Suggest nocturnal Boston walks.

January 3, 2006 3:22 PM

What are your favorite places to walk in Boston after dark?

I'm looking for areas of Boston/Cambridge/Somerville (etc etc) that are particularly scenic or starkly beautiful after dark. I'm thinking the Christian Science Center, the top of Summit Ave. in Brookline, the view from the Harvard Bridge. Suggestions should be:

- accessible at all hours (i.e., not the view from the Top of the Hub); and
- T-accessible or a reasonable walk (no "take the Commuter Rail six stops and walk ten miles East," please!)

I know the area well enough to know which places are safe and aren't safe, but I'm looking for a new perspective on someplace I've lived for many years, and wondering what I might be overlooking.

posted by mykescipark to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (19 answers total)

What are the odds that someone else would have asked this same obscure question yesterday?
posted by smackfu at 3:35 PM on January 3, 2006

(Not as same as I thought though, so you should still answer this one...)
posted by smackfu at 3:38 PM on January 3, 2006

A couple in Somerville that come to mind immediately: Prospect Hill (ominous monument and great view) and the Powderhouse (cool building and nice rocks).
posted by TimeFactor at 3:56 PM on January 3, 2006

And the walk around Fresh Pond in Cambridge is fun after dark (although technically I don't think you're allowed).
posted by TimeFactor at 3:58 PM on January 3, 2006

Castle Island in Southie (take a bus from Broadway or Andrew) is nice at dusk, sitting on the hill behind the fort with planes flying overhead. I'm not certain how late you're allowed to be there.

An interesting perspective on a place you've probably been a ton of times can be experienced on the trestle under the BU Bridge. I haven't been there in the dark in years and really only had to run from a train once (it was going verrry slowly).

I've always found the views from either the Longfellow or Weeks Footbridge stunning. The sky has an interesting glow from the traffic on either side of the river and Harvard's various steeples.
posted by jdl at 4:15 PM on January 3, 2006

Longfellow Bridge, certainly. Maybe the Kennedy Library/UMass waterfront?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:55 PM on January 3, 2006

As jdl says, the bridges are wonderful. A loop including some of Longfellow, Harvard, BU, or Weeks Footbridge along the Esplanade and Memorial Drive is nice any time day or night. Memorial Drive is attractive both on the river and inland sides, depending on the weather and your mood.
posted by whatzit at 5:13 PM on January 3, 2006

I've always enjoyed an evening walk from the North End to the Long Wharf pier pedestrian walkway, near the Marriott/Aquarium. A bit sketchy from time to time, however. Harvard Bridge, as others have said, is definitely one of my favorites. Hmm... will think of others.
posted by VulcanMike at 6:01 PM on January 3, 2006

Mount Vernon Street on Beacon Hill is my favorite street in Boston, especially at night. It's softly lit with gas lamps; has trees that enclose the narrow street, making it more intimate; and the bricked sidewalks and houses are classic.
posted by bitpart at 6:32 PM on January 3, 2006

What VulcanMike said. Harvard Bridge is beautiful too. The Common is really beautiful at night, but do it in a group. The graveyard up near the Old North Church is also pretty cool at night; again, go in a group.
posted by caddis at 6:37 PM on January 3, 2006

Walk up to the platform atop the main library at Northeastern. You'll get a great view of the city from up there. Also, as the poster noted, Summit Ave in Brookline is sublimely awesome.

Personally, I like the walk down Comm Ave from Allston into Boston (and from there down Newbury St), though it's not overly scenic. Walking to Boston Common, say, from Allston is an interesting study in transitions, and a great way to fight insomia.
posted by killdevil at 7:29 PM on January 3, 2006

Seconding bitpart: walking around Beacon Hill at night is beautiful. It's quiet with well-kempt, narrow streets and gas lamps, and the classic Beacon Hill architecture.

Another nice night-time walk is the climb up to the Bunker Hill Monument.

The MIT corridors are all open and walking around them can be really cool late at night.
posted by event at 7:30 PM on January 3, 2006

Err... I meant the platform atop the main library at Tufts. There's no view from Northeastern as far as I know, except of the taillights on Huntington Ave.
posted by killdevil at 7:31 PM on January 3, 2006

I second killdevil. Tufts is on a lovely hilltop. I once scored a date there, cross-country skiing in a snowstorm.
posted by A dead Quaker at 7:57 PM on January 3, 2006

Oh, I can't believe I forgot. Marlborough Street is one of the most wonderful places to walk at night -- my favorite street in Boston. Old brick sidewalks, in some places displaced by tree roots, old style street lamps, one-way traffic that is usually pretty light due to Beacon and Commonwealth being on either side, and beautiful brownstones into which you can peer and catch glimpses of art, decoration and other lives. Even more wonderful during a light rain.
posted by VulcanMike at 9:35 PM on January 3, 2006

Yes! I used to live in a hacked up brownstone on Marlborough St. and would always walk back from a midnight show at the (now defunct) Nickelodeon. The difference isn't that much from between Times Square and Carnegie Hall but I felt MUCH safer in Boston.
posted by brujita at 11:03 PM on January 3, 2006

Beacon Hill is nice, but if the weather is cold and wet, go somewhere else. Those brick sidewalks are really slick in the wet.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 3:12 AM on January 4, 2006

I second the walk from the North End to Long Wharf - that's lovely on a clear evening. I always enjoy wandering around the South End in the evening also, although not so much in the winter. There are some lovely old buildings, cool cafes - it's a nice neighbourhood.
posted by darsh at 5:17 AM on January 4, 2006

The Christian Science Center.
posted by LilBucner at 8:49 AM on January 4, 2006