Mr & Mrs Smith

Newbury Street is the local shopping hub, but more culturally minded visitors can check out the Freedom Trail (www.thefreedomtrail.org), a 2.5mile red-brick path that can take you through Boston’s monuments and architectural marvels in the space of an afternoon. To sample Boston’s musical heritage, head to the Beehive (+1 617 423 0069) on Tremont Street for a live jazz session.

Just steps away from the XV Beacon, Barbara Lynch’s dark and debonair No 9 Park (+1 617 742 9991) is a standard-bearer for Bostonian fine dining, with a fine selection of freshly prepared Mediterranean dishes, together with an exciting seven-course tasting menu. At 774 Boylston Street, L’Espalier (+1 617 262 3023) has bagged countless awards for its New England-inspired French cuisine. There are four dining rooms – the Library is our favourite. A few doors along, Abe & Louie’s is a classic gentlemen’s steakhouse, unfussily decked out with red and black leather booths and banquettes. Sonsie (+1 617 351 2565) on Newbury Street is a classic, moodily lit Italian brasserie at the hub of the city’s trendy dining scene. Bouchée (+1 617 450 4343) on the same street is a more informal and affordable French outfit. For fresh Italian, there’s nowhere better than Via Matta (+1 617 4504343) on Park Plaza, where you’ll find a chunky wooden table down the centre of the dining area laden with delicious foccacia, olives and antipasti.

Alibi (+1 857 241 1144) has its fingers on Boston’s pulse right down to the knuckle. Set in a converted jailhouse at the Liberty Hotel, it draws the coolest cocktail crowd in town. Daisy Buchanan’s (+1 617 247 8516) on Newbury Street, is more down-to-earth, but equally popular.

November–March As the winter creeps in, the Boston Common Frog Pond (www.bostoncommonfrogpond.org) becomes an ice-skater’s paradise, whether you’re a whirler and twirler or a bottom-breaking buffoon.