BOS to Back Bay / Newbury Street

Back Bay is Boston s premier shopping and dining neighborhood featuring Newbury Street boutiques, Copley Square, Boston Public Library, Prudential Center, and the iconic brownstone architecture.

Back Bay is Boston\'s most architecturally distinguished neighborhood, a planned district of Victorian brownstone row houses built on filled tidal flats in the late 19th century. The alphabetically ordered cross streets (Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth...) create a civilized grid that contrasts with Boston\'s famously confusing older streets. Newbury Street, the neighborhood\'s crown jewel, is eight blocks of boutiques, art galleries, sidewalk cafés, and high-end salons that constitute Boston\'s answer to Fifth Avenue.

The neighborhood is anchored by Copley Square, one of America\'s most handsome urban spaces, framed by Trinity Church (a Richardson Romanesque masterpiece), the Boston Public Library (the first free public library in the US, with stunning murals by John Singer Sargent), and the 60-story Prudential Tower with its Skywalk Observatory offering 360-degree views.

Commonwealth Avenue Mall, a tree-lined pedestrian promenade running through the center of the neighborhood, is adorned with statues and lined by elegant brownstones — a quintessential Boston experience in every season. The Prudential Center mall and Copley Place provide extensive shopping. Back Bay also borders the Charles River Esplanade, where Bostonians run, bike, and gather for the famous July 4th Boston Pops concert and fireworks.