pops Holiday Kids Concert
Symphony Hall near Fenway and Back Bay Boston is so beautiful and has amazing acoustics. Apparently, acoustics is as much art as science.
I didn’t realize that “orchestra seats” are the entire first floor for the Boston Pops Kids’ Concerts. All these seats serve food. We saw plenty of babies and toddlers too so feel free to bring kids of all ages. Crying babies are not a problem!
My girls play the flute so I had to get a shot of the flutist warming up.
The harpist had a solo for the Nutcracker piece.
Orchestra seats come with crayons and coloring sheets for kids and a menu to order food and drink. 10:30 am was a little early for us to have a drink but that didn’t stop our neighbors! Beer and wine at all concerts!
We ordered food but next time we will get chips and dip and just drinks. The concert ends at 12:30 so you will have a better dining experience by eating elsewhere. The kids enjoyed hot chocolate and hot cider!
If you are coming to Boston when the Holiday Pops is not playing, there are also great children’s concerts at the Boston Symphony Orchestra as well. They are great fun for kids and only an hour long!
Blue Man Group
My kids were very excited about Blue Man Group in Boston’s Theater District near Chinatown. We are Dim Sum first at China Pearl and then headed over. Our seats were 2nd-row “poncho” seats. I wasn’t sure how messy that would be …
No photos or videos are allowed in the theatre. I don’t want to ruin the surprise so let me just say: percussion, animation, streamers, comedy, banana squirting, and performance art. Yes, this is a performance at its most entertaining!
Someone we all got included in the show. My husband and PickyKidPix got squired with a mushy banana. GrasshopperandSensei received a flower from one of the Blue Men. My youngest was singled out to sing the national anthem (a little joke). Luckily his seat was empty when the spotlight found it. He was in my lap.
As for me, I was in their digital streaming word sign “comedic warm-up.” Apparently, I had a headache!
Please come to Boston!
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Seems as if you’ve had a great time in Boston! Such a family-friendly place!
Hi Sammy and Claire,
We live in Boston so it was a staycation for us. But if anyone comes to visit with kids, I hope that they get a chance to see Blue Man Group. The Holiday Pops is wonderful too but seasonal. Have you been here yet?
Glad you had a lovely time. These are wonderful suggestions. I especially liked the Boston Pops kid friendly concert.
Hi Barbara,
If you live near Boston or visit, I do highly recommend the Boston Pops kids concerts and they do have them year around, beyond the holiday version! It is a great way to introduce kids to music! The children’s conductor has the same charisma and connection to kids as Bill Cosby! He is truly wonderful! And funny as heck too just like Bill Cosby! My kids loved him!
What an awesome staycation! The Royal Sonesta is perfectly situated for the Museum of Science!
Hi MaryAnne,
You are right! It’s walking distance! Good thing to note since you can visit the Museum of Science AND take the Duck Tour from there!
It looks like a good city to visit, even though I would not put it in my top 10 list…Well, for my defence, we live in UK/Poland (swtiching countries can be really tiring!) and I want my kiddos to see the most beautiful European capitals first, then maybe we will do a US tour, when they are slightly older 🙂
Hi Alexandra,
I totally agree with you! We visited Barcelona last year and now we want to visit more European cities: Venice, anywhere in Greece, and Paris are at the top of the list as determined by our kids. We’d like to go to Costa Rica too.
Boston is great particularly if you are doing a college tour visit! We have lots of colleges here!!
You make me miss Boston. My husband and I lived there before we had kids and know it is a wonderful place for kids. Your post reminded me of that. Perhaps we will be able to take a family vacation there soon!
Hi Jen,
I hope you do soon! Come in the fall if you can when the weather is spectacular! We are trudging through winter now and it’s not the best time to visit! A Red Sox game might be fun for your kids too!
We had fun visiting Boston in past years. The kids got a kick out of the ducks at the Public Garden.
Hi Asian Mommy,
Did you get a chance to ride the Swan Boats in the Public Garden too? Kids also like to sit on the bronze Make Way for Duckling statues near there too. They are all shiny from all the kids bottoms! :). You might also like Frog Pond across the street in the Boston Public Common. It becomes a skating rink in the winter and a wading pool in the summer. There’s a great playground there too. Glad you had a great time with kids in Boston!
What a great vacation! I’ve always wanted to go to Boston (and see the Blue Man Group). I think my kids would love to see an orchestra play because we all are big music fans. Fun!
Hi Natalie,
I think Blue Man Group also tours but the theater in Boston is a nice experience too because it’s so intimate. I hope you make it here sometime soon with your family! Let me know and I’d be happy to suggest other things you all might like.
I love that they served food and crayons and coloring pages at the Boston Pops show. I saw the Pops with a friend of mine in college for a fourth of July celebration- It was soooo fun and what a perfect place to be on the fourth! Sounds like you had a great mini-vacation.
Hi Jeanette,
My kids honed in on the food and drink part though they didn’t really do the coloring pages much. It was a great show! I had been hearing wonderful things about it for years but worried my kids would be too squirrelly. We’d do it again next year!
The kids raved about Blue Man Group too. It was their favorite. I’d like to bring them to Stomp too if it ever comes our way again.
Fun! I love going to the museums in Boston and my kids love them too. Sounds like the pops would be a great first concert for kids!
Hi Ann,
You will have to make it up to Boston sometime to check out the Boston Holiday Pops! I think you and your family would enjoy it!