Boston

Concierge.com's insider take:

Winding around 16 historical sites, the 2.5-mile Freedom Trail is a good introduction to Boston history—and also to the city's sometimes-complicated geography. Pick up a map at the visitor's center on Tremont Street at the edge of Boston Common and walk along the red line on the ground (it's sometimes painted, sometimes lined in brick). While it's possible to walk the trail in an hour or two, leave time to stop along the way. You'll pass the graves of John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Ben Franklin's parents at the Granary Burying Ground; Boston's first meeting house, Faneuil Hall, which hosted debates about the Sugar Tax of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765—note the distinctive grasshopper weather vane on the top of the building (4 South Market Building; 617-523-1300); and the Paul Revere House. Dating to 1680, it's the oldest building still standing in downtown Boston and a good example of Colonial-era architecture (19 North Square; 617-523-2338; www.paulreverehouse.org). As immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," two lanterns (as in "two if by sea") were hung in the belfry tower of the Old North Church to signal the landing of the British in 1775. It's a lovely building, though you cannot climb the tower (193 Salem St.; 671-523-6676; www.oldnorth.org). Launched in 1797, the U.S.S. Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship in the world that's still afloat. U.S. Navy sailors take you below deck to explain what life was like for early-19th-century seamen (1 Constitution Rd.; 617-242-7511; www.ussconstitution.navy.mil).

Guided tours are available daily between April and mid-November. Specialty tours, such as a historic pub crawl, are held during the rest of the year. Tickets can be purchased online.