Boston

"Beantown", "the Cradle of Liberty", "the City of Kind Hearts", even "the Hub of the Solar System": Boston's picked up an array of nicknames since a few English colonists sailed into Massachusetts Bay in 1624, and the settlement they founded grew up to spearhead the rebellion against the Crown.

Not surprisingly, its historical attractions number among America's most significant. However the city has more than monuments and museums, and city breaks to Boston can involve a heady mix of cosmopolitan and cultural diversions.

As you follow the Freedom Trail or Black Heritage Trail around town, you'll discover for yourself that the city owes its unique appeal to its diverse collection of neighbourhoods, each brimming with their own bustle and buzz. The best way to approach short breaks to Boston is to let yourself get lost among them.

Boston "proper" lies on a peninsula edging into the Atlantic, roughly 300km north-east of New York. On the tip of the peninsula is North End, the city's oldest quarter and home to a thriving Italian-American community. Whatever else you do on short breaks to Boston, leave time to meander through North End's winding streets, lined with delis, cafés, bakeries and tiny grocery stores.

Just south is the swarming financial and tourist centre, Downtown, whose highlights include Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market (both crammed with all species of shops and stalls), eccentric nightlife in the "Ladder District", and the Old State House, from whose balcony the Declaration of Independence was first read.

North of statue-strewn Boston Common is the affluent district of Beacon Hill which, with its cobbled, lamp-lined streets manages to look more British than London.

Neighbouring areas worth exploring during city breaks to Boston include America's first Chinatown for its cuisine, Back Bay for its graceful architecture and posh shops, and the arty gay area of South End.

But wait - short breaks to Boston have even more to offer. Cross the Charles River and you're in Cambridge, home of Harvard University, dozens of other learning institutions, funky shops, the greatest concentration of bookstores in the world and tens of thousands of students. If you've ever dreamed of reliving your heady college days, this is your chance.