New York holidays from the travel experts at Safeway Travel. New York offers the ultimate big city holiday experience. New York City is associated with the enormous towering buildings that make up the borough of Manhattan. The most famous building is the massive Empire State Building, a colossal 102-storey structure that, although it is no longer the tallest, is still one of the most iconic and most visited buildings in the world.

Together with Central Park, the Empire State building is New York's most popular holiday attraction.

Boston, Massachusetts is arguably the most historic place in the USA. Its rich heritage in social and political history means that this beautiful city is packed full of old world charm. There is an abundance of things to see and do in this fantastic travel destination and they are all compacted within walking distance of each other.

Highlights
Massachusetts capital has a rich history which you can learn by following Boston's Freedom Trail. This relaxed friendly city is easily covered on foot. Cross the Charles River to Cambridge and you can walk through the hallowed courtyards of Harvard.

Once you have seen the historic sites, you can discover the modern Boston. Visit the colourful harbourfront area, wander through Quincy market or take a whale watching cruise.

Boston is also a convenient gateway to the beautiful New England countryside, so you can either enjoy a city break or combine a few days in Boston with an independent fly drive holiday touring New England or head for the superb beaches of Cape Cod.

Great holiday purchases:
Freedom Trail
Start your journey along the Freedom Trail at the Information Center on the Tremont Street side of the Common. Arm yourself with maps and brochures before you set off on a walking tour of the city's principal sites. The 11/2-mile route is marked by a row of red bricks set into the pavement.Head first for the gold dome of the "new" State House, one of Boston's landmarks. The central section of the graceful, red-brick building in Federal style dates from 1798-new for Boston. It's the work of Boston architect Charles Bulfinch, who used some of the same ideas later in his design for the Capitol in Washington.The tranquil-looking, white-steepled Park Street Church (1809) stands on "Brimstone Corner". It seems that gunpowder was stored in the church during the War of 1812. But probably more explosive were the first anti-slavery speeches delivered here in 1829 by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. In the church's Old Granary Burial Ground lie the victims of the Boston Massacre, as well as Paul Revere and people who signed of the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams and John Hancock who wrote his name so large that "John Hancock" later became a synonym for "signature".
King's Chapel (Tremont and School streets) was the country's first Anglican church (1754). Its dark granite walls and severe columned portico present a sombre face, but the interior is more welcoming, with a canopied pulpit and red damask lined box pews.Another church, the Old South Meeting House (Washington and Milk streets), has been turned into a museum of the Revolution. It is best remembered as the place where Samuel Adams planned the infamous Tea Party. The Old State House (1713) on Washington Street served as the British Governor's residence and the building still bears the symbols of the Crown-the lion and the unicorn. A circle of cobblestones on the Congress Street side marks the site of the Boston Massacre.
Faneuil Hall, the "Cradle of Liberty", has resounded to the oratory of two centuries of statesmen, from Samuel Adams to John F. Kennedy, not to mention Susan B. Anthony, who rocked the cradle. She spoke out here against the enslavement of both Blacks and women-and tried to vote in national elections 46 years before it was legal. Behind Faneuil Hall is one of the country's most successful pieces of urban restoration-Faneuil Hall Marketplace, a lively collection of boutiques, galleries, food shops, restaurants and sidewalk cafes. Three run-down granite market buildings have been rehabilitated to enclose a tree-shaded pedestrian mall. The domed central structure, Quincy Market, specializes in gourmet foods. South Market offers art galleries, jewellery and gift shops, while the North Market has the fashion boutiques.
From Faneuil Hall make your way along Union and Marshall streets under the Fitzgerald Expressway to North End, now the colourful centre of the Italian community. Resume the Freedom Trail on North Square, site of the Paul Revere House (c. 1677). The Revolutionary hero moved here in 1770, five years before his historic ride. The house contains furnishings that belonged to the Revere family. The fearless horseman's statue stands on Paul Revere Mall, with the fine Old North Church (1723) rising behind him. It was in the tower that two lanterns where hung to signal to Revere-"one if by land, and two, if by sea"-that the British were moving out.
The Freedom Trail continues from North End over Charlestown Bridge. Charlestown was actually settled a year before Boston itself, in 1629. America's most famous ship is on display at the Charlestown Navy Yard. Boston-built in 1796, the USS Constitution won the nickname "Old Ironsides" when her oak timbers repelled the cannon fire of the British in the War of 1812. Sailors in the uniform of that time show you round. Next to the ship, the Bunker Hill Pavilion has a multimedia show that recreates the important Revolutionary battle. The 65-m (220-ft) stone obelisk up on the hill is the Bunker Hill Monument: the view from the top is worth the 294-step climb.


