Boston · Downtown Boston

Back Bay

Newbury Street shopping, the Boston Public Library, brownstone blocks, and the high-end restaurant corridor on Boylston.

Back Bay is the neighborhood the city's Victorian planners laid out in straight lines as a literal back bay was filled in, and the result is the most walkable shopping-and-restaurant zone in Boston: Newbury Street's eight blocks of boutiques and cafes, Boylston Street's restaurant corridor, and the Boston Public Library's McKim building anchoring Copley Square. The brownstone side streets carry the residential rhythm, with the Charles River Esplanade as the western edge for runners and walkers. For visiting adults 21+, Back Bay holds the densest concentration of high-end hotels in the city plus a real licensed-dispensary footprint along the Boylston / Mass Ave corridors, the easiest base for a long weekend. Hotel cannabis policies are often restrictive, so confirm before booking; then dinner on Boylston or Newbury and the Esplanade at sunset.