Boston/North End Attractions & Activities - The Best Holiday Destinations for 2020
This section of Boston is rich with Italian culture, that's why the North End is known as “Little Italy.” While walking around this neighborhood, you can hear people talking in Italian. The scents of garlic, fresh basil, and sweet smells of bakery pastries permeate the air. You can almost taste it. This small five block area just so happens to be the oldest in the city of Boston and home to 87 Italian restaurants and bakeries. It has winding narrow streets and towering brick buildings. The two key streets in this historic neighborhood are Hanover and Salem, which are parallel to each other. The roads are lined with countless Italian restaurants, and cafés, pastry, and imported goods shops. Italians have dominated this area for many years, but it hasn’t always been this way. The first group to reside in the North End were English Puritans in the 1600s. Over time, Irish, Russian, and Polish came to the Boston area until the 1800s when a new massive wave of immigrants arrived, the Italians. Many immigrants living in the North End did not want the peddler and dockyard jobs that were available. This forced them to move elsewhere, but the North End remained dominated by Italians, and still is today. Part of the reason why “Little Italy” remains so rich in culture is because the customs and cultures of Italian-Americans have changed very little. The neighborhood has an inviting feel, welcoming all people to visit.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Boston/North End