Government Center
Modern Boston is very much in evidence at the Government Center, dominated by the two towers of the John F. Kennedy Federal Building and the inverted concrete pyramid of City Hall. The plaza's aggressively 20th-century stance is offset by the traditional note of red-brick paving and open spaces providing views of historic Boston.Sandwiched between Government Center and the Common, quietly elegant Beacon Hill has long been home to Boston's best. It is officially classed as a historic district. Here among the cedars and chestnuts and the gas lanterns of Mount Vernon Street and Louisburg Square you will discover the restrained glories of the city's finest residential architecture. Charles Bulfinch built many of the Federal-style houses here in the 1790s. Their simple red-brick facades, adorned by a few classical details, are the very essence of Boston dignity. Notice the strips of marble that separate the storeys. Gracious bow-fronted terraced houses line beautiful Louisburg Square with its private fenced-in park.
West of the Public Garden, Back Bay was quite literally a bay until the middle of the 19th century, when landfill turned it into a residential neighbourhood for the city's newly rich merchants. Traditional buildings such as the Boston Public Library and Trinity Church are now upstaged by the Christian Science Center and the Hancock and Prudential towers. The two skyscrapers offer excellent observation points but the most interesting architecturally is I.M. Pei's John Hancock Tower, sheathed in reflective glass. The slanted rhomboid shape escapes the standard rectangular with an intriguing V-incision at either end. From the 60th floor, you have a grand view over Cambridge and Charlestown, and when the weather is good, all the way to the mountains of New Hampshire.Reflected in the glass-walled tower is Trinity Church, a solid, late 19th-century monument to medieval Europe. The architect, Henry Hobson Richardson, called it a "free rendering of the French Romanesque"; they now call it Richardsonian Romanesque. The interior is well worth a look for the rich polychrome decor of John La Farge.


Cambridge
There's more to the town across the Charles River than Harvard University, but there's no question that Harvard rules. Its name recalls a young churchman, John Harvard, who bequeathed the college half his worldly wealth and 320 books. Now Harvard, founded in 1636, has an endowment of $2.5 billion and over 10 million volumes. In 1965 it merged with Radcliffe College for women. While other universities may rival or even surpass Harvard in individual departments, overall it remains the nation's best, both in the breadth of its undergraduate courses and the quality of its research.
At the western end of Massachusetts Ave, Harvard Square fairly bustles with cafes, restaurants and splendid book stores. The campus, clustered mainly around Harvard Yard, avoids the "Collegiate Gothic" architecture of so many universities across the country. Harvard went redbrick in traditional New England style, exemplified in Massachusetts Hall (1720) and Harvard Hall (1766), or stayed with the good old clapboard of Wadsworth House (1726), formerly the home of college presidents. Later additions to the campus include University Hall (1815), a granite structure in classical style by the indefatigable Charles Bulfinch, and also Memorial Hall (1878), Harvard's one concession to Gothic Revival.
There are some lovely 18th-century houses along Brattle Street (west of Harvard Square), known as Tory Row because of the Loyalist sympathies of the original owners. The Longfellow National Historical Site (1759) at No. 105 was the home of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow from 1837 to 1882, while he taught modern languages at Harvard (and wrote Hiawatha). Earlier on, George Washington used the house as his headquarters during the siege of Boston.


Salem
Named in hope after the Hebrew "Shalom" meaning peace, the town revels both in the glory of its maritime past and the infamy of its witchcraft trials.Down at Derby Wharf, you can stroll along the old waterfront, now consecrated as the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. For the story of the town's great seafaring days, visit the Seaport Museum on Pickering Wharf, a pleasant commercial centre where you can sit outdoors and watch the boats in the harbour.During the Revolutionary War, with Boston and New York in British hands, Salem was the Americans' principal naval supplier. Salem shipowners made a fortune out of the China trade, and Custom House, in Derby Street, today a museum, was a focus for the merchants' activities. Peabody Museum on East India Square houses the riches and spoils (not all was obtained legitimately) of those voyages on the Eastern seas.
The novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem. His famous House of the Seven Gableshas been restored at 54 Turner Street, on the waterfront.For the gory tale of Salem's 1692 witch-hunt, follow the signs of old hags on broomsticks to the Witch Museum in Washington Square.At nearby Marblehead to the southeast, 18th-century houses line the photogenic waterfront. A former fishing and boat-building village, it's now a fashionable out-of-town retreat for Boston commuters.