Iberia Flights from Madrid, Spain (MAD) to Boston (BOS)
As part of booking roundtrip flights which depart from US airports,
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Iberia, which operates a non-stop flight Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays from Madrid, Spain (MAD) to Boston (BOS), regularly scheduled to depart at 1:40pm and arrive at 3:35pm. Usually an Airbus A340 is flown for this route. Generally, a movie is offered on this route. The average travel time from Madrid, Spain to Boston, MA is 7 hours and 55 minutes.
During your Boston vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Ever since Boston's most popular attraction was restored and reopened in 1976, cities all over the country have imitated the "festival market" concept. A complex of shops, food counters, restaurants, bars, and public spaces, Faneuil Hall Marketplace brims with Boston flavor (and the inevitable national chain outlets). Its popularity with visitors and suburbanites is so great that you could be forgiven for thinking that the only Bostonians in the crowd are employees.The marketplace includes five buildings -- the central three-building complex is on the National Register of Historic Places -- set on brick and stone plazas that teem with crowds shopping, eating, performing, watching performers, people-watching, and just generally enjoying themselves. In warm weather, the whole area is busy from just after dawn until well past dark. Quincy Market (you'll also hear the whole complex called by that name) is the central three-level Greek revival-style building. It reopened after extensive renovations on August 26, 1976, 150 years after Mayor Josiah Quincy opened the original market. The South Market building reopened on August 26, 1977, the North Market building on August 26, 1978.The central corridor of Quincy Market is the food court, where you can find anything from a bagel to a full Greek dinner, a fruit smoothie to an ice cream sundae. On either side, under the glass canopies, are full-service restaurants as well as pushcarts that sell everything from crafts created by New England artisans to hokey souvenirs. Here you'll find a bar that exactly replicates the set of the TV show Cheers. In the plaza between the South Canopy and the South Market building is an information kiosk. On warm evenings, the tables that spill outdoors from the restaurants and bars fill with people. One constant since the year after the market -- the original 1826 market -- opened is Durgin-Park, a traditional New England restaurant known for its good-naturedly crabby waitresses.Faneuil Hall itself sometimes gets overlooked, but it's well worth a visit. Known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for its role as a venue for inspirational (some might say inflammatory) speech in the years leading to the Revolutionary War, the building opened in 1742 and was expanded using a Charles Bulfinch design in 1805. National Park Service rangers give free 20-minute talks every half-hour from 9am to 5pm in the second-floor auditorium.
First Public School/Benjamin Franklin Statue
A colorful folk-art mosaic in the sidewalk marks the site of the first public school in the country. It was founded in 1634, 2 years before Harvard College. Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and Cotton Mather studied there. The original building (1645) was demolished to make way for the expansion of King's Chapel, and the school moved across the street. The prestigious institution is now called Boston Latin School. Other alumni include Charles Bulfinch, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Santayana, Arthur Fiedler, and Leonard Bernstein.Behind the fence in the courtyard to your left is the Benjamin Franklin statue, the first portrait statue erected in Boston (1856). Franklin was born in Boston in 1706 and was apprenticed to his half-brother James, a printer, but they got along so poorly that in 1723 Benjamin ran away to Philadelphia. Plaques on the base of the statue describe Franklin's numerous accomplishments. The lovely granite building behind the statue is Old City Hall (1865), designed in Second Empire style by Arthur Gilman (who laid out the Back Bay) and Gridley J. F. Bryant, and opened in 1865. The administration moved to Government Center in 1969, and the building now houses commercial tenants.To continue on the Freedom Trail: Follow School Street to Washington Street.
John F. Kennedy National Historic Site
A property of the National Park Service, the 35th president's birthplace has been restored to appear as it did in 1917. The guided ranger-led tour discusses domestic life of the period and the roots of the Kennedy family. If you miss the last guided tour, ask about the self-guided option. One-hour walking tours of the neighborhood start at 12:45pm on weekends. Call ahead to double-check hours, which are set each January.
Omni Parker House
The Parker House has operated continuously longer than any other hotel in America (since 1856!). The hotel underwent a complete upgrade and gained a business center and exercise facility when the Omni chain took over in 2001. Guest rooms, a patchwork of more than 50 configurations, aren't huge, but they are thoughtfully laid out and nicely appointed. Many overlook Old City Hall or Government Center. The range of features makes the hotel popular with business travelers, who can book a unit with an expanded work area, as well as sightseers, who can economize by booking a small room or taking advantage of a weekend deal, especially in the winter. The pattern on the bedspreads, so gaudy that it's elegant, is a reproduction of the original, and the lobby of the 14-story hotel boasts its original American oak paneling.Facilities: Restaurant (New England); 2 bars; 24-hr. exercise room; access to nearby health club ($20); children's programs; concierge; tour desk; business center; 24-hr. room service; babysitting; laundry service; same-day dry cleaning; executive-level rooms. Rooms for travelers with disabilities are available.
Boston Park Plaza Hotel
A Boston mainstay -- it was built as the Statler Hilton in 1927 -- the Park Plaza Hotel does a hopping convention and function business. It's the antithesis of generic, with an old-fashioned atmosphere and a cavernous, ornate lobby, yet it offers modern comforts. A $60 million renovation completed in 2001 updated the hotel throughout, and new furniture, accessories, carpets, and bathtubs now grace the guest rooms. The least expensive units are quite small; if you're not a crash-and-dash traveler, the extra space might be worth the extra money. Don't expect personalized service in a hotel this large -- the typical guest is busy with convention activities or meetings. The lobby of the 15-story building is a little commercial hub, with a travel agency, pharmacy, currency exchange, and Amtrak and airline ticket offices.
Hotel Commonwealth
Like a Hollywood starlet strolling the red carpet in vintage Chanel, this boutique hotel is a hot young thing with a traditional, elegant look. Opened in 2003 in a brand-new six-story building in the heart of Kenmore Square, it boasts extensive business features as well as luxurious amenities such as Frette linens and large marble bathrooms. Formerly quite scruffy, Kenmore Square has undergone a face-lift -- helped immeasurably by the construction of this building. Boston University is a partner in the hotel, which draws a lot of business from the school and from local cultural institutions. My favorite guest rooms are the huge Commonwealth units; each has a king bed and a heavy curtain that draws across the center of the room, separating the sleeping area and the "parlor." These rooms overlook the bustling street, where plans call for outdoor restaurant seating, landscaping, and a new bus station. You might prefer a Fenway room -- they're smaller, but they face the legendary ballpark (directly across the Mass. Turnpike).
