Boston's South End Neighborhood - Victorian Architecture, Fabulous Restaurants, and Trendy Boutiques

Whether you're visiting Boston for the first or theThese designs make possible fabulous gardens,
twentieth time, you'll love exploring Boston's Southwindow box plantings, and tree-filled streets.
End neighborhood because of the spectacularSouth of Washington Street, in an area now called
architecture, the many gourmet restaurants and"SoWa," you'll find former canneries, piano
nightspots, and the trendy one-of-a-kind boutiquesfactories, and other industrial buildings now
sprinkled along all of the major streets andtransformed into artists's studios, galleries, and
avenues. Although the South End is adjacent tolofts. SoWa is where you'll find a number of
popular Back Bay, it's a bit off the usual path ofarts-related activities such as periodic Open
Boston tourists because few major monumentsStudios, "First Friday" gallery walks, and SoWa
or historical sites are located there. But if youOpen Market where local and regional artisans
make the 10-minuted walk from Back Bay acrossexhibit and sell their creations on Sunday
the garden-filled Southwest Corridor Park to theafternoons from late spring through fall.
South End, you'll be enchanted by the beauty ofBoston's South End is the city's hippest
this mostly-residential Boston neighborhood.neighborhood. You'll find lots of wonderful and
Most of the housing in Boston's South End wasinnovative chef-owned restaurants, such as B and
built during the mid-1800s, after land for the areaG Oysters, Aquitaine, and Hamersley's Bistro. Main
was created by filling a shallow bay. In fact, thestreets such as Columbus Avenue, Washington
neighborhood has the highest area of VictorianStreet, and Tremont Street are where you'll also
brick row houses in the United States and is listedfind lots of trendy boutiques and gourmet
in the National Register of Historic Places. If you'remarkets.
an architecture fan, you'll find an amazing array ofYou'll also notice that the neighborhood is very
styles: Renaissance Revival, Greek Revival,dog-friendly. Dogs (and their owners) can enjoy
Egyptian Revival, Italianate and French Secondthe Joe Wex Dog Recreation Space in Peters
Empire, Queen Anne, and much more.Park between Shawmut and Washington Streets.
Best of all, most of these gorgeous houses andAnd everyone enjoys one of the highlights of the
their elaborate iron rails and other ornamentationHalloween season: the Annual Halloween Pet
have been meticulously restored during the pastParade, featuring dogs decked out in their favorite
30-40 years. Some areas, such as Columbuscostume. As the ghoulish canines parade through
Avenue, were originally designed to look likethe South End up through Boston Common,
Parisian boulevards, while in other areas, homeseveryone smiles.
cluster around English-inspired parks and lanes.