Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston MA
Much more than a marketplace, Faneuil Hall Marketplace is a historic site, entertainment and dining center, people-watching mecca...and boutique corral.
Above, Quincy
Market, commercial
centerpiece of Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
Below, enjoying a
snack beneath the Great Dome.
The grey granite Quincy Market, named for Boston Mayor Josiah Quincy who had it erected in 1826, is, with historic Faneuil Hall, the centerpiece of Boston's most historic and popular shopping area. It's located right next to Government Center, Haymarket and the North End (map).
The Freedom Trail goes right through the marketplace. More...
This is a great place to make your base for sightseeing in Boston as there are a number of good hotels near Faneuil Hall Marketplace. More...
Quincy Market was Boston's larder for a century before the changing patterns of commerce and provisioning led to its decline.
Its restoration in the 1970s, along with the large Greek Revival North Market and South Market buildings on either side, has created the booming Faneuil Hall Marketplace you see today.
Be sure to have a look in Faneuil Hall, the historic market building and meeting hall called the "Cradle of Liberty" from all the patriotic gatherings held there. More...
Faneuil Hall Marketplace is filled with snack shops, chowder houses, cafés, delis, bakeries and restaurants.
If you only want a snack or light lunch, wander through Quincy Market and pick up a freshly-baked bagels, bags of dried apricots, nuts or Turkish figs, fragrant French bread, Italian salads, Chinese finger food, or any of a hundred other treats (though I must say I've been underwhelmed by the quality of food in some of these fast-food places.)
If it's raw clams or oysters you crave, drop in for a dozen at the nearby Union Oyster House, America's oldest restaurant (1826)(map). The restaurant has a full menu of other dishes (especially seafood) as well.
On Friday afternoons and Saturdays, stroll among the costermongers in Boston's Haymarket open-air fruit-and-vegetable (and much more) market just a block to the west. More...